Floorboard temporary finish advice

[Slydog]

Hi All,
We just purchased a 100 year old weatherboard house in Melbourne which we intend to live in and fully renovate over the next 18 months. Under the old carpets are beautiful original wooden floorboards in fantastic condition.

Eventually we would like to have the floor professionally sanded and finished, but will leave this job until last for obvious reasons.
I know the smart thing to do would be to leave the old carpets in place during the renovation so we don’t damage the floors, but the carpets in some rooms are in such a bad state they really have to go ASAP due to the smell.
Are there a good products that could be recommended to quickly and cheaply protect or finish the bare floorboards in the interim once the carpet is removed, like tongue or orange oil etc ?
I don’t really want to walk around on bare unfinished floors for the next 18 months, especially if the reno drags out. My main concern is to not use a product now that may cause issues or create extra work for the professionals in the future, especially as we don’t 100% know what final floor finish we will eventually go with.
Appreciate any advice on what our options are.

[goldie1]

Bunnings have one meter square carpet tiles. easy to lay, fairly cheap, warm in winter and they will certainly

protect the floor and you can use them some where else after the reno or give them away or sell them

[SilentButDeadly]

Sorting the floor is the first thing I'd do rather than the last simply because sanding and finishing the floor makes such an unholy mess and general household upheaval....you can protect the finished surface whilst renovating using lengths of off cut or end of roll carpet...just move them to the room you need them.

[Slydog]

Thanks guys,

Didn't even think about cheap carpet tiles, that’s probably the smartest option but with the rest of the house in such a shabby state at the moment I was hoping to motivate myself with a nice floor during the reno.

How soft are the original old floor boards, would they be baltic pine for this era? I've heard they are easily damaged by everyday use before they receive a 2-pac finish?

[goldie1]

There is a good chance they will be baltic which is fairly soft. Post a pic there are plenty of people on this forum

who can ID them.

[Gaza]

second hand carpet tiles can be brought cheap from carpet removal guys these tiles are normal newish but a new tennant in the office didnt like the color so they redid all

[dazza71]

Mix 50% pale boiled linseed oil and 50% low odour turps, clean boards with pole sander( ceiling fixers use then) coat with your linseed mix, wait half hour then wrap old towel around brush and wipe off excess=as reno progress coat with oil when necessary. when you get pros in let them know what you have done and suggest low sheen oil modified finish= Happy days ahead.....

[Bloss]

Mix 50% pale boiled linseed oil and 50% low odour turps, clean boards with pole sander( ceiling fixers use then) coat with your linseed mix, wait half hour then wrap old towel around brush and wipe off excess=as reno progress coat with oil when necessary. when you get pros in let them know what you have done and suggest low sheen oil modified finish= Happy days ahead.....

Unless you are certain you will be using an oil based finish eventually this is not a good option IMO. I would be going carpet tiles - or even just cheap large squares of carpet - which is what was used until the 50s and '60s anyway when broadloom wall-to-wall came into wider use.

[Dusty]

The floors should be right as bare boards whilst you do the reno - there ain't too much you can do that will cause any drama down the track, but I can see your point of view about looking and living on bare boards for that length of time, so, with that in mind, go to Bunnings/Masters and get the cheapest polyurethane going and apply two coats.

This will give you a surface that you may be able to keep reasonably clean, will protect the boards from spills and some drag marks from tools 'n' stuff, and, most importantly, will sand off easily enough at the business end of the renovation without giving the flooring contractor any grief whatsoever.

[shauck]

Sorting the floor is the first thing I'd do rather than the last simply because sanding and finishing the floor makes such an unholy mess and general household upheaval....you can protect the finished surface whilst renovating using lengths of off cut or end of roll carpet...just move them to the room you need them.

Unless you are plastering (lots of plaster dust from sanding). It can leave a milky film on the boards and you don't want that either. I would do it after that.... Except, you may be knocking out walls (lots of mess) and needing to repair floor areas where a wall once was. Would wait for that too.

[Slydog]

Thanks for all the advice,

I might just tough it out with bare floor boards for a while and see how I go, possibly go with the cheap polyurethane coating if I cant stand the look after a few months.

[Bloss]

The floors should be right as bare boards whilst you do the reno - there ain't too much you can do that will cause any drama down the track, but I can see your point of view about looking and living on bare boards for that length of time, so, with that in mind, go to Bunnings/Masters and get the cheapest polyurethane going and apply two coats.

This will give you a surface that you may be able to keep reasonably clean, will protect the boards from spills and some drag marks from tools 'n' stuff, and, most importantly, will sand off easily enough at the business end of the renovation without giving the flooring contractor any grief whatsoever.


:whs: