Varnished our floorboards and now hate the colour!

[Pirandello24]

As the heading says really! We got our floorboards in the living room and hallway sanded and varnished and I'm so sad about the colour we chose- it has come up a dark reddy brown colour and I so wish we'd used a clear oil on them. Is there anything I can use to take the varnish off or am I resigned to resanding and starting from scratch?! Please help.

carpet

or sanding off.

was it oil based varnish..??...if so ...sand them off....if water based then try scrubbing first with biological soap powder.

Were the boards stained and varnished or just varnished? If the former then you'll never get a lighter colour without bleaching the timber which can make uniform colours impossible. I'm never a fan of bare boards as they have a tendency to be drafty and have a poor finish. If you like bare boards though I'd just live with it and see if it lightens up.

I'm pretty sure they were just varnished, not stained, as the varnish is already starting to wear away in heavy traffic areas. Not sure if oil based or water based though, will check the tin tomorrow- it would be amazing if I could just scrub it off!

A water based varnish will not wash off. It's designed to be resistant and non soluble. The problem is that if you think it's too dark there is no way to lighten it other than bleaching processes such as lime.

If they are solid boards, sanding should work. Look at how the finish will be before you start. Osmo products are good.

I think they’ll need sanded again, I’m afraid. Once you’ve done that, osmo oil in clear is lovely and you just wipe a couple of coats on with cloths, super easy and can be done just as well by you as by a decorator, so might save some cash.

I must admit I hate bare boards so I'm biased. Most lacquer ( commonly described as varnish) is clear/light in colour so you will likely get a similar result with any clear finish. Osmo is ok on hardwood but I would not recommend it on softwood particularly flooring. If you want a nice timber floor I'd suggest ply and hardwood flooring over the top or LVT. If that is too costly then carpet may be your best option.

Not all floor boards are soft wood. Mine are oak. However knotted Pine isn’t a great look in my view. Do you know what the wood is OP?