Of all the types of flooring available, wood with the perfect finish is still the most popular. And oak floorboards are gorgeous as well as fashionable. But pine wood flooring is another strong contender in the beauty stakes, a softwood that’s been used to make floorboards for centuries and a feature of many old homes across Britain.
Pine Log Rounds – from antiquewoodnews.com
Vintage Pine Floorboards
We’ve taken several long, detailed looks at oak flooring, furniture and doors. Now it’s time to explore the wonderful world of pine. If you have a pine floor that needs attention, or you’ve been tasked with getting one in apple-pie order for someone else, here’s everything you need to know.
Types of pine
Pine, also sometimes called redwood, is cheaper and more common than traditional hardwoods, ranging from almost white through various yellow shades to a deep, rich red. For a softwood, it’s often remarkably resilient and long-lasting, especially in the context of well-looked-after pine floors.
Pinus is the species we see most in UK and EU plantations. It’s useful for all sorts of utility work, a common wood for beams, flooring and structural purposes. But that’s just the start of it. There are a whole load of different types of pine trees found in the wild, so many in fact that the Wood Database website’s impressively long list is far too detailed to repeat here.
If you’re interested in the similarities and differences between soft pines and hard pines, and those within each group, you can’t beat the Wood Database pine page, an excellent resource.
Horses for courses – The pine flooring aesthetic
There’s a variety of flooring ideas and opinions concerning keeping wooden floors looking good. Some concerns involve floor maintenance, as some floors require little in the way of maintenance, while others require plenty of elbow grease and attention. And the choice is often a matter of aesthetics.
One of the best things about wood flooring is that it changes, going through all sorts of fascinating stages over time, depending on its type and location, with an equally wide range of end results. And every stage of the ageing process has its own beauty.
You might love the hundred-year-old (or much older) patina your old pine boards have acquired through generations of wear. It might be stained and dirty, uneven and bent, sometimes more or less black. But to you it’s perfect – a living piece of history marking decades or even centuries of human use. And that’s fine. If it has lasted this long in one piece, it might well last a great deal longer without falling apart on you.
Eastern White Pine Cabin Interior
Your floor might be reasonably worn, partway between new and aged. You might adore the effect – the real shabby chic ideal – or you may prefer to get rid of the muck and repair any damage, giving it a whole new lease of life as well as a smooth, contemporary look.
A brand-new pine floor, on the other hand, can look pretty raw. The paler it is, the newer and less settled-in it looks. You might want to use a wood dye to create a subtler, less in-your-face effect, calming the brightness down a bit, and if it hasn’t already been protected, you’ll want to add a finishing oil or good-quality varnish.
How pine changes over time
The colour is one thing. The condition of old pine floors is another. Old boards can cup or arch over time, each board curling up at the edges, which means when you try to sand them you tend to get a thin sanded strip down the middle of each board at the high point, which widens on each pass of the sander as the boards are slowly levelled by the sanding process.
When you sand old pine boards back to the wood, they can look very pale, even colourless. But don’t worry. The minute you apply a clear wood finishing product like an oil or varnish, that warm, attractive natural golden colour will come flooding through.
Testing the colour of your floorboards before finishing them
This change in colour is so dramatic that it’s usually best to test how it’ll look finished before choosing an oil or varnish. Luckily it’s easy. All you do is rub the surface with a damp – not wet – cloth and you get the exact same effect as oiling or varnishing – the colour suddenly shines through. Once you know what’s what, you can choose your finish: either something to enhance the natural colour or a colourless product.
What if you want to get rid of that bright orange/gold colour?
Orange or golden pine isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. And that’s the effect you can get from a standard clear oil or varnish – as time passes it can turn a deeper orange/gold, even a nasty brown. If your pine floor has gone a funny colour, you can always sand the old finish off and replace it with a product that won’t change colour as it ages.
If you’re looking to retain the natural appearance of freshly sanded boards, pine or oak, Osmo Polyx Oil Raw and Fiddes Hard Wax Oil Natural are both great products for defusing and countering the gold/orange colour you sometimes get.
- Osmo Polyx Oil Raw (3044) is made with natural oils and waxes, gives excellent protection and durability and is specifically formulated to retain the ‘natural’ look of wood. It counteracts the damp-looking darkening effect and grain enhancement you typically get with standard clear oils or varnishes.
- Fiddes Hard Wax Oil Natural also keeps wood looking as natural and unaltered in colour as possible and dries to a clear, satin-matt finish. It’s perfect for light-coloured woods like pine, spruce and oak.
Osmo Polyx Oil
Pine wood floor refinishing – Varnish or oil?
What’s best, an oil or a varnish? The protective qualities are much the same. But oil and varnish come with different types of maintenance, and to a great extent your choice depends on the amount of wear and tear the floor receives.
- Using a wooden floor varnish tends to provide better durability and less maintenance, but you’ll need to re-sand the entire floor back to bare wood when the varnish eventually gets damaged and worn. How long this takes depends on the type and quality of the varnish and how much wear your floor is subjected to. It could be every year if you have pets, visitors and kids running in and out all the time. It could be five years or more if your home life is a lot quieter or you’ve covered the floor with rugs.
- Using a wooden floor oil, on the other hand, requires maintenance, usually every couple of years, but it won’t flake, crack or peel off. It looks better than varnish as it begins to wear and is very easy to patch repair if it becomes worn in specific areas, unlike varnish. When an oiled floor starts to look like it’s past its best, simply clean with a suitable floor cleaner to remove any marks, scuffs or stains, then reapply a thin coat of oil, and “Voilà!” it’s just like new again. Even bad scuffs, stains, marks and light scratches can be fixed by lightly sanding the area and reapplying a fresh coat of oil.
A tough varnish, by the way, won’t make the flooring itself hard. If you drop something heavy on the floor, the wood will still dent even though the varnish stays intact.
We have put together this handy video helping you to understand the key difference between a varnish and oil, as well as application techniques.
Need help with your pine floorboards?
For more information about interior floor finishes and treatments, contact our team of resident experts who are always on hand to help with project advice and product recommendations.
We love to see before, during and after photos of any wood finishing project. If you would like to share your project pictures with us, you can either send us some photos or share on our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram pages.
217 comments
We currently have varnished pine floorboards which we are sanding down. We would like an oak effect finish. What stain or wax should we use to get the oak effect? Thank you
Reply to Carl:
Good Morning Carl,
My apologies for the delay in getting back to you. It is a common question and there are a few options you can take a look at. Of course Pine will never look completely like oak as the grain pattern will be different, but you can look at products to give the desired colour such as the Fiddes Hard Wax Oil Tints (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/fiddes-hard-wax-oil-tints) or the Blanchon Hard Wax Oil (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/blanchon-hard-wax-oil-tints)
These colour and protect with just two very thin coats applied, and will give a natural look and feel to the wood.
Alternatively you could look using a stain to give colour Manns Classic Pine Wood stain (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/manns-pine-wood-stain) this is water based and designed to give colour only, you are able to apply a number of coats to intensify the colour or intermix with other colours to create a new one. And then when you have the desired colour a top coat of oil or varnish can be applied for protection.
Which ever you choose, test areas are vital as the type, age and condition of the wood will have an impact on the colour result that will be achieved.
Kind regards Samantha.
Hi there. We are planning to get red deal board flooring for the bathroom and kitchen area of a new extension. This will extend into the remainder of the property, a 200 year old stone cottage. What treatment/finish would you recommend? Many thanks, Julie
Reply to Julie Marshall:
Good Afternoon Julie,
Thank you for getting in touch with your question. There are lots of factor to consider with this type of project and you will need to prioritise which factor is more important, appearance protection environment and of course cost.
For Bathrooms and Kitchens it is important to provide a durable and moisture repellent finish and there are many options for this and you could start by looking at a Hard Wax Oil. These penetrate the surface of the wood with just two thin coats and give a hard wearing and durable, but natural lookingfinish. You can apply a clear finish that will enhance the natural tones of the wood itself such as the Fiddes Hard Wax Oil (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/fiddes-hard-wax-oil) or you can add a little colour with a Tinted oil like the Fiddes Hard Wax Oil Tints (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/fiddes-hard-wax-oil-tints). And for bathroom areas I would recommend the application of the Osmo Wood Protector (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/osmo-wood-protector) to give more protection against moisture and humidity changes. These oils will not peel and flake and although they do not last as long as a varnish, they are very easy to apply, clean and maintain over time.
The alternate is to go for a very hard wearing varnish such as the Manns Extra Tough Floor Varnish (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/manns-extra-tough-floor-varnish), varnishes will last longer then oils, the down side is they can be more difficult to maintain and should the seal break in areas of moisture the varnish can lift and flake quickly. The longevity of a varnish finish can out weight the benefits of an oil however and so it really depends on which suits your needs better. Both are available in sample sizes and I would always recommend these for test areas to be carried out first.
For further advice please feel free to get in touch via our contact us (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/pages/contact) page.
Kind regards Samantha.
Hello,
I’d really appreciate your advice.
We had a some sawn pine floor boards laid in our living room. My other tested two coats of Liberon Floor Sealant on a test piece of wood and it looked ok. He has since applied 3 coats of this to half of the room which has changed it from being a beautiful pale colour to orange. It really doesn’t look nice. it’s still not dry, but don’t suspect the colour will improve much. Please can you help? What can I do to restore it? Will sanding help?
Reply to Michelle:
Good Afternoon Michelle,
Thank you for getting in touch with your enquiry. It can be difficult to avoid the orange tone of Pine boards, particularly when they are have had a long life and many different treatments of finishes over the years. Products that penetrate the woods surface will highlight the natural tones more so than those that remain on the surface. In some cases the tone can lighten slightly as it dries, but not so much for penetrating products.
As an alternative you could have a look at the Fiddes Hard Wax Oil Natural (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/fiddes-hard-wax-oil-oak-lightening) this contains a minute amount of white pigment that counter acts the darkening that you get, with aged boards it can still darken some, but the best way to tell is with a test area first.
And another alternative to consider is a water based varnish, Manns Extra Tough Floor Varnish (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/manns-extra-tough-floor-varnish) water based varnishes tend to darken less than penetrating or solvent based products. And sample sizes are available for test areas first.
With both the above you will need to remove the current Liberon Finish first so that application is to bare wood. My advice would be to try test areas first, before any sanding or stripping back to see if the alternate product improve the appearance for you.
I hope that helps and if you need any further advice please do not hesitate to get back to me via our contact us (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/pages/contact)
page.
Kind Regards Samantha.
Hello there, I am looking at pine floorboards in the upstairs landing of an old Scottish farmhouse About 18 years ago, they were sanded and ?oiled ( I think: They are a kind of ginger biscuit shade of brown). In the years since they have received little attention and are a bit distressed. Not looking for a miracle transformation. It’s not that kind of house. I simply need advice as to what “a suitable floor cleaner” might be before applying Danish Oil to touch up the most worn areas (and ‘Voilà’). Danish Oil was reccommended by the local hardware store as good for this job.
Grateful for any guidance
AMcL
Reply to Arthur McClench:
Good Morning Arthur,
Thank you for your question. Our best advice will always be to sand back to bare wood and start again as this will give the best results for both appearance and longevity.
However I certainly appreciate that this is not always a viable option for people and so if you can give the surface a really good clean, perhaps a light sand if possible, and then wipe over with Barrettine Methylated Spirits (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/barrettine-meths) this will give a reasonable base for application of an oil such as Rustins Danish Oil (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/rustins-danish-oil).A test area should be carried first to ensure good uptake of the oil and to ensure that you like the finish that will be achieved. The Danish Oil will give a warm tone to the wood and as a natural oil will require regular maintenance to keep up the protective quality of the finish.
I hope that helps and if you have any further questions please do not heistate to get in touch via our contact us (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/pages/contact) page.
All the Best Samantha.
Hello,
I’d be most grateful for any advice you can offer on my flooring situation. Essentially we had a flood and the old floorboards are now being ripped out to help aid the drying of our property.
-Do you have any advice on the sort of place I should purchase new pine floorboards which will remain exposed, it doesn’t seem like placing new pine floors down to remain exposed is as common (more exposing and sanding old boards) and I want to ensure a quality timber.
-Once laying the planks on the joists could I place a layer of foil backed foam underneath (to aid in some insulation). the house is Victorian with air bricks that do create a draft and cool the boards underfoot. I figure if you can lay insulation on top for a floating hardwood floor, why not underneath the floorboards?
-Lastly should I oil/stain the boards on all six sides (i.e before laying should I oil the underside)?
Many thanks, you’ve been so helpful with everyone on here.
Reply to Jason Younghsband:
Good Afternoon Jason,
I really wish I could help you with the first part of your enquiry, however this is not our field of expertise. I would recommend speaking to some local builders who are more likely to have some knowledge of the best suppliers of floor boards. And perhaps the forums for fitting and insulating advice.
I am however able to help with what to protect and finish those boards with when you have them. Hard Wax Oils are great for floor finishes, they are durable, hard wearing, easy to apply and to maintain. Application to all sides before fitting is an option and can help to prolong the life of the wood and prevent warping if the property has some natural dampness. Is there a dramatic benefit of application to the underside of the boards, this is debatable, for most it is not an option and really does not have any kind of dramatic impact on the life or protection of the wood, so I would say that perhaps not necessary to treat the underside. I would however consider doing the sides and the ends, this will give a good all over even appearance and should any spillages occur in gaps or between boards, the wood is protected.
Which product to go for will depend on the condition of the wood, as well as type and what you would like it to look like. Perhaps as you get to this stage you could get in touch with further details via our contact us (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/pages/contact) page and I can narrow down some options for you to consider.
Kind regards Samantha.