AS HEARD ON
With three coats of tung
oil finish, this old cypress
pine floor has returned to
its rich honey colours and
looks as good as new.
f l o o r e d
b y
t i m
b e r
Whether you
have an old
premium
hardwood floor
or a run-of-the
mill pine floor,
you can sand and
polish it yourself
for half the cost
of paying a
professional
E
ven in the age of the concrete
slab, timber floors are
increasingly popular, and are
now approaching 20 per cent of the
Australian flooring market. A nd it’s
easy to see why. They are pleasant
underfoot, durable and quick to
clean - you can simply sweep up any
dust and pet hair. Tim ber floors also
benefit from a damn good polish.
The sands of time
W hen you decide to polish or repolish an
old floor, an essential part of the process
is to sand the floor first. However, if the
floor is still in good condition, you may
be able to just buff it before re-coacing.
Sanding is done with special floor and
edge sanders that can be hired. These
machines are powerful,
so if you’re
concerned about handling them yourself,
have a professional do the job for you.
They charge upwards of $30 per square
metre, with a starting cost of about $800
including sanding and (usually) three
coats of finish. By doing it yourself it will
cost you about half that amount.
This old floor has been coated with
a combined stain/varnish - never a
great idea on a floor, as scratches and
blemishes show up very prominently,
especially in high-traffic areas. A floor
that has been stained before, however,
may require considerable sanding due to
variable penetration of stain into timber.
But you can only do it so many times.
A fter
three
sanding
and
polishing
episodes, floorboards become a little
thin. Read on to find out how easy it is to
bring your old floor up to scratch. ►
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