rod5591 Posted January 21, 2019 Report Share Posted January 21, 2019 A friend is giving us about 700 sq feet of American Black Cherry wood planking of various lengths and widths. It was pulled off the walls of a house built in 1955, so it is at least 63 years old. It’s in OK but not great shape, (tape adhesive residue, nails, some cracks) but we need flooring in our home, and this is 3/4 inch thick, tongue in groove, solid wood, so we are going to give it a shot. Black Cherry is supposed to be softish but this wood seems as hard as a rock. I can not make a mark with my fingernail. Here is a photo of 6 of the smaller planks. Like I said, the cherry wood planks were used as wall paneling in a large den & library. So they are in good shape except for the dings caused by removing the planks from the walls. The outward facing side was stained or painted, stained I guess, and the stain went between the planks some (See photo) The inward facing side was not stained. In the photo, 3 stained sides are facing up and 3 unstained sides are up. If I am able, I would use the non-stained side for the flooring. I cleaned up and oiled the bottom plank in the below photo with boiled linseed oil , so the rest should look pretty good when finished. Some of the tongue and groove is broken and chipped in places. Some of the boards are cracked in places. I think I can build up the chipped parts and fill in the cracks with wood filler. Can anyone help me with advice on how to properly prerare the cherrywood for use as a floor? My current plan in sequence is 1) remove nails with an grinder and/or punch , 2) repair broken tongues and fill cracks with stainable wood filler , 3) remove the sticky residue of duct tape that bound stacked of wood together (not sure how--scraper? acitone? 4) sand smooth , ( not sure which kind of sander to use). 6) Stain wood (as light as I can make it) 5) apply an oil/protectent such as Hardwax Oil. Since Cherry wood is softer I need to protect its surface with something--but what? I would appreciate comments/advice/criticism of my plan to restore the wood I am not experienced in working with wood and my plan is based on Internet research. I think these are the questions: 1) Should I use stainable wood filler to repair the cracks and chipped tongues or something else? 2) What tool should I use to sand it and is there a sequence of grits I should use? 3) Can I stain the cherrywood to look lighter? 4) Can I remove the existing stain? How? 5) How best to remove the duct tape residue? 6) What to use to protect the wood? All comments are welcome, thanks very much for any help and advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted January 21, 2019 Report Share Posted January 21, 2019 I would tackle it by using a planer or drum sander to resurface and flatten all the planks. ALL the nails must be removed first!!!! A metal detector wand would be very beneficial here. Personally, I would try to avoid commercial wood fillers. Maybe use epoxy mixed with sandind dust from those boards. And there are many commercially available floor finishes that provide protection. @tom king has laid many a floor, perhaps he can recommend a good product. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceHoleInOne Posted January 21, 2019 Report Share Posted January 21, 2019 I would contact a floor refinisher and run it by them first. My thought, is to get the boards down on the floor and have a floor refinisher do the rest. They will sand smooth, etc. -Ace- 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted January 21, 2019 Report Share Posted January 21, 2019 My first thought was similar to what was pointed out above. Then i thought if this is going to be flooring lay it on the floor and sand it with a floor sander. A planer is going to get damaged by the dirt and detritus on the wood surface. Using a floor sander will not only be easy and should be readily available but it probably won't destroy knives and waste as much material. These guys (https://www.peteshardwoodfloors.com/) have amazing information on their website on refinishing hardwood floors. I have been successful utilizing it when i didn't have any good local resources. As far as finishing. Don't stain, this is cherry. A stain or dye is a pigment added to the woods surface. Cherry has irregular grain and absorbs pigment irregularly causing what is known as blotching. The wood it's self over time will darken from a salmon color to a medium brown with awesome chatoyance which is a subtle 3d like effect that gives natural wood it's shimmer. Stain will slightly disrupt that and in my opinion ruins the natural beauty of cherry. I believe Tom prefers Bona products. There are some finishing recommendations on that website as well. Oh also Cherry is soft so if you use it as floor prepare yourself for dents scratches and the like. It's going to be inevitable so just accept it up front. Over time the wear marks will blend together and just give the floor an antique worn look. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted January 21, 2019 Report Share Posted January 21, 2019 1 minute ago, Chestnut said: My first thought was similar to what was pointed out above. Then i thought if this is going to be flooring lay it on the floor and sand it with a floor sander. A planer is going to get damaged by the dirt and detritus on the wood surface. Using a floor sander will not only be easy and should be readily available but it probably won't destroy knives and waste as much material. These guys (https://www.peteshardwoodfloors.com/) have amazing information on their website on refinishing hardwood floors. I have been successful utilizing it when i didn't have any good local resources. As far as finishing. Don't stain, this is cherry. A stain or dye is a pigment added to the woods surface. Cherry has irregular grain and absorbs pigment irregularly causing what is known as blotching. The wood it's self over time will darken from a salmon color to a medium brown with awesome chatoyance which is a subtle 3d like effect that gives natural wood it's shimmer. Stain will slightly disrupt that and in my opinion ruins the natural beauty of cherry. I believe Tom prefers Bona products. There are some finishing recommendations on that website as well. My first thought was also a cheap planner pick up to at least get one side flat, then the floor sander after it's been laid. As far as staining it to look lighter, probably not going to happen. If you do add color, it will darken it (unevenly most likely) then the wood will naturally darken. I'm not a flooring guy at all and some here are ninjas with it. I'd get a few more responses. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted January 21, 2019 Report Share Posted January 21, 2019 Remove as much dirt and dust as possible. Use a metal detector and remove everything metal. Install the floor, then get a flooring company to asses it's needs as far as sanding and filling holes and cracks. Leave it natural, it becomes more beautiful daily. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Byrdie Posted January 21, 2019 Popular Post Report Share Posted January 21, 2019 First - I'll add my voice to the remove everything metallic and perhaps invest in some sort of detector to make sure all the nails and staples have been removed. Second, if the plan is to face the unfinished side up as your flooring and then finish it, I would stress so much about the bits of tape, adhesive, dings and other detritus. Nobody's going to see the face down side. You can worry about the unfinished face up side as suggested above - rent or hire a floor sander to finish the floor before applying the varnish of your choice. Personally, I'd hire this out as the combination of it being easy to gouge a floor with a floor sander (you have to keep it moving!!!) and cherry being somewhat soft lends its self to the idea of having a pro tackle it. If the unfinished side needs a little help, I'd agree with the suggestion of getting a small lunch box planer and giving it a very light skim cut. You don't need to remove too much material but all pieces should be done to the same thickness. Finally, unless the entire tongue is missing, I wouldn't bother trying to repair with wood filler or anything else. The tongue is there more for assistance with alignment. If too long a stretch of tongue is missing, you'd be better off cutting a mortise (groove) into the area of the missing tongue and inserting a thin length of wood, pine or poplar will do - no one is going to see it, as a replacement tongue. The idea here is to keep it simple. Molding or fashioning a filler is messy, time consuming and, for short stretches, unnecessary. Sounds like a fun project. Share pictures when done. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted January 21, 2019 Report Share Posted January 21, 2019 Keep in mind there is skill in installing a hardwood floor. I'd say start by reviewing the NWFA guidelines: http://tinytimbers.com/pdf/nwfa-install-guidelines.pdf Big factors are making sure you acclimate the flooring first, allow for expansion at the ends. I really liked Charles Peterson's book, which also came with a DVD. If you review that and watch the accompanying DVD video, I think you'll be reasonably confident about the entire process. He goes into good detail about things like the various sanders available to flooring finishers, and discusses many common pitfalls, so that you can hopefully avoid them. https://www.amazon.com/Wood-Flooring-Complete-Installation-Finishing/dp/1561589853/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=wood+flooring+complete&qid=1548105548&sr=8-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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