Sealing original floorboards that have been sanded?

[MinimalistMommi]

Oil, wax or varnish? Opinions please!

We used a varnish from b&q which was painted on using a pad and 4.5 years later it has scratched etc but as it is our living room it's a high traffic area but it looks good still.

We used something called 'hard wax oil' (from Osmo I think) - wonderful stuff. You put it on like an oil and it dries to a oil/wax finish. We did our living room floor (new boards as the original ones had been supplemented with random bits of shelf etc) about 6 years ago - and while you're supposed to re-do it every couple of years, we haven't (life got in the way) and it still looks good, even though it's the main route from front door to rest of house.
Is a bit of a PITA as you have to leave it for 24hr to dry (hence not redoing), but it's brill (and I think, reasonably eco)

Osmo polycarbonate hardwax is fab

V easy to use, all natural and looks great

Polycarbonate . I meant polyx

The man that came today was very down about oil, he said he hates using it because it can take ages to dry properly. He was very pro a water based matt or satin varnish.

I can see if you varnish floors for a living then you'd favour a product that lets you get finished in one day. Hardwax/Osmo oil is very durable though, it partly soaks into the wood whereas varnish sits on top and scuffs off easily. You only need 2 thin coats. I would really say it's well worth taking the time. It should dry OK overnight IME.

Is second that. I dont remember the drying time being significantly long, though it was a few years ago. and is totally natural, you can even eat it if you so wish

Varnish can yellow over time and scratches.

Google it, once i'd read about it there was no contest

Thank you you too, I woke in the night last night and thought I'm sure varnish is being pushed because its easier to apply for the person doing it

Does anyone know if the Osmo oil can be used on an original pine floor as opposed to hardwood flooring? thank you!

Yes, it goes onto pine very well. It does brighten up the colour quite strongly; if you splash a bit of water or olive oil onto the sanded boards you will get an idea of the colour. We had a floor that went from dull brown to what can only be described as a bit orange, it's hard to avoid that with pine unless you use a woodstain first.

Would the use of varnish turn it any less orange than if I used Osmo? Is it something particular about Osmo that turns it more orange?

Our pine hasn't gone orange, but they do different shades. We did our bedrooms in a white washy one. Looks fab

Varnish would be the same, wax alters the colour least but that's not really suitable for a floor, more used for furniture. It's just that pine naturally has a lot of red in it. It's not an unpleasant look in moderation.

I just looked on the Osmo website and they list a product called "Polyx oil Raw"

^
Oils, such as the clear Polyx Oil, accentuate the natural colour and grain of the wood (permanent wet look). The new 3044 Polyx Oil Raw counters this exaggeration of the wood's colour, leaving the surface looking as near to natural as possible. The finish is close to being invisible to the eye and retains as much of the wood's natural colour as possible.^

I would give them a call or one of their stockists, they are very helpful.

Oh smells does your white wash one look really fab? I was wondering about white but didn't now what any gaps would look like in between IYSWIM?

Osmo is very good on pine - it is UV stable so areas do not become bleached with the sun plus it is very tough and lasts.
It is easy to apply but make sure the room is very well ventilated as it made me feel weird after a few hours of painting it on.

It is safe for worktops, wooden bowls so non toxic.

Have new oiled floorboards. Can't slosh water on them to give a good scrub (hallway in particular); need to mop any spills quickly; DH's bike dripped water on them which has marked; and DD tread kids paint down the hall which I couldn't scrub off without damaging the finish

Previous house, we sanded, stained and varnished the floors ourselves. You cannot put enough varnish down when you have the rooms clear. Seriously - think we did circa 8-10 coats of quick drying clear varnish and it was as hard as nails and wore very well. Floors looked perfect 7 yrs later when we moved out but the idea of tring to clear the rooms to freshen them up filled me with dread.

Everywhere except the stairs but that was noisy and somewhat dangerous - should definitely have put carpet down on the stairs and landing.