Not a wood boat question.

[jimnmad]

I'm building a cabin at a lake and have purchased tongue and groove pine 11/2 X 6. What would be a good way to finish this wood when used as flooring and/or ceilings and interior walls. There is an abundace of sand and dirt to be tracked in and we are 1/4 mile from the water and electricity to run an electric vacuum is produced by solar panels so I don't think vacuuming is something we can do regularly on a limited supply of electricity. Would you oil it? If so what would you use? Would you varnish it? What would be the best product for that? I want it to develop some patina over time so I want to start with a finish that will improve esthetically with use. the cabin will be post and beam. We hope to start construction as soon as the weather will reliably improve.

[mmd]

Cheap clear matte polyurethane, and lots of it. There's no UV blockers so the wood will turn that lovely golden colour in a year or two. Touch up the wear areas as needed, and resurface the whole thing in about five to eight years. Preferred application method for floors? Pour it on and spread with a sponge mop (rollers leave bubbles).

For walls & ceilings I'd go for the milky water-based finish - whose name eludes me at the moment - 'cause it matches well with the floor finish, and brushes and rolls well. I used it on the pine wainscotting in my entry and upstairs bathroom and it has given excellent results.

It's a cabin, right? Treat it like one. ;) :D

[boatbuilder.org]

There is a product called OS HARDWAX OIL, I think the product number is 3054. It is expensive stuff but all the eco-geeks use it which I assume it means it's safe. I use it on boats as well as in the home. One coat is plenty on walls and ceilings, but two or three coats are needed on floors. Application is easy, work it in the wood with a piece of rag (I let it sit for 1/2 hour or so) and then wipe it dry. When you wipe it dry, keep a rag in each hand or there might be hand/fingerprints on the surface when you are done.
---Joel---

[cs]

There are varnishs that are designed for gym floors and high traffic areas. I would look into this. Here is one such product. I'm not sure if it is the best, but here it is.


McCLOSKEY® GYMSEAL FLOOR FINISH - This tough, abrasion resistant varnish is made from urethane/alkyd and tung oil resins. It has a beautiful amber color, and like any oil varnish, brings out the beauty and depth of wood floors. It applies easily with a bristle brush or lambswool applicator. It's also the perfect choice for general finishing of trim and other woodwork in the home. This product has been around for decades and is a proven and reliable finish. It's flexible and expands and contracts better than pure polyurethanes and is the best choice for high-wear areas where frequent cleaning is done. http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/images/Gymseal.jpg

Chad

[Dan Lindberg]

Jim,

I've also built a cabin finished with T&G wood.

FWIW, my process was as follows,
spray both sides of all pieces with a oil based exterior wood preservative, I liked Bear, this seals the wood and minimizes movement.

After installing, coat with 2-3 coats of a water based polyurathane. I tried several brands and again prefered Bear, though the other brands also work. I used the foam pads to apply, it only took about 30 minutes to coat about 120-150 sq ft of surface. It dries fast and doesn't smell up the cabin.

The pine will turn a dark golden even if on ceilings.

White and red cedar change very little, aspen gets darker but not as much as pine.

I wouldn't use the pine for the floor, much to soft. (I have stair treads made of 2x stock and they are getting dented.)

I don't know yet what I will use for the floor, likely aspen for the loft, (aspen gets fairly hard after drying, it is much harder to install then either pine or cedar, and predrilling is needed at the ends.) birch and ash are the common hardwoods here in North MN.

Dan

[alteran]

The BEST HARDEST floor finsh I've ever found is " Traffic".

http://www.bonakemi.com/productspecs/traffic.html

Two part finish, easy to use. Everything they say on their website I've found to be true.

I put it on all the floors in my home after seeing it on a floors in a retail store. People coming in all winter long with slushy sand on their boots and it showed no wear.

Ash is really pretty Dan if you like a lot of grain showing. Economical too.

[Bruce Hooke]

It seems to me that a lot depends on what sort of look and "patina" you want. Do you want a bullet-proof finish that will let the pine age under it (no-UV blocker) while staying at least somewhat glossy, or do you want a finish that will age with the wood, taking on a woodsy, cabin-like feel? It sounds to me like you are after the latter, in which case I wonder how boiled linseed oil would work? I don't really like the look of high gloss floors in a cabin.

Without a really hard finish on it (or maybe even with such a finish) pine will get dented and scratched up with time, but that's not an issue if that is the sort of patina you want. I know very well a couple of houses in Maine with such pine floors and they look just fine to me.

Sand raises two issues: it will abrade the finish off course, but it may well also simply be annoying underfoot, which is more of a cleanliness issue. Aside from sweeping regularly (which is about as fast as vacuuming on a wood floor) I know of a few at least partial solutions to the sand problem:

1. Take off shoes at the door. This is what we do in mud season in Maine. When things are really bad outside this is really the only choice unless you want your cabin to be REALLY rustic, in which case a sawdust floor might be the way to go! :D

2. Put a dishpan of water outside the door and fill it with water for washing off bare feet. This is a great solution for a cabin where kids will be running up and down to a beach in bare feet and tracking sand all over the place.

3. A small area of grass outside the door will do a lot to brush sand off the bottoms of feet and shoes before you get to the door.

Edited to add: If you have stair treads you might want to use something harder than pine there. While pine works just fine for general flooring in my experience, it does get worn down on a staircase because all the wear gets consentrated in such a small area.

[ 01-06-2005, 03:33 PM: Message edited by: Bruce Hooke ]

[kc8pql]

I'm with Bruce. Boiled linseed oil or maybe Watco or Deft oil, which dry faster. The pine is going to dent. A hard glossy finish like polyurethane will show all the dings and is hard to repair without redoing the whole floor. In time oil will give you a nice mellow glow and the dents and scratches will become part of the character of the floor.

[jimnmad]

Thanks for all of the help. I have used Deks Olje on a boat and have liked how easy it was to apply as well as recoat. Would something like that be good to use? I was wondering because the place will be well insulated so you wouldn't want something that would be harmful to the occupants. I tend to want to use oils rather than varnish just to avoid the necessity of having to remove a finish before another one could be applied. I'll get a picture posted when we are finished. Thanks again!