Flooring: 1st floor part 3 - oiling

With the stairs up and (most of) the floorboards down, the next job was to apply some protection to all of the bare oak. We'd decided to use hardwax oil (that sinks into the grain), rather than varnish or lacquer (that just sits on top) but took some time to test out various products first, to ensure we would be happy with the results. 

We'd seen a lot of floorboards that after oiling had turned rather orange and looked more like pine than oak. Once you've oiled it, you're pretty much stuck with it, so it was important to get it right first time. Luckily we had plenty of samples so we tested loads of different oils looking for something that would make the oak look as natural as possible. 

We had high hopes for various 'raw' oils, but these proved very disappointing. These are marketed as preserving the light, pale look of raw oak, but we found they didn't bring out the grain at all and instead gave the oak a dull, milky-white or pink finish that made it look more like plywood! (see sample area in top right of picture below).

But one oil stood out as a clear winner; Fiddes Natural was sold as an oak lightening oil and we found it produced a warm, honeyed-oak colour that emphasised the grain but didn't make everything too dark or too orange like so many others. (Fiddes oil is on the top part of the bottom-left sample pictured below).

Once we'd decided on the oil, the next job was to get the floor ready for treatment. As they were all newly-laid boards, there wasn't much prep to do.

We gave the boards a quick sanding with 150 grit paper to ensure the surface was clean and free of any glue spots.

Once all the boards had been sanded, we vacuumed to make sure there was no dust or debris left behind.

We applied the oil very sparingly, using a lint-free cloth to wipe it into the grain. It immediately brought out all the rich patterns in the wood.

The oil looked dark when first applied, but got gradually lighter and more oak'y as it dried. 

The main bedroom with its first coat of oil drying. 

Same process in the landing. We brushed on a very thin coating of oil, then spread it thinly across the wood using a cloth.

The first coat looked a bit patchy as it was drying.

We left it to dry thoroughly overnight, then sanded it gently with denibbing pads to smooth it off further, before applying a second thin coat of oil.

The decision to use untreated rather than pre-oiled oak boards worked really well. Not only were we able to colour and finish them exactly as we wanted, but it also meant that the stairs (also supplied untreated) matched the floorboards really well. 

We're really pleased with the way that the stairs seem almost to be a seamless continuation of the floorboards. It would have been impossible to match the stairs and boards so well if we'd used pre-oiled boards.

We'd already oiled the outside edge of the stairs (before the glass was fitted) so only needed to treat the steps. 

We also re-fitted the diagonal panel that runs alongside the stairs. This had been removed to allow access to fit the glass, but could now be permanently installed. Once screwed into place, we filled and sanded...

...then painted it to match the rest of the hallway. 

Despite it being tucked away in the cupboard, we weren't happy with seeing the underfloor heating pipes emerging untidily from the screed, so decided to box them all in.

Alan built a framework out of some old battens...

...which we wrapped in Fermacell off-cuts...

... before filling and painting it to finish it all off. 

Once the floorboards had dried, we could finally start using the main bedroom. We set up a temporary clothes rail in the walk-in wardrobe.

Before we could move in, the site inspector insisted on conducting a series of rigorous tests on the new floor. 

They were highly technical tests, involving measuring...

 ... checking that the floor was perfectly level...

...and finally a stress test, to ensure the floorboards could support extremely bulbous and heavy weights.

Fortunately the boards did not buckle under such a massive load and thanks to the site inspector's diligent testing procedures, we were able to move furniture into the main bedroom. Hooray for the site inspector!