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Stuart Noble

wrote:
On 5 Jul, 00:00, wrote:
Investigating options to redo the flooring in some of the house, I
came across what seem to be traditional style tongue and groove
floorboards - but made of spruce which I believe is a rather soft wood
for a flooring application.

Seehttp://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/124419

Now on the package for these boards it specifically says not to use
this as a finished floor surface, but more for replacing existing
floorboards.

My question is - is there not a reasonable way to finish this sort of
wood so that it could be used as the finished flooring? It could
certainly look very nice and I don't mind trading effort to save some
money if that's what it would take. But is this a false economy
somehow?

Any ideas if this is a realistic prospect?

Thanks,
David

I would definitely not use those or similar boards for a finished
floor. They are extremely soft and easy to dent. They are nothing like
floorboards of old!

T

Jewsons used to do some rather nice 6" x 1" whitewood flooring ("spruce"
aka Norwegian Xmas tree). Compared to the usual redwood, it's cheaper,
more bland in appearance (probably an advantage over a large area), more
stable, and takes a stain better. The disadvantages are that the planed
finish is not as smooth (it tends to tear as it's machined), the knots
are few but may fall out as it dries, and it's a much soft timber.
You may overcome the latter with a hard coating such as Rustins 2 part
floor varnish. It certainly looks better than redwood IMO, but only you
know how much traffic the floor will take.
I would advise finishing the boards before you lay the floor and, if
using the above varnish, doing it outdoors.