Advice on how to repair wooden floorboards

[HopeItsChips]

Please could anyone advise about how to make this floor good? I am buying a sander, probably a small mouse type one. Once sanded how is best to proceed? What products should I buy? Do I need to treat first before finishing? Please could anyone comment regarding best affordable products, brushes, or other advice that could help me to sort this out. TIA

Hiya a mouse sander will only be good for edges, it's far too small for a floor. Id rent a proper floor sander and use that. It's a big messy job be warned. I once washed a wooden floor rather than sanded and it turned out well. This might be an option but it's hard to tell from photos. Maybe scrub a small patch and see how it looks. Otherwise big floor sander.

A mouse is hopeless for floors....hire the big machine....a lot of mess and noise...also if floor is stained just scrub it with bleach and hot water to lift the colour. have done 6 floors in our house....never again !!

oh and dont use any polyurethane varnishes as they go a horrible orange..use a water based acrylic...Bona etc.

If you hire a floor sander, move it at a 45° angle to the boards. You'll get a smoother result. Then use a resin with dust from the sanded floor to fill in the gaps, and it again, stain it to your preference, and use a sealant / varnish.

Our floor looked exactly like
this when we moved in. Cleaning just would not cut it, hired sanding equipment from HSS for 3 days and then varnished. A small sander won’t cut it. Our floor looks brand new now. It’s heavy hard work and very dusty so wear a dust mask.

If you can afford it, I'd get a pro in. I'm generally very good at DIY but found sanding floors to be a horrible job.

You need to hire a professional sander. It'll be worth it though, they'll look fab once finished.

I also suggest hiring a professional or a sander, but if you want to try a small section with a hand held sander, use one with some form of dust extraction and ensure it's a random orbital sander. such as link

Then sand with progressively finer papers, P80 > P120. I've had great results with Osmo Polyx oil. (although not in a kitchen).

Do NOT use wood filler in the cracks. It dries out eventually and pops out with heavy wear areas as obviously wooden floorboards will flex slightly with weight. That was an expensive first time buyers mistake. 😩There's a million videos on YouTube for this sort of thing and websites with people restoring old houses.

Looks like ground floor so getting a hired sanding machine in should be feasible. It's by far the fastest way to do it. However, you will need a mouse or similar to do the edges - about 4 ins worth.

You can use an orbital to do the whole floor if you have the time and the inclination. Your arms will not thank you but it's completely doable. Wear a mask, that's really important. Make sure you get all the dust off and mop it before varnishing. Use a matt finish. Put on as many coats as you can afford varnish [it's insanely expensive] while you have the room cleared [light sand and hoover/mop in between]. You will not want to re-sand and varnish for about 10 years. We did about 8 coats of clear on top of the stain. The floors still looked pristine on Rightmove when our first house was sold for the 3rd time after we sold it so it clearly held up. 😁

Alternatively, lay a thermal subfloor - like a thin polymer role and lay engineered wood on top. Much warmer as unlikely your subfloor is insulated. That was the second mistake we made. Should have lifted the boards entirely and insulated but we had neither the skill to do that nor the experience to know.

As others have said - it’s a pretty filthy job but my DP has done loads of floors. He got someone to do it for him once and the did a shit job so he’s done every other floor himself since then. You need to hire a big sander. The dust will get everywhere.

Also recommend one of those hazmat suits you see forensics bods wearing. The dust gets everywhere and as PP have all said, mouse sander is not suitable and you would be sanding for decades. Even an orbital sander is very time consuming. We rented a drum sander for the main and used smaller sanders for around the edges. It is not a job I look back on with any fondness whatsoever, although the end result was great.

First - thorough Hoover. Knock in any nails sticking out.
Rent floor sander. Sand floor. (Prepare for dust +++)
I would keep some of the sawdust to mix with PVA glue or wood glue (transparent) and I would use this as filler if I needed to fill any small (very small) gaps.

then I would stain or varnish depending on what finish you want.
good luck! It’ll come up beautifully! Xo

I used an amazing oil which I think is sold for use on boats. Soaked into the wood beautifully without the harsh look of a varnish. Can’t remember what it was called though I remember painting myself to the bottom of the stairs three nights in a row and hoping no one came to the door as you had to leave it for 12 hours to dry!

Agree to get a proper full sized machine, preferably one that comes with an operative! For one thing the sanding belts are more efficient and will deal with nail heads.

If you are sanding a floor over a cellar or over the sort of basic ( ie non existent) foundations most Victorian houses seem to have it is a good idea to get some of those v shaped strips to insert between the boards, they really do make difference to chilly drafts. They are extra work as you have to remove a hundred plus years of gunk from the gaps first, but worth the knee pain.