Another "sanding veneer" question (floor this time)

[laika]

I'm rubbish with wood so forgive the very basic question.

I have those white-inlaid teak veneer floor boards. They're past their best and a bit pitted, but still serviceable. Last year while doing a fibreglassing job I managed to blob a load of polyester resin on one board. Last weekend I thought I'd try and sand it off being very careful skim no more than just the top off the veneer. I succeeded but obviously I've scraped the varnish (or whetever the hard shiny stuff is) off the area I sanded so it's lighter and duller than the rest of the board (unless I wet it, at which point it's fine).

My plan is to go over the whole board lightly with quite a fine grit then paint it with something varnish-like. I'm slightly confused by the array of different types of varnish although I do have some lacquer which Trafalgar yachts sold me last year to paint over areas on cabinets I'd rubbed down when replacing wooden plugs.

Should I ever-so-slightly sand everything first? and what's my best bet for coating it?

 

[Tranona]

If it is good quality teak and holly veneered ply, the top veneer will be quite thick. I have just done mine because I had made the mistake of using that horrible Deks Olje on them which had absorbed dirt. Dare I say it - I used a belt sander and only nicked one edge. Rest of it came up well and I recoated with Ronseal floor varnish. Looks like Yakulkt but dries with a hard matt sheen. If your boards are varnished try a paint stripper first - I am using a Polycell gel one at the moment which shifts most varnishes, lacquers and stains. If the veneer is patchy colour when you have stripped it off, Oxalid acid will help get the colour back to the same. Wash well before sanding and recoating. Boards are much easier to deal with than vertical panels as you can get them out on the bench to work on them.

 

[laika]

Thanks Tranona. The veneer is indeed relatively thick.

Another ignorant question to the floor: how fine grit do people use for such sanding before re-coating? Never having owned a house or anything substantially wood-based before my knowledge of woodwork is shockingly poor and certainly less than my knowledge of dealing with GRP/gelcoat.

 

[Tranona]

Depends to an extent what your final finish will be. If you are going for a high gloss furniture type finish with conventional varnish then a fine, even as fine as 400 will give you a good base. However, if you are using the type of coating I suggested it is less critical as the coating cures rather than drying through evaporation of the spirit base. I normally stop at 120. Just an extra word of warning, the teak and holly are different densities and it is easy to end up with ridges, so use a backing pad to keep the paper flat and pressure even.

 

[laika]

Thanks again.