Do these floorboards look shite?

[GreengrassofW]

Days and days of sanding but i think they still look grubby and shite. Would you paint or varnish? I think if i sand them anymore I'll lose my mind

I've had boards with really thick black horrible stuff on and had to rip them out but yours don't look like that.
Go diagonal across them, against any advice yes I know, but if they're cupped that's the best way.

@QuantumPanic yes exactly this. Bitumen does gum up the sanding discs after about 2 mins I think because it gets hot. I have already gone through 60 discs of 40 grit on 3 rooms. I am purely using the edger because I've tried 2 belt sanders and they don't seem to touch the bitumen. But yes will try going more on the diagonal

I quite like the "shabby chic" look, but if that's not to your taste, I can see why you're not keen.

When we did ours (90 year old boards, had been hidden for most of thst time), we hired a sander from a hardware store - you push it along like a lawnmower. Boards came up really nice. We used a natural finish treatment over it - not glossy. Perhaps it had wax in it? Anyway, four years on and still looks good, despite a lot of foot traffic.

I like them. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'd say paint them white. My bedroom floor is painted white, and I love it.

This is the bedroom, also looking grubby and a bit shite

and living room

I like them. Wood is so warm and lovely.

Don't paint them white.

Is white not a nightmare for showing up dirt etc? My friend spent a fortune doing her whole house in dark dark stain and it showed up every speck of dirt. She's just spent a fortune and her last nerve sanding them back to original oak. I would have thought white would be the same.

@catin8oots - you can see the dust in the corners, but then I just hoover it.

Having seen the whole rooms I now think stain them dark

@LynetteScavo I think so too.
I was going to say 'Quit while I'm ahead' but I'm not ahead, I'm very behind.
Does anyone have any tips for staining?

You need to go diagonally, regularly switching the direction, using 40 grit sanding disks until the higher ones are brought down to the level of the lower ones.

you need an industrial one. One brand is much better than the other but I can’t remember which! It’s the newer design.

@thestudio thankyou :)

I'm on my 2nd belt sander. i hired the first one from Jewsons. It was a pile of shite, over sensitive and there was something wrong.... 2nd one from Beaver tool hire, much better. I'll give the diagonal thing a go or I'll bin it off and stain them.

I'm going to bankrupt myself on sanding discs at this rate.

I have white painted floorboards in my kitchen, they do look great, for about 20 seconds after you've cleaned them.
The rest of the time I'm constantly angry about all the tiny bits of crumps/fluff/hair I can see on it.

How do they feel? Do they feel smooth now? Do they feel level enough?

Are there gaps? What are your plans for the gaps if you have them?

If the dark areas are bitumen in they I think you need to keep going as the Bitumen will prevent any stain or oil from penetrating the wood. If the dark areas are just dirt/old stain then I wouldn't worry too much.

Do you like stained floors? I'd stain them then use Osmo oil on them.

I used Osmo woodstain on a very similar looking floor recently. I used cognac with a little black in then a few thin coats of satin osmo poly-x oil as the top coat. I like the final finish. The floorboards look old but they suit the house. I didn't want to take the wood right back as I couldn't be bothered and I like the fact it looks old.

I used 120 grit as the final sand and did a very light sand with 240 or higher after each coat. The final surface is silky smooth.

I used bona gap filler for the gaps. I used a dark colour but can't remember which one. I prefer gap filler to using slivers plus sawdust but it depends on the gaps.

Also, I presume you are aware some bitumen floor coating contain asbestos.

Actually I think they have great potential for that weathered/worn look which I love. Like a pp suggested I would stain them medium dark shade that has cool undertones. I think they would look great.

That is gorgeous @ExtraVotes!

Use Osmo oil/Osmo products OP, not varnish or wax. You never have to sand again with Osmo, you can reapply if you need to without sanding.

When I hired a sander the guy who worked at the hire company told me to remove the bitumen with white spirit first then leave to dry and then sand.

We paid for someone to do a couple of our rooms but we are tackling the stairs and landing on our own hopefully soon, although you’ve put me off a bit 😂

I’ve been following this guy on instagram for tips and inspiration
danny_sandhouse

best of luck I am sure it will look amazing when finished 👍

I think they are beautiful

Paint them white or black to suit your decor using a good quality floor paint

I did my floor and slipped a disc with the edger. The massive one wasn't bad, the edger was brutal. Never again.

Those are gorgeous! I love osmo oil.