4 Ways to Redecorate your Wooden Floors
July 25th, 2024
How to Refinish Hardwood Floors:
- Oil
- Wood Stain
- Varnish
- Floor Paint
There are so many options when it comes to redecorating your interior wooden floors. Whether you want to restore floorboards to their original glory or paint them for a totally different look, here are some great products and top tips to get you started.
Wood stain
A dark stain provides an easy way of renovating wooden flooring and changing the look and feel of a room.
Stains change the colour of the wood but still show off the natural grain.
To add protection, coat your stained floor with clear varnish.
Oil
Oil brings out the natural beauty of the grain, conditions the wood and minimises the appearance of scratches.
Protective treatments such as Osmo Polyx-Oil provide an extremely hard-wearing finish that is water, dirt and stain resistant.
They offer great protection in high-traffic areas, especially with children or pets.
Oil finishes are an ideal solution for reviving wooden flooring in any room.
They do not peel or flake and stained or damaged areas can be patch-repaired without sanding.
Varnish
Floor varnishes are durable and can withstand mopping, making them an excellent choice for kitchens, bathrooms and high traffic areas.
Choose from clear or coloured finishes in all sheen levels.
Top Tip: It’s not advisable to use coloured varnishes on very pale boards as blemishes and scratches will show through. Instead, opt for a dark stain followed by clear varnish.
Floor Paint
Floor paint is a cost-effective option for renovating wooden flooring that is tired and beaten up, or for adding wow factor to a room.
Colours are solid and range from bold to subtle, in all levels of sheen.
Floor paint is a good option for bedrooms and other low-traffic areas.
Always use a specialist floor paint for the best result.
Refinishing Wooden Floors - Top Tips
- Good preparation
- Correct sanding
- Applying the correct primer, undercoat or stain
- Applying the topcoat correctly
Preparation
- In preparation for sanding, clear the room of furniture, remove soft furnishings and seal doorways.
- Remove any beading, edging or skirting to ensure a perfect finish.
- Where this is impractical, protect the edges of these surfaces with masking tape.
- If you are completely refurbishing wooden floors with a new finish, remove any previous paint, oil or varnish with a suitable paint stripper and allow the surface to dry thoroughly.
- If you are recoating an existing finish with paint or varnish, remove areas of old paint or varnish that have peeled or blistered.
- For oil finishes, fill small cracks and larger joints or holes with a suitable wood filler and allow to dry.
Sanding
- Make sure you wear goggles and a face mask. Also ensure you open windows for the correct ventilation.
- For larger floors, call in the professionals to make sure the job is done correctly.
- Make sure any loose flood boards are secured and remove any old carpet tacks.
- For rough, blemished and warped boards, sand the floorboards diagonally from one corner of the room with a course 40 or 60 grit abrasive.
- Repeat the process from the adjacent corner of the room, so that the sander runs at right angles to the first sweep of the floor.
- Use the same grade abrasive to sand edges and corners. Sand along the length of the boards, edges and corners with 80 grit abrasive.
- Repeat the above step with 120 grit abrasive.
- For smooth boards that are in good condition, sand along the length of the boards, edges and corners with 80 grit abrasive.
- Repeat the process with 120 grit abrasive and vacuum surfaces.
- Wipe with a tack cloth or microfibre cloth to remove dust.
Primers, undercoats or stains
- For painted finishes, seal knots and resinous wood with knotting.
- If your paint system requires it, us a suitable primer-undercoat to coat bare boards/patch prime.
- If you’re staining floorboards, apply the stain of your choice and allow to dry thoroughly before protecting wooden flooring with a clear varnish topcoat.
Topcoat
- Your coating system and the number of coats required will depend on your choice of finish.
- Always refer to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Patch-test the product on a spare wooden board or inconspicuous area for colour compatibility and finish.
