Waxing/oiling wooden floors/stairs

[Clint]

Hello all,
Today I've pullled out the stair carpet,grippers etc. Removed unnecessary nails and staples,vaccd and scrubbed it all with a view to either sanding and oiling or similar or cladding. I have a paint strip running up either side from previous owners so this will have to go...heat gun? The stairs look to be pine and in good condition.
Reason being three dogs and five cats ruins a carpet in months and I'm sick of replacing it..
Anyone embarked on such a project?

 

[Banbeer]

Not the answer you're looking for but.......gulp, put them all in pet slippers/shoes, Simples.

 

[Clint]

A valid point. The thing is I could probably get this done for under £100...and that's buying a heat gun and sander...pet slippers would cost more.
I'd leave it but Mrs Clint likes it half tidy..

 

[Banbeer]

Trouble with no carpet is it will be quite noisy especially the dogs, I moved into a new house with laminate flooring and it drove us mad with the one dog tip tapping and had to buy some rugs to keep us sane (never worked).

 

[Clint]

Yeah the stairs is the last carpet in the house...I'm use to the noise!

 

[AdeDunn]

I have a bad history with waxed wooden stairs from primary school..... I ended up with concussion when a school cleaner wax polished a flight of wooden stairs.... Wheeee, bump. These days people sue for that stuff.

Nothing to do with answering your question, but heh, conversation right? lol

 

[Clint]

Yeah I've considered that... I'm looking at oil based that colour and seal it.

 

[paintingken]

I would use paint stripper on the painted parts. A heat gun could scorch the wood and you would have a job sanding that out. After stripping, clean up with meths then sand it. I wouldn't wax them as you will have to keep on top of that in future as it wears. I would stain, if required and then use Osmo oil. It's probably the best thing on the market but you may wince when you see the price of it. Do it properly and do it once.
What I lack in brewing knowledge I make up for in decorating

 

[Clint]

Thanks Ken...that's the advice I need...I'm sure your beers are great!

 

[Victor Churchill]

I'd say, before committing to paint-stripper, consider a scraper ... something like this (this is not the type I have, but it's as close as I can find on t'web just now)

I've had woes with chemical strippers before (taking ages to work / not getting it off completely/ ...) so if it's the right sort of paint (big if) a scraper might be quicker/cheaper/less stress.

 

[Clint]

I don't mind scraping...having been doing it for the past 20 years in work...although I'm used to dealing with industrial/aerospace resins and stuff...and we have stuff in work that will strip anything... don't really want to use that.

 

[Wilfy]

I would use paint stripper on the painted parts. A heat gun could scorch the wood and you would have a job sanding that out. After stripping, clean up with meths then sand it. I wouldn't wax them as you will have to keep on top of that in future as it wears. I would stain, if required and then use Osmo oil. It's probably the best thing on the market but you may wince when you see the price of it. Do it properly and do it once.
What I lack in brewing knowledge I make up for in decorating

And if he uses Osmo oil, he can eat his dinner off it.

 

[Horsham Brewer]

+1 for osmo oil, we used a load of that after sanding all the floors in our house, including the stairs. We found some simple carpet runner and carpet rods for the stairs, easy and satisfying project. We also used a heat gun on the edges of the stairs to remove layers of paint before sanding, doesn't really matter if you scorch it a bit if you're going to quickly run a sander over it afterwards.

 

[Clint]

Which osmo oil did you use? Is there a choice as in colour?

 

[sausagefingers]

Use this stuff to get the paint off PeelAway | Peel Away, liquid strippers are crap these days
Electric sander using different grades of paper
Use a wood dye (only takes one coat) to colour the stairs to your preferred shade
Then finish with Polyx as mentioned above or a matt floor varnish
Easy peasy

 

[Horsham Brewer]

There is a choice, for pine we used osmo polyx oil 3032 (clear satin)

 

[paintingken]

Which osmo oil did you use? Is there a choice as in colour?

I think it's the PolyX. Personally I would stain the wood and then apply 2 coats of matt clear Osmo.

Staining is another can of worms! ideally you should have a sample piece which you can test on.

An oil based wood dye like blackfriars may be your best option, it's quite permanent though. Pine has a tendency to go orange so definitely try a sample. As it's an old floor it should be absorbent and take the dye but newer wood has a chance of being tanalised and may repel.

Believe it or not tea staining the wood helps dyes and stains absorb. Your main problem is finding the colour that will work with your wood. From experience the oak colours don't fair very well and go orange. Walnut is possibly safest but you may not want to go that dark.

 

[Clint]

This is great chaps! It's give me a right head start on where..to start!
Yeah it's old wood..1970. I might strip it and sand and see what it's like first. Then maybe just Matt coat it..

 

[Clint]

More questions...
I'll need a sander...apart from a few little bits the stairs are quite smooth but I will go over all of it. I read not to sand it to a super smooth finish as it could become burnished and prevent the oil soaking in properly.
I'm looking at buying a detail sander like the Bosch PSM 100 as I probably won't do much sanding after the stairs... would it be up to the job? What grit papers should I start and finish on...and on the subject...what size sand sheets are compatible.. I'm sick of looking!?
Thank again!
Clint

 

[paintingken]

Unless you need to remove stubborn paint or rough parts of wood then 120 grit should be fine. 80 would be enough to sort out rough parts.
I wouldn't over worry about sanding too smooth on an old stair case as when you clean up with meths before you oil, the grain should open up. It tends to be more of a problem if the wood is impregnated or has had a lot of coats of penetrating oils and varnishes previously.
Whatever oil or varnish you use, make sure you rub it down by hand between coats, ideally with something a bit lighter than 120. Ideally finishing paper.
I can't really review sanders but the old adage applies that you will get what you pay for. If this is the only job you need it for then go cheap but I would guess it will be 1 speed and either not as brutal as you need it to be or so vicious it's trying to get away from you like a home sick salmon. Either way, make sure you wear gloves if you still want to be able to hold your beer after a day of sanding