I am hoping to clear a couple things up before I finish my 2000sqft DIY project.

I have read and searched but still have a few questions.

My floors look to be Fir and are from 1890. Some of it looks great while other areas have gaps between the boards and some cracks. The bathroom and kitchen have the most damage and gaps but the rest of the house has minimal to moderate gaps. Everything has been sanded and covered with paper to protect it.



Here is a pic of some of the worst. The large gaps with old filler or some other crud still in there. Nail heads and other mistakes are also present in the badly damaged areas.



Should I use a wood filler on this floor before staining?
I read here about woodwise and timbermate and have seen something in a bag that looked like sawdust. Would I use something like that with a 10" trowel maybe then hand sand afterward?
Is it worth it to fill gaps if the whole house has them or is it better to embrace my gaps.


I purchased 2 gallons of Bona DriFast to mix and make the 'antique' color.
I'll use the tips I found here.
http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwo ... ight=stain

I purchased 9 gallons of the semigloss Bona Traffic and will start with a small bath room to test my skills first. The large rooms are 10x10 and 10x30.

Can I do this whole finish job with a 10" Padco or Purdy white dove 3/8" roller?
Would a Shurline pad work as well as a Padco when using Traffic?

I was planning to buff between coats 2 and 3 with a maroon 3M pad by hand sander or with a square pad floor buffer.

Any tips for this project are welcome.

Thanks for the great forum. It's the best info of it's kind on the net.

Yes, your floors are douglas fir. They do not stain that well so I suggest making samples trying various techniques. Don't expect them to look like something they're not. As for the gaps, Timbermate is probably your best bet, if you must fill them. Any filler will crack and break out if the floors move much. You will not be able to hand sand the filler off the floor. You must use the drum sander and edger to remove the excess filler. To attempt to fill or not is your choice. If you do, try to clean out the crevices of old, loose dirt and crud to give the new filler a chance to bond. You seem to have a fairly good grasp on what is needed. Good luck

Do you get manicures? First off.. you're dealing with one of my favorite floors. And IMHO nothing looks better than 3 coats of oil (not wb) on these floors. Like Gary said staining these floors are tough. I would ALWAYS