Pine floor has different shades of colour. Help! *Pic included

[Hurraahhnaptime]

We have just moved into a house. The pine floor in the living room has been sanded but appears to have no staining or varnish on it. But the colour is paler in some areas. This doesn't look like it's caused from sun exposure as it's not the shape of furniture. I want to fix it before oiling the floor but I don't know how as I'm not sure what's happened. Any ideas?

Has there been a rug or carpet there?

It's where the light has bleached the wood - could be to do with the angle of the sun through the windows, positioning of furniture, etc. If you get it all sanded back it should even out the colour.

There has been no rug or furniture there in that shape. The corners of the room seem to all be lighter. The sun won't have got into the corners. I'm thinking maybe the sun has darkened the main floor where its shone on more. Can sun darken/orange wood?

Could they have put a natural coating of floor wax on some areas but forgotten others. I’ve done this when moving furniture around to wax. At the time I don’t notice as the wax is so natural. However it does eventually look different to non waxed

Could it be from where sunlight has been shadowed by curtains or blinds.

Yes OP it can. Areas which aren't covered by furniture, rugs, or in the shade of large pieces of furniture darken with sunlight. If you sand it back you can either stain it to even out the colour if necessary or just wax it.

So as it's sanded wood with no coating do I need to sand it back again before oiling/waxing?

I would say that will be the best way to even out the colour, yes. It is likely to have some sort of protective coating even if it doesn't appear to have - raw pine is a soft wood and I'd expect it to be dirty/marked in high traffic areas if there was nothing on it. Unless the previous owners went around barefoot.

Thanks very much for your advice *wowfudge

You're welcome - post a photo when you've done it. We had an oak parquet floor restored and it looks amazing now compared to the mess it was when we discovered it under a faded, stained carpet. Wood looks beautiful with a little care and attention.