Varnishing the floorboards

FlyingDutchman

FlyingDutchman

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On our mobo, the floorboards really need a new varnish.

I intend to take them all home to do this over the winter.
The top layer of the boards is a medium brown wood type in stripes of about 6cm wide. Beteen these are lighter stripes of about 8mm wide. I think this top layer is glued on the boards. The sides of the boards are finished with wooden strips.
Between the darker and lighter stripes there is some greying, probably from water ingress where the varnish is no longer protecting the wood. This greying is the worst on the ends where the top layer meets the wooden strips.

Some questions:

How to get off the old varnish?
Is there someting to remove the graying?
What type of varnish ot laquer should be used?

Many thanks for hints and tips!
 
Sounds like standard teak and holly flooring. I stripped mine using Nitromors Varnish Stripper initially and then fine sanding to even up the colour. 5 coats of Ronseal Diamond Hard floor varnish in Clear Satin. Still looking good after two years.
 
I agree with using satin rather than gloss- easier to apply, looks better and is more forgiving of wear - but don't use water based varnish.

I used Blakes Dura - probably more expensive than Ronseal!
 
davidej said:
I agree with using satin rather than gloss- easier to apply, looks better and is more forgiving of wear - but don't use water based varnish.

I used Blakes Dura - probably more expensive than Ronseal!
Click to expand...

After consulting the combined wisdom of the forum last year, I used Ronseal and have to say it does what it says on the tin. Excellent stuff - and I only put 3 coats on! Even with this year's weather resulting in my oilies drip-drying onto the saloon floor constantly there was no sign of any impact to the Ronseal.
 
The whole cabin (including floor) of my 30 year old boat is teak/ teak faced ply. It was however, in a fearful state of disrepair when I bought the boat. -Stained almost black in places where water leaks through the deck had got to it.

It now looks like new. The following process (gleaned from a place that restores antique furnature etc) was used:

Sand old varnish off (use a really good aluminum oxide coarse grit and it will come off really easily - I start with 60 grit. just be careful on veneers) sand in direction of grain.

Disolve some oxalic acid (you can buy it on ebay) in warm water and brush it onto bare wood. leave to dry. the acid will form crystals on the surface of the wood.

Get a cloth and a bowl of warm water. Some gloves too if you are partial to the skin on your hands. give the wood a really good scrub down. this removes all the acid and the stains it has loosened from the wood. This part is really important as if theres any acid left it will effect the varnish and worse still the dust when you sand it will take the lining off your lungs.
leave to dry.

if there are any stubborn patches repeat the acid/rinse process. If some stains still remain try some diluted plain houshold bleach. rinse after.

finally sand with fine paper.

almost there now. the above process will leave wood a little pale and parched. I found some liberon 'georgian mahogany' water based stain, diluted with water on a damp cloth pretty much matches the original colour of the teak.

I finished off with blakes dura-satin varnish -its very hard wearing and I prefer the look to gloss.

as long as you are dealing with good quality wood and its not rotten I do believe you can get it looking really good again with this process. I'd post some before and after pictures if I could work out how..
 
Just to add. I have done all my floorboards and saloon table over the last two years.

When sanding be very careful at the edges. Veneer is fairly thin and it is very easy to rub through it at the edges. (As I have done in a few places)

I used a variable speed belt sander and a palm sander to remove the old varnish. I took everything back to bare wood. (Either buy a good sander or a few cheap ones. I went through two palm sanders on my saloon table alone!) And buy lots of dust masks!

When varnishing I used Epifanis. (yes its expensive, but it was highly recommended to me and I get a discount at a store where I buy it!) All coats are full gloss, bar the last one which is rubbed effect. Apparently for Epifanis the gloss is the hardest and should form the base of any varnished surface. I started with a 75/25 thinner/varnish mix, then a 50/50, then 20/80ish. The latter I did approximately 4 coats. (If you want a really deep finish, 12 is recommended and is what they use on the likes of Adix) Personally I don't have the patients. Each coat was sanded with a 320 oxide sanding paper. Wiped clean let dried and then cleaned again before applying the next coat.

It takes some time to do and is helped by a dry warm environment. If I was doing the above again I would invest in a compressor and spray gun and partition off my garage to create a "clean room" for spraying. Good lighting is also important as when you build up a few coast it can be tricky to see where you have and have not varnished. Better lighting would have saved a few coats!

Have fun, its is a very satisfying and worthwhile job. Makes a huge difference.
 
FlyingDutchman said:
What type of varnish ot laquer should be used?
Many thanks for hints and tips!
Click to expand...

I have teak and holly floorboards, but I have never varnished them. Every couple of years I lightly sand 'em down and put on a couple of coats of Deks Olje Number 1 - the matt stuff, not the shiny top coat. Works a treat, isn't at all slippery and looks the business. There is an inner circle of hell reserved for those who varnish teak ...
 
Many thanks for all the excellent advice given here!
Yes, I think it is teak and holly but I did not know the english words. Sorry about that!
I have decided to tackle this job over the winter but it does sound like a lot of work. I hope it will be ready in time for the next season. On the other hand, I guess it is about 4 square meters, so it should be do-able...
 
varnishing floors

These people;

http://www.decoratingdirect.co.uk/Coatings/Floor_Varnish_Lacquer/

have a large range of more "commercial" floor coatings at very reasonable prices. I used one of their 2-part products ( which doesn't seem to still be available) designed for heavy commercial use. After 5 years it is unmarked.

I brough all the floor sections home and sanded, paint stripped and re-varnished in my garage, it wasn't a particularly time consuming job.

Regards
 
did my floor boards a couple of years ago.
The advice above is very sound, however I used International UCP (universal clear coat primer) as the initial coat onto the wood, before using a satin varnish. This was on the recommendation of a professional boat builder. UCP gives a VERY tough base to protect the wood from abrasion & damp, but doesn't protect from UV and it has a gloss finish.
A few coats of International Goldspar satin on top and the result was very satisfactory.
 
Has anyone varnished holly and teak laminate? The stuff on my cabin sole is very hard wearing but a bit dull.
 
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