The importance of preparation for wood floors

Preparing floors can be time consuming and dusty task

Wooden floors are glorious things. They have beautiful feel that shows the history of the wood used and reflect the wonders of their individual growth and characteristics. However, if you are using a treatment (like the wonderful Osmo Polyx Oil) it is really important to get a consistent finish on the floor first. A typical application requires a final sand of around 120 grit.

If you don't get a consistent finish then the oil will not be absorbed evenly and this can lead to a number of problems. Recently a customer used new timber on their floor that had not been sanded over after laying. The timber had been put through a planer that had created different finishes on the planks. In some areas the timber had effectively been polished by the planer and in other areas the timber was still quite rough. The new Raw Polyx Oil was then applied.

The Raw product has a minimal amount of white pigment in it to counteract the honey effect associated with oil treatment. It is also designed to have no visible finish, thus making the wood appear to be untreated - raw, if you like.

What happened was that the rough areas allowed the product to 'pool'. This has led to these areas appearing to be milky as the pigment was concentrated in here. Also the polished areas retained their polished appearance as the oil could not be easily absorbed into the wood in these areas. The outcome has been a patchy mix of sheens and colours. Obviously not ideal on a lovely new oak floor.

So it is really important to ensure that the floor has been sanded consistently across the whole surface. Any product will then be absorbed into the timber in a regular manner and hence give an excellent and predictable finish. This is really important where you have a pigment / colour involved in the process.

So time spent in getting this right will bring rewards in the longer term, so build in the time and expense into your equations to allow for good preparation when renovating or installing a new wooden floor.

Osmo Sample Sachets

One of the issues with Osmo products up until now has been the issue associated with tester pots.

The brilliant Osmo Polyx Oils, Wood Waxes etc have only been available in the small 125ml tins and these are meant to sell for £9 each. Now this has been a tad steep, especially if you wanted to compare a couple of colours and finishes, however, now there is an answer.

The new 5ml sachet samples. These are ideal for trying Osmo products on a small section of timber. At present they are only available in the internal finish range - Polyx and Wood Wax etc, but soon the exterior range (Wood Oils, Country Colour etc) will be launched.

The new 5ml is a much more realistic £1.20 RRP, but we shall be selling at £1 each.

Polyx Oil range can be found here
Woodwax range can be found here

Osmo White on White

Getting a lovely white finish to a floor can be a bit tricky and so here is a little tip that I gleamed from Osmo last week.

If you are wanting to get a 'pure' white finish on a floor it is better to use 'White on White' rather than 'Clear on White'. What this means is that it is better to use a white base colour and then top it with a white tinted top coat. If you put a clear on a white base then it can turn it slightly yellowy due to the oils in the clear.

So the recommended type of formula would be:

Osmo 3111 White Wood Wax  - Base Coat

Osmo 3040 White Tinted Polyx Oil - Top Coat

Note that it would be one coat of each maximum!

This combination will produce a lovely clean white finish and also quite a whitened effect.

New fascia for gutter

The guttering at the front of the house is aluminium and so is well worth keeping, so I am planning to rub them down and repaint. However, the last set of workers managed to dislodge all the brackets on it. This means that re-attaching the gutter to the house is a little trickier than might be expected.

The new lime render will be 'soft' for a while. The curing process where it carbonates takes quite a while and during this it lacks the sort of strength associated with the old cement render. Being in Wales I cannot really afford to go without gutters, especially with winter approaching!

So the answer will be to attach a new fascia board and then fix the gutter to this. So I dashed out and bought some 5 x 1 PSE timbers. Now PSE is not treated, so I have spent a few minutes over the last couple of evening putting on the following:

For the ends I have pre-treated the boards using Osmo 4005 Wood Protector. This will act as an anti-fungal treatment to the weakest point in the wood and also help to stabilise it. I have then applied Osmo's Opaque White Wood Stain over the top using two thin coats. This is Osmo's specialist treatment for high exposure areas (particularly doors and windows). This should last a good number of years, especially since the wall is east facing. My philosophy is to use products that work with the wood in a sympathetic manner and so will last much longer - less maintenance to worry about in the long term!

Osmo solve 'oil treatment' problem

As you may be aware there is a major choice to make when treating wood with a natural protector. An oil based or a water based solution?

Oil based treatments are harder wearing and last longer, BUT they do change the colour of the wood and enhance the grain (see above)

Water based treatments do not change the colour as much, but they do tend to lift the grain of the wood.

So what if you want to keep the colour of your wood, but want the longer lasting protection etc? Well up until now it has been a problem, but those clever people at Osmo have now produced Osmo Polyx RAW. This is a new product that has some white tint in the mix to counteract the enriching effects of the oil, plus they have done away with the matting / satin agents that produce the finish, so that the wood is left looking as close to its original state as possible. (Note that 'Red' woods will be enhanced with the reddiness of the wood and so the white pigment in the RAW might turn this pink.)

