sblade46

Hey all, this is my first post on here so I will do my best. I am 26, and work for a small contracting company. I am learning as I go, and hoping to gather some knowledge without always asking someone above me in my job.
I am going to be moving in to a house that is currently owned by my fiance's mother and the upstairs kitchen/dining/living area has a wood floor which looks to be stained 2X6s, similar to a deck. When the house is turned over to my fiance and I, we want to redo the floor. Is this something that can be sanded and stained, or is there more to it that should be done. Please give me any advice you might have...

Nathan

I'll let Florcraft or one of the other flooring experts answer.

I just wanted to welcome you to the board. This is a great place for a young guy to come and learn.

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Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

drunkrussian

How old is the house, and do you know what type of wood it is?

I am currently refinishing (more like reclaiming) a floor on an 80 year old house. It is a mix of narrow, and wide pine boards. Lots of paint and other garbage on them, but it is sanding fine and looking sharp. We had to put a few patches and transitions in, and stained the pine to looked aged, and looks good.

bassmaster

Welcome sblade46- Nice to have you.

where are you from - your profile does not say.

What year is the house. also, as asked above, what kind of wood ?

BASSMASTER

Floorwizard

We for sure need to know what kind of floor.

My guess is FIR.

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"in 20 years you will regret more what you did not do than what you did"

sblade46

Thanks all for the welcome's. I will have to find out about the material, but I am from Sacramento, CA. The house is in Auburn (about 30 miles NE of Sac) The house is 25 years old, and the main reason that it needs to be redone, is that the previous owners had several dogs, and my fiance's mother currently has one dog. I will get back to you on material as soon as I can
Thanks!

Donedat

Welcome to the forum.

I have seen 2x6 t&g. It is usually used for subflooring on post and beam homes/cabins. If it is subflooring, I usually won't sand them because sanding can remove from the floor's structural integrity thus making me liable for any outcomes.

But, that said, out here that stuff could very likely be douglas fir and would sand up very nicely. Be careful for the finish dripping through to the ground floor (this is if the flooring is the 1st floor's ceiling).

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Donedat

You know, actually if you could post some pictures we could help you out even more. Everything I said in the above post was shooting from the hip...and blindly I might add.

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I admit...I don't know everything...but don't tell my kids I told you.

littlefatdog

this thread is like the one i would have made so i'm just going to tag on here to avoid clutter.
i'm 24, starting in the business with one house on one loan. its a 100 year old brownstone in philadelphia. i do everything myself and its tough work - but i enjoy learning all sides of the trade so that even if i'm no good at it - i can tell who is.

i gutted this house, the orignal frame is great - and removed over 15 tons rubble, rot and bad work. i've had my fill of that. i hope what i can do here is some good work.
here is my next step. this one i'm a little worried about. i've scraped away everything and sunk all the nail heads in.
what do you experienced guys think? 20 grit drum job? i dont want to mess up these old planks, there is no subfloor beneath. they are a full inch thick though, and have a great color - i have one piece flipped over to show.
geocities.com/thomasblairhouse/old2.jpg
(sorry i couldnt link the image - i need a few more posts)
thanks for reading
tom

drunkrussian

Looks like the pine i'm doing. 36 cutting at a 45 should level it and take most of the crap off. That is if you are using a good drum sander.

littlefatdog

thanks my man. i am going to run my hands over the whole thing to find those last nails (previous owner nailed down a paper thin sheet of ply with 2" ringshanks every 4 inches -for carpet!) then i'll get a picture up to show you how it came out. i was thinking i'd get the slow stand-up orbital for the finish touches.
tom

littlefatdog

got the drum sander rented and had to carry it up 3 flights of stairs in my arms. too late at night to run it though. its an Alto ez-8, 1.5 hp, 8" drum, and has a lever for the drum instead of the tilt mechanism, which i'm happy about. soon as i have my 10 posts i'll post a picture of how it turns out.

adams,b

Better go with 20 grit if it has wax. That little sander might not cut the mustard. I assume its a 110 unit. Well good luck anyway, you'll have to take it slow and let it cut .

littlefatdog

ok i got my 10 posts - so here are some pictures - (i love before and afters)



i did end up needing 20 to get a decent first cut on this stuff. then down to a 36. drum sander is good to me, feel very comfortable with it. parallel with the 36 tomorrow, then 80, then i'm thinking (not sure yet) that i'll edge it, blow off, vacuum, wipe down and precondition the heart pine for a light stain. then oil based poly -3 coats, sanded between, satin finish. more pics to come

Glasshousebltr

Pretty good job there Fatdog. Will it cut a little further?

Get some competed pics up, I'm sure I'm not the only chomping at the bit to see.

Bob

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Bob

littlefatdog

got one for you then - took it down to 80, the parallel cut totally changed the appearance of the wood, especially the color, became much deeper and darker. either way there are so many different looking planks and some that have sunk-in spots where the paint will never come out, plus all the nail holes - its definitely going toward the 'distressed' look or whatever. no choice there
luckily thats a good thing for a rookie with a drum sander, couple f-ups just blend in with everything else.
here it is at 80 grit. edged tomorrow

Gordo

Just out of curiousity. Why did you sand the floor before rocking the walls?

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Looks like some pros were here.

littlefatdog

well i'd like to say there was a reason - but the truth is that i'm a newbie - and i screwed up. i'm going to cover the floors with resin paper and tape the seams.

...it was easy to do it while it was all open though

littlefatdog

ok its edged, filled, resanded straight with the grain and now stained. the poly is going on tomorrow - i saw it wet with stain and it looked really good. i thinned the stain WAY down so that one small can of minwax did all 750 sq feet. and its plenty dark. the heart pine has all kinds of color variation and i really like it. the best part was i only had 3 corners that needed scraping only 30 length feet that needed edging... due to the absence of walls

littlefatdog

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