Darryl takes the floor.

My floors are full of character, 120 years worth in fact. Some black japan stains, here and there, worn areas through doorways, a few scars, patches and infills (a bit like me really), they have there own story to tell, about the passages of lives through this old place. I don't want to strip all that history out of the old floors by having a heavy duty floor sander come through so I am tying a slighty lighter approach. Although it a bit heavier on my knees, I am sanding each area with a beltsander, and then using a random orbit sander around the edges and finishing the tight areas with my Fein multi-tool sanding attachment.

Yes it is labour intensive, but I can control the result, removing the remnants of glue and rubber from the old underlay yet leaving the deeper marks of age. It have worn out 6 sanding belts doing this area of around 9 square metres, which has set me back less than $40, not too bad when you consider the cost of professional sanding averages around $35 per/s/m. I still have to add the cost of floor sealer to that, not sure which one but I am about to experiment with some Feast Watson Floorseal, which is a blend of Tun Oil and some urethanes, a couple of coats of this followed with some beeswax will probably bring up the patina I am looking for.