Hi,
Our 40s home has Matai flooring in the main hallway, which has been sanded down and finished with polyurethane at some point.
The hallway goes into a narrow bit that connects to the bedrooms, which had carpet on it.
We pulled up the carpet in hallway and discovered that the (probably original) varnished Matai floorboards underneath are still looking good (after a good clean).
However, the person who did the sanding of the main hallway did about two metres of the narrow bit as well (see pics)
(The far end is the poly, the near end the old varnish)
https://preview.redd.it/4oou5howcpp71.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c84bf8d7c447d89058ea2d720cccb051141a54d3
https://preview.redd.it/z7foyccucpp71.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0ed58e8f860ce8782a721fb906385ac252c983f3
https://preview.redd.it/ww20ayducpp71.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e3676e62e176a4afbcde905b61e49f22d9a36a8f
I do not have time and money now to sand the entire hallway and finish it all uniformly. (I plan to put down a nice runner rug in this narrow hallway anyways)
My questions:
- What sort of varnish was most likely used in 1947 on a Matai floor? (We are in Wellington)
I want to find a varnish that matches as closely the original varnish.
- Is the original floor most likely stained and varnished in one step, or with a separate staining layer?
- Should I lightly sand the existing varnished floor to improve the uniform look when I varnish the bare wood part, or leave it alone?
- Any tips on how to find a matching colour and how to blend the two sections as best we can?
A mate is making me a large table out of recycled matai floor boards.
There has been much debate about how to treat it so it will be heat (coffee cup temp) and water (spills/beer glasses) resistant. It is currently untreated and freshly ripped.
Current thinking is tung oil, sand, oil, sand etc repeat 4-5 times, then a very light sand to make a matt finish.
I thought I would survey /diynz as to whether we are we going down the right path... if not, any recommendations?
Thanks in advance
