Can I get away with varnishing floorboards without all that sanding malarkey, if it's short term?

[ravenAK]

OK - giving our kitchen a VERY budget facelift.

House previously in multiple occupancy. Kitchen is tired-looking & I'm not in love with the layout, but the carcasses are sound - ultimately, I want to rip them out & go freestanding.

So we're replacing the stained worktops & sink, staining the cupboard doors & giving the room a coat of paint. Hopefully that'll hold it all together for a couple of years until we can afford to start from scratch.

The floor is horrible - badly fitted, scratched, pale wood effect vinyl covered in grimy stilletto heel dints. Currently most of it is covered with a cheap IKEA mat which looks OK (better than the vinyl, anyway).

If we rip it up & slap on a dark woodstain & a coat of varnish (floorboards underneath are in reasonable condition), then put the mat back down, will we get away with it until we re-do the whole kitchen?

I can't face all that hiring a sander business - we could give it a quick buzz over with our hand sander?

Is this a really daft idea?

Could you just recover the floor in another vinyl as it would be easy to clean. Do the big work when you're redoing the whole kitchen

Go for it. The worst that can happen is that if it doesn't work, you have wasted some varnish, which isn't that dear and a little bit of your time. I'm sure it'll look fine.

I did consider a nicer vinyl dessen - it's just that I'd rather not spend £150-200 on it only to rip it out in a couple of years when we replace the whole kitchen & change the layout!

I'm with you trixymalixy - your argument is the one I've been using on dh - if it's a total disaster, we're only down £50 for varnish & a trip back to B&Q to buy vinyl .

OR some floor paint? A lovely lick of white, or F&B Bone, or grey?

Didn't know it was that expensive! Go for the cheapest option & see how it goes.

Floorpaint. You have to do a quick sand with a block and some sandpaper, just to prime it. And whack down any nails. But a much easier look to pull off than the staining and varnishing thing.

Had only briefly considered floorpaint...easier, you say. .

Right. Re-think. Black floor paint, & paint the cupboards with black gloss instead of staining them...

...yep, I'm convinced! Thanks!

Think about going for a colour that is maybe not quite black -- easier to pull off. And go for matt rather than gloss, it's easier on the eye and more forgiving of imperfections. Water-based eggshell is much nicer to use, and less stinky, though it won't be quite as long-lasting.

Floorpaint also good for hiding imperfections if you slap it on generously, whereas sanding and staining tends to highlight them.

Have fun...

I think the paint I'm looking at for the floor is reasonably matt - it's a commercial non-slip one. Point taken re: imperfections - the floor boards are in good nick but not particularly attractive.

I'm a fan of black gloss on woodwork though, being a gothy type - my dressing room (used to be another kitchen) on the top floor of the house has black matt walls & black gloss wood, so I think I'll risk it. It'll go nicely with the purple I've found for the walls .

I wouldn't do black for floors - it will show up dust and dirt like you wouldn't believe.

I painted the floor of my room with Farrow & Ball floor paint - it looks fantastic and is really robust - we chose Lamp Room Gray - I love it!

I have floorboards in the kitchen/diner and absolutely hate it. The floorboards are not tongue/grove hence a lot of food from my toddler goes into gaps (impossible to remove - yucky!).
When I bought the place, I thought I will give it a quicklick of varnish and it will be OK - it was so uneven and worn that I ended up hiring a sanding machine. After a good sand some floorboards appeared too thin, but I didn't have money to replace them - now when you walk on them you feel them moving, not the best feeling in the world. I coated it with 6 coats of varnish hoping that it will last, but after one year I already have patches of bare wood on floorboard. Can't wait to replace the floor with easy-clean durable laminate flooring.
If I was you, I would go with new vinyl flooring.

Hmmm...I like the Lamp Room Grey - definitely an option! We'll do the rest of the room then decide.

I think the floorboards will be OK confusedperson; we're going to have a mat over a lot of it! I'll decide once we've got the existing vinyl up...

Thanks .