Has anyone stained/oiled/varnished floorboards a dark colour?

[MinimalistMommi]

We are having our pine floorboards lifted and butted together because of gaps and the cold coming through them. I know we will get broken boards as a result. Our flooring man will be able to replace these with reclaimed boards but I know once sanded/oiled or varnished a light/ medium brown or clear they won't match our original boards and we will end up with an awful patch work of different coloured floorboards! So, what to do?

I could paint them white/light colour in F&B floor paint but I think this would look wrong in a terraced victorian cottage, especially as we are planning white walls. So the only other option that leaves me with is going for a dark chocolate brown in the hope that this will hide any mismatched boards? Any advice anyone? We're having a woodburner put in and will have rugs on the floors. I'm after a traditional cottagey look (not twee but smart if that makes any sense at all)

Help!

Choccy brown sounds nice. Make sure not too reddish varnish- walnut rather than mahogany IMO.

Thank you spotty
Have you done it in your house?
Totally agree about not having it reddish.

Mine are painted gray and look lovely, but if I was going for brown I would stain not paint.

yes

but if you want to colour them (and if they are clean and sanded, not oiled, stained or varnished) use a wood dye, not a stain. Colron or similar. On floorboards you can apply it sparingly with a soft 2" paintbrush instead of a fad, it will be quicker.

Use a few slightly different colours for different boards. Then any shades or tints in new timber will not look odd. When dry, finish with a clear, untinted varnish such as Diamond.

You will get better and more even results than if you use a coloured stain or varnish, and it will be far far far easier to touch in any damage or to match replacements later.

btw you mention cold and draughts. If the boards are coming up this is the ideal time to insulate between the joists. I'd use mineral quilt as found in lofts. You can tack or staple garden netting to the joists to hold it up. I only use quilt with Ecose which prevents it shedding irritant dust and fibres. It is made by Knauf but also sold with some own-brand names. It is brown not yellow.

Clean out all the subfloor rubbish, especially wood scraps or organic material that can rot, as well as the dead rats and sacks of sovereigns. Insulate all subfloor water pipes with Climaflex or similar. Clean and unblock all airbricks.

Insist that your carpenter uses countersunk screws, not nails, for any boards above cables or pipes that you will one day need to access. I use screws throughout but he will tell you that nails are cheaper and quicker.

We have used a tinted floor oil on our floorboards. scanox 5 star floor oil. Not sure if it is available in the UK but it is great - comes in many shades and is really easy to apply with a brush, polish off the excess with a cloth after 10 mins. We have a lovely matt sheen but it comes in a gloss finish too. Wears really well and easy to touch up any scratches with a cloth. Produced by the Scandinavian company Jotun.

I have used wood dye and coloured varnish (dark oak). Definitely needed the dye first as a trial of just varnish really wasn't very dark.

I've also painted floorboards with a dark brown floorpaint it was meant to be a temporary measure til I got round to sanding and properly finishing them but I actually really like it and think I will leave as is

piglet john they will be sanded by the floor man. The wood is looking very 'dry' at the moment, probably because nothing has ever been done to them. So, just to clarify, will I get best results with a wood dye with clear varnish over the top rather than a coloured stain or varnish?

I've read that oil would be easier to touch in anything in the future over varnish but your post here suggests otherwise?

All of this can get very confusing very quickly.

Thank you for tips about insulating and the countersunk screws for boards that might need to be lifted in future.

Calendula did you have mismatched boards? My biggest concern is having a patchwork look where broken boards are replaced and the taking whatever coating I choose slightly differently and looking awful! The matt sheen sounds nice. If my sister didn't need up painting her boards F&B she would have oiled, much to the flooring guys distate as it wouldn't be as quick for him.

*distaste

will I get best results with a wood dye with clear varnish over the top rather than a coloured stain or varnish?

Yes.
the depth of colour of a tinted varnish depends on how thick the coating is. So not only might you need to apply coat after coat after coat to get it dark or intense enough, there will be patchiness depending on how wet the brush was for each stroke. The colour will change in areas of wear as the coating wears off and becomes thinner. This is also why touching up scratches and wear leaves colour patchiness. IMO a clear satin varnish looks best

You can use oil on top of wood dye. I do it for outside timber. You can't dye oily or varnished wood as it will not soak in.

PJ's advice is all good. I have done this but we didn't insulate and really regretted it.
Definitely screw down, nails will lift over time and then the boards will squeak and drive you mad.
Do as many coats of varnish as you can afford in cost and time. About 8 or 9 will give you 5 yrs plus in a high wear area. It sounds ludicrous but it is a total PITA to clear a room again to varnish. You can easily varnish a regular size Victorian reception/dining room knock through room in 30 mins before dinner, and then another coat before you go to bed

minimalist: yes we had mismatched boards. The tinted oil is great as you can just run an oiled cloth over any board you think needs a bit more after the rest is done. You apply enough to leave the boards wet, wait 10 mins for it to soak in. Move any left over stain to the next run of boards with a squeegee, brush over evenly, wait 10 mins etc. 2 coats is enough. We did our hall boards 3 years ago and they still look lovely. Have touched up DSs floor after he played with a screwdriver...Will never varnish again!

rather than make every board exactly the same colour, I prefer to have three jars on the go at a time, one a bit reddish, one a yellowish, one a bit brownish but all close enough to tone. By randomising the shades, or putting two coats on occasionbally, you can get a natural-looking mix of colours, so a slight mismatch due to repair or replacement will not stand out.

I do generally work in hardwood, not pine or maple which are very pale and need only the faintest variation.

This is why I'm nervous about sanded pine, my sister had all her boards lifted and butted together and sanded. The man experimented with what either oil or varnish and it looked awful on the original boards that came with the 1930's house and the reclaimed ones that he out down because several had broken while they're were being lifted. The colour difference was dramatic between the two. My boards are older, but I don't think that makes any difference? The floor man said they're very 'meaty' in comparson to my sisters boards.

We painted ours this time but have stained ebony black and choc in the past. I used an exterior gloss stain because I wanted high sheen and everything internal was too red. Lots of ventilation required but looked good (until I had 3 kids).

I sanded down floorboards and used Treatex hard wax oil in dark oak which is a proper dark brown with treatex clear matt oil on top and it came out nice.

There was a small bit of floor where we had to put down new wood and so I did an extra coat on that bit and seemed to darken it enough to match the rest.

I got a few samples first as you can't really tell from looking at them on the internet.

My friend has hers done dark brown and topped with yacht varnish - they look fab. We did ours natural and varnished with Mega Bona varnish- it was about six years ago and despite the hammering from kids and two very boisterous dogs plus a major build- it's still pretty damned good. I can't recommend it highly enough. My friend just used it and was raving about it to me last week. Not cheap but worth every £££. Just be careful what you type on an internet search though unless you want a nasty shock

:) hee hee

We've stained our original pine floorboards dark walnut. I think it looks fabulous personally. And it would definitely look good in the smart cottagy look you are going for. IMHO.

You're right to be worried about mismatched colouring on the new boards (even if they are reclaimed they will be different) - we had the devil of a time trying to match the colour of stained boards in our house.

Only suggestion to avoid this is to go for a slightly mismatched look all over (as per PigletJohn's suggestion)

OR - do you have any spare floorboards you are taking out of any other part of the house? If so, they are most likely to achieve a match with your existing boards as they will date from the same time/possibly the same original batch.

Mini the flooring man talked about taking boards from somewhere else (like girls bedroom) to nick for downstairs area as he rekons there will be broken ones as he pulls them up/some are damaged anyway.

I know piglet johns idea for mismatched all over makes sense, but that is so not in my personality, I like everything to even and perfect which is why I'm finding this renovation horrible/stressful. If we make a mistake on the boards we can't afford to go back and re-sand if that makes sense. It's really stressing me out!

not mismatched

a natural variation!

Yes, if you're having carpet or tiles put down in a different room (and you're sure you'll never want boards in that room) then you could cannibalise the boards from that room and put down hardboard to go under the carpet instead.

If you really don't like any variation.... it may be best to go with new wood flooring tbh! Even if you didn't have the fill in boards issue, there would still be likely to be some variation in the colour, just due to variation in the wood and lighting conditions. And there will be knots etc in the boards.

wood is a natural product and variations are natural. Unless you want to paint it.

For example