We've just bought a cottage which requires some fairly substantial
renovation, so I'm sure I'll be posting here more often than I have in
the past (I promise not to mention land reform, magnetic water
softeners, S*niflos or Agas).

In a fit of enthusiasm we cleared out the hearth to the original
dimensions, prior to fitting a wood stove. However, we stupidly didn't
protect the pine floor boards, which are now quite sooty.

We want to sand the floors at some point; will sanding take the surface
soot of, or just ingrain it into the wood? If so, any recommendations
as to how to get the soot off?

thanks,
Nathan

Nathan Critchlow-Watton wrote:
We want to sand the floors at some point; will sanding take the surface
soot off

Yes, that's what it does.


or just ingrain it into the wood? If so, any recommendations
as to how to get the soot off?

Erm... a pail of water, a damp cloth, and some soap?

On 8 Nov 2005 01:58:29 -0800, "Nathan Critchlow-Watton"
wrote:

We've just bought a cottage which requires some fairly substantial
renovation, so I'm sure I'll be posting here more often than I have in
the past (I promise not to mention land reform, magnetic water
softeners, S*niflos or Agas).

In a fit of enthusiasm we cleared out the hearth to the original
dimensions, prior to fitting a wood stove. However, we stupidly didn't
protect the pine floor boards, which are now quite sooty.

We want to sand the floors at some point; will sanding take the surface
soot of, or just ingrain it into the wood? If so, any recommendations
as to how to get the soot off?

Detergent and s scrubbing brush should work.

If not, try sanding.

If that fails, turn the floorboards upside down.

On 8 Nov 2005 01:58:29 -0800, "Nathan Critchlow-Watton"
wrote:

We've just bought a cottage which requires some fairly substantial
renovation, so I'm sure I'll be posting here more often than I have in
the past (I promise not to mention land reform, magnetic water
softeners, S*niflos or Agas).

In a fit of enthusiasm we cleared out the hearth to the original
dimensions, prior to fitting a wood stove. However, we stupidly didn't
protect the pine floor boards, which are now quite sooty.

We want to sand the floors at some point; will sanding take the surface
soot of, or just ingrain it into the wood? If so, any recommendations
as to how to get the soot off?

thanks,
Nathan

If you are going to sand the boards at some point then currently all
you are interested in doing is cleaning the boards to make them
presentable .Use water and some cleaning agent to stop the immediate
problem ..sanding later witll remove any residue but if you clean them
properly there shouldn't be any
Stuart




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Shift THELEVER to reply.

On 8 Nov 2005 01:58:29 -0800, "Nathan Critchlow-Watton"
wrote:

We want to sand the floors at some point; will sanding take the surface
soot of, or just ingrain it into the wood?

That depends on how carefully you sand them.

Scrub the boards (sugar soap) clean before sanding (sooty or not). Work
the sander carefully, so as not to need to walk over both dirty and
sanded areas. When working on the sanded floor, wear clean footwear (a
cheap pair of canvas espadrilles, bought for the job).

Your sander will remove soot from the boards, but you need to be careful
not to track old soot from other boards onto the cleaned ones.