So if you love the look of your untreated floor / worktop / furniture etc and want to give it the all the protection you associate with oil treated products then there is now an answer!

Eco Home Centre is selling this new product and you can find it in our Osmo Tints product range

Osmo Powergel tested

As I am a believer in trying out all the products that we sell (I always want to be sure that the products work as expected to) and this summer I had a chance to try out Osmo Powergel on my parents oak bench.

I was a little nervous as it does appear to be too good to be true. Just put the Power Gel on, leave it and then wash and brush off using a stiff scrubbing brush. I was unsure as to the effectiveness of the Gel and was expecting the brushing off to do most of the work.

So I was very pleased to see that after a few minutes the old colour of the wood started to show through. After half an hour I could clearly see that the oxalic acid (from rhubarb) was working its magic. The brushing off was easy enough and the wood looked great.

The process does get the wood very wet and so you need to do this on a good sunny day so that it can dry out quickly again.

I then used an Auro product to refresh the bench with a new coat of teak oil. However I was surprised a bit as the Auro product has a tint in it (to give it a UV protection value). I was expecting a clear Teak Oil, but the colour that it gave has proved to be a hit with the parents. This also means that the colour and finish should last a bit longer than using a clear oil.

So, all in all, a successful trial that has proved to be as easy and effective as billed on the tin. So thanks to Osmo and Auro for your well designed products for wood.

Anti-slip treatment for wood flooring

Recently I had a query from a commercial company who had been having trouble with people putting in claims against them for injuries caused by slipping. So after a bit of research I found that slip resistance has a scale. The majority of domestic floor finishes have a rating of R9. Even many commercial products are a R9. Osmo Polyx Oil and the Osmo Pur fall into this category.

A bit more digging and I discovered that the insurance industry requires a R11 rated floor finish in order to cover injury claims against slippage. So the hunt was on to find a suitable R11 rated floor finish from an eco-friendly manufacturer.

Thankfully we are an Osmo stockist and despite a R11 rated finish not being available from Osmo UK, we managed to get a shipment across from Germany of the 3089 Hartwachs-Ol Anti-Rutsch Extra! This is a R11 finish and also based on natural oils (a la Polyx Oil). Unfortunately the paperwork that accompanies the product is only in German, but it is applied in the same way as the Polyx oil.

From grey wood to great wood

From Waltons Shed blog - thanks

It is at this time of year that we are out enjoying our gardens, but many of us are sitting on tired looking furniture. UV light degrades wood slowly but surely and as part of this process it creates greyed surfaces on our tables, chairs etc.

Getting the furniture back to looking great can be important, both for looks and for its longevity. However many of these types of products are not very eco-friendly as they tend to use acids to strip back the top layer of the wood to reveal the less effected wood underneath - therefore refreshing the look.

Osmo PowerGel is one product though that is eco-friendly (it uses oxalic acid that is found in rhubarb leaves). This is a fully biodegradable product and has also been designed to be easy and safe to use. A video from Osmo can be found here showing the Powergel in full flow!

Eco Home Centre sells the Powergel and also the various Osmo wood oils that are suitable for furniture. This range of products will help keep the furniture looking great but also has the great advantage that when reapplying the oils in future years you don't need to sand the surface back. Osmo works with the wood rather than sitting on top like lacquers and varnishes. This makes it much easier to live with and so will help reduce maintenance of your now great looking garden furniture!

Water based or Oil based clear wood treatment?

Wood is a great natural product, but to get the best out of it it is often necessary to protect the surface from wear and tear. In order to maintain its' beauty we often want a clear treatment, but treatments do alter the way that the wood acts.

There are a few options here with regards to suitable products. The basic choice though is down to whether to use a water based or an oil based solution. Your choice will ultimately depend on a variety of factors, but the main points to understand which each choice are:

A. Oil based solutions.

Here (in an art work) the difference that an oil treatment and the bare wood is clear to see

1. Change the colour of the wood and make it a much richer finish (this depends on the wood type as to which colours are more pronounced).
2. The create a harder wearing surface
3. Need to have a solvent in order to deliver the oils into the wood (this tends to be petro-chemical based, although Auro do have an orange oil based product)
4. If using a Hard Oil then it will need to have a wearing layer (generally a wax) unless a Hard Wax Oil combination product is used. Osmo and Auro have such products.
5. Take time to dry - around 12 hours unless a more volatile solvent is used.

B. Water based solutions
1. Do not change the colour of the wood
2. Are not as hard wearing
3. Are very quick drying
4. Lift the grain of the wood
Most people tend to err on the side of oil based products, especially where hard wear is expected (floors, work surfaces, furniture). If you are looking for more natural products, then Osmo and Auro only use natural oils in their products, although the Osmo use debezenated white spirit for their solvent. Blanchon produce a good water based Hard Wax Oil for those areas where quick drying, low wear applications are required.

For more information it is worth using our Paint Chooser on the Eco Home Centre where you can explore the wood treatment options that are available through the Eco Home Centre.