Yellow Pine and Douglas Fir Floors

YELLOW PINE AND DOUGLAS FIR FLOORS Edge-grain or quarter-sawed yellow pine and Douglas fir flooring are widely used for many of the same purposes as hardwood flooring. The Yellow Pine Manufacturers' Association recommends a hard oil finish for yellow pine floors in stores; a shellaced, varnished, and rubbed, or shellaced and rubbed finish for yellow pine floors in apartments, residences, hospitals, etc.; and for bowling alleys and dance halls, several coats of varnish, rubbed and sanded between each coat, while sometimes the varnished surface is also waxed very lightly and rubbed down. For the treatment of yellow pine floors, the Association gives the following directions which are based upon the experience of many architects: Finishing of Yellow Pine Floors Never lay a yellow pine floor until the plastering in the building is on the wall and thoroughly dry. Yellow pine floors should be smoothed, hand-scraped, and sandpapered with the grain of the wood, and left in perfect condition to receive the work of the painter the same as any other hardwood floor.

To make a good finish, use only the best materials and skilled labor.

The close, hard fiber of Southern yellow pine renders a paste filler undesirable. Use the very best liquid wood filler; a thin shellac filler is more desirable however, although the cost is somewhat greater. Shellac requires several hours to dry perfectly.

The finishing coat for a varnished floor should be of the best elastic floor varnish.

Varnished and Polished Floor.

Prepare a clean, smooth surface; and, if stain is required, apply a coat of the desired stain on the bare surface of the wood. Wipe off with cotton waste or cheesecloth to prevent raise of grain. Sand lightly with No. 0 sandpaper, and apply a thin coat of white shellac dissolved in grain alcohol; then sand again with fine sandpaper, and proceed with the finish in the regular way, by the application of floor varnish. To produce as fine a surface as on oak, each coat of floor varnish should be rubbed. Wax may be applied to the varnish surface if desired.

Dull or Waxed Floor.

After a clean, smooth surface of the wood has been obtained, apply a coat of the desired stain (a neutral tint preferred). Wipe off with cotton waste or cheesecloth, to prevent the wood absorbing too much moisture. When the stain is thoroughly dry, seal the surface of the wood with a thin coat of white shellac. When dry, sand lightly with No. 0 sandpaper, apply second coat of thin shellac, and, when dry apply with a soft, dry cloth a generous coat of wax. Rub wax thoroughly into the surface with dry cloth or regular floor polisher.

The former way of waxing a floor omitted wood filler, shellac, or varnish, but included several coats of wax or oil thoroughly rubbed into the surface of the wood. The effect produced a polished but not a hard surface, and soon discolored from dust and dirt.

Hard Oil Floor.

Properly clean and carefully smooth the floor surface; coat it over with boiling hot linseed oil, tinted such shade as will bring the sap and lighter shades to the heart color, allowing it to stand until thoroughly hardened before being exposed; give a second coat of the same materials, tinted as above mentioned; sandpaper, and finish with floor wax or firstclass floor varnish. If wax is used, it must be thoroughly rubbed into the surface. If varnish is used, each coat should be carefully rubbed down.

Varnished Floor.

Properly clean, scrape, and dust the floor surface insisting upon same attention as is given to hardwood. Apply one coat of good quality floor varnish; slightly cut with turpentine, allowing it to set 48 hours. When thoroughly dry, sandpaper lightly with No. 0 paper, and remove dust; apply second coat of the same good floor varnish, full strength, this in turn to stand until dry and hard; sandpaper lightly, and clean floor as before. Apply a third coat of varnish, full strength; and either leave in gloss, or rub to a dull finish, as owner may direct.

The specifications for finishing yellow pine floors apply equally well to Douglas fir floors.