Hello,
>
> The previous owner of my house fitted a beech block floor in the front
> room - blocks are 3" x 12", affixed with pitch to (I think) chip-board
> (or maybe plywood). The beech blocks have become very dirty over the
> years and there is some staining in places, and blobs of pitch have
> squeezed up through the gaps in others. The gaps between the blocks
> (typically around 1mm) have filled with dust and gunge. Floor area is > 2.5m x 7m. >
> I am keen to resore the floor to get back the beech tone (assuming it
> is still there), and apply a sealant/protective coating that would
> also serve to fill the gaps and prevent long-term gunge build-up. >
> I have seen that others have approached this by removing all the
> blocks, then using a thicknessing tool to remove the back face and > pitch mess. >
> So, a few questions:
>
> 1) I assume in-situ sanding won't work, due to differing heights of
> the blocks and steps from one to the next (although I am not looking
> for a mirror-flat result) - I ask this as all but a few blocks are
> -very- well attached, and I am worried about "collateral damage" due
> to getting them up?
>
> 2) What would people recommend for restoring the front face of the
> (removed) blocks - e.g. thicknesser to take off ~1mm + a sander of > some sort? >
> 3) What can anyone recommend to apply as a sealant, and would this
> also do for filling the gaps?
>
> Thanks in advance/Paul
The normal way to restore wooden floors is to sand in situ using a floor sander. Hire one of the big sanders and a edge sander and seal with floor varnish.Rob