Hello guys,

I have wooding floors in my home I want to varnish. Can anyone tell me how it is done?

Hi david, I assume you mean wooden floors. Are they new floors, or are you refinishing older floors? It does make a difference in how they are treated. Here is a website that might help you to gather materials and give you general advice.

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Originally Posted by tickle

hi david, I assume you mean wooden floors. Are they new floors, or are you refinishing older floors? It does make a difference in how they are treated. Here is a website that might help you to gather materials and give you general advice.

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Yes they are wooden floors about maybe 90yrs. Old.
Thanks for the web site tickle

If they are that old, david, you may not want to just varnish them, but urethane them.

I agree with Tick, varnish is not the way to go. I would like to see a picture of the flooring and wonder if a total sanding and refinish might be in order. Wood Floor Doctor.com Your Professional Guide to Wood Floors

Did this in my 88 year-old house three years ago. Keep in mind, a lot of the finish used in those days was shellac (mine still had the original finish!) WHICH IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH POLYURETHANE. After sanding, I wiped the floors down with denatured alcohol, which is a solvent for shellac.

Bill

And it is a real big job,even for the experienced.I have done one or two in my time, to use a power sander(stand-up model) and corner disc sanders,then cleaning the actual corners,getting the surface prepped properly(as Rover said,if there was shellac on it originally,you will have to wipe down).

How big an area are you needing to do?

Can you do a single area(small walkway/hall,etc) first to test yourself with the use of the equipment?Maybe just a closet floor with a handheld belt sander and disc unit to begin with?I think you will get a good idea then about the time and efforts needed to do this.

Just a cautionary note:)

There's also the consideration of what you want the finished job to look like. If you want them to look brand new, you'd almost have to use a drum sander. These things scare me (I didn't want to practice on my own floors!); I'd have hired a pro to go that route. As it is, I wanted to retain as much of the character and patina as possible, so I was able to rent a large orbital sander (more control, less stock removal). Edges were done with a belt sander and small orbital sander.

You should plan on three coats of polyurethane. I thinned the first coat with mineral spirits. Use the proper lambswool applicator. Follow the directions on the polyurethane, pay attention to direction of grain and wet edges. Plan your quitting points, if any.

My son helped substantially on the major sanding (I did the edges, all the wipe-down, finish application, etc.); we're in the contracting field and it took about two solid weeks start to finish for about 1600 square feet.

KBC--my son claims that was enough floors experience for him!