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
Hi
I am about to move into a 1960’s house with pine floorboards, which I am going to have sanded. My question is , is there anyway of knowing how pale or dark the sanded wood is likely to be? I want to use a clear oil but i don’t want the wood to look very new and pale, like new pine. I have been Advised that tinted oils can make the pine too dark and not bring out the natural colour and grain of the wood.
Many thanks
Reply to Laura Carman:
Hello Laura,
You will not know for sure until the wood is sanded and cleaned and then you try some test areas. If you ensure that the wood is sanded to a 120 -150 grit, this is the ideal level for application of Hard Wax Oils.
The wood will impact on the colour and finish achieved and this is why I so often say ‘Test Areas’ so that you can ensure you like the colour before full application.
There are a great range of coloured oils to choose from including Fiddes Hard Wax Oil Tints (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/fiddes-hard-wax-oil-tints) there are 12 colours to choose from with the option to do two thin coats for a more intense colour or to do one coat of the tint followed by one coat of the clear.
There is also a good range of colours from Blanchon Hard Wax Oil Tints (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/blanchon-hard-wax-oil-tints) all natural tones and mostly quite light in finish. Oils will bring out the natural tones of the wood also and for Pine that can be red, orange or yellow.
I hope that helps some and if you have any questions at all you can get in touch via our contact us (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/pages/contact) page.
Kind regards Samantha.
We are currently having our hall floor – pine floor (circa 1900) sanded, for the first time. It was previously carpeted. The wood is in very good condition and has come up well although they are struggling a bit with the areas of black stain along the skirting board where the sides were stained black originally to surround the rugs. We have been discussing the finish and it is proposed to oil it. The flooring guy doing it, who specialises in sanding and finishing floors, used three test samples near the front door and we chose the light brown one. It still looks the same after 24 hours. The floor is currently a pale pine without any orange. Can we be happy that it will not turn orange after the finishes are applied, given the test strips have not changed and there is no visible orange in the pine at present.
Reply to Hazel-Mary:
Hello Hazel- Mary,
You should definitely complete your test area with the top coat product that you are intending to use. You will often find that it is the application of the oil or varnish that highlights the natural orange of the wood, even if a stain has been applied and appears fine.
The black staining around the edges is a common problem in properties of this age and is a really difficult finish to remove. It is vital that you get rid of as much as possible as it will cause potential issues with follow on treatments.
I am here to help if you have any further questions.
Kind regards Samantha.
Hello,
Looking to use tongue and groove ponderosa pine for a large floor.
Budget prohibits other wood types.
Plan is to stain very dark, blackish, then coat with water based poly.
Wondering though if since black stain, I could go with polyurethane and not get taht yellow look now or later? Was planning on highly thinning the first two coats to get best penetration possible, not sure if that is effective with water based stuff?
Reply to Pat:
Good Afternoon Pat,
It will very much depend on the products you use and the wood. Pine will naturally yellow or orange when a product is applied, but with black you may not notice this so much. With some stains you can apply a number of coats to get a more intense black, Manns Classic Pine Stain (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/manns-pine-wood-stain) or a naturally more intense stain such as the (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/morrells-light-fast-solvent-stains) which only requires 1 or 2 coats.
The problem may come with a a top coat product as this is where the natural tones of the wood will be highlighted or the stain can go slightly red in colour. Full test areas are going to be vital to ensure you get a colour that you like. The top coat products generally should not be thinned as this can reduce the protective finish, it will depend on the product actually used. And for further advise please do not hesitate to get in touch via our contact us (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/pages/contact) page
Kind regards Samantha.
Hi I have an old pine woodblock floor in my lounge which had been stained brown but now I want it sanded back to natural and then protected. The company who were going to do it came & sanded a small area and put an Osmo oil (for floors) onto it to show me the results – but the wood immediately turned orange which is totally not what I want! I’ve read through your info about pine flooring and would like to know if the Osmo Polyx Oil Raw (3044) you mention will definitely not make the boards go orange as well! Any advice gratefully received. Many thanks Alison
Reply to Alison:
Thank you for getting in touch.
The Osmo Polyx Oil Raw (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/osmo-polyx-oil-raw-3044) is a great product to help retain the natural look of untreated wood, as it is designed to retain this appearance by using a small amount of white pigments to counteract the darker ‘damp-look’ that develops after application of a clear oil or varnish finish. This finish achieved with the Raw can sometimes vary depending on the history of the wood therefore test areas are strongly advised and the 5 ml sachets are perfect for testing. Throughout stirring all the way to the bottom of the tin is advised to ensure all ingredients are mixed.
We recommend to apply the 2 very thin coats of oil with a brush and microfibre cloth to work the oil into grain and wipe off any excess. I can not guarantee that the wood will not go orange, however this is the best product to avoid that.
You could also consider the Fiddes Hard Wax Oil Natural (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/fiddes-hard-wax-oil-oak-lightening) which is a very similar type of product.
Let me know if you have any further questions and always try a test area first.
Kind regards Samantha.
I have a large room (10m x 6m), which is going to be used as a lounge and dining room. We have just sanded the pitch pine floors and there are a few stains from years gone by but I don’t mind that. I am not sure what is the best treatment for them, I am getting conflicting advice from various friends, decorators, joiners etc. on the benefits of Osmo oil versus varnish. What would be the best option? I would hate to have to sand the floor again!! Thanks
Reply to Kirsten:
Hello Kirsten,
Its not surprising that you are getting a different advice both Hard Wax Oils and Varnishes have their Pros and Cons. Choosing the right one can be difficult but we do have sample sizes and I would strongly recommend these. I can recommend Osmo Polyx Oil (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/osmo-polyx-oil) and Manns Extra Tough Floor Varnish (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/manns-extra-tough-floor-varnish)
Varnish is a longer lasting and more durable finish, it is a surface sealer which means a plastic like layer on top of the wood. It will protect the wood well with a slightly reflective finish, with the exception of the matt. The down side is it is hard to patch repair and over time certain areas that wear quicker will show more so than an oil and you are likely to need to sand back to bare wood in order to retreat.
Hard Wax Oils are still very durable and suitable for floor finishes, they are just not as hard wearing as a varnish. They look much more natural on the wood allowing you to feel the texture of the wood or be very smooth depending on what you would like. They soak into the surface of the wood and dry hard and so are less reflective which is why they tend to look more natural. The big benefit of and oil is that you do not need to sand back and start again when the wood needs a refresh. Patch repairs can blend seamlessly and when you feel the floor is in need of it you are able to re oil. Simply ensure the surface is clean and dry, carry out a test area and then re apply a fresh coat. How often will depend on how much the room is used.
So both can be considered it just depends on which better suits your needs short and long term.
I hope this helps and if you have any questions at all please do let me know, you can get in touch via our contact us (https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/pages/contact) page.
All the Best Samantha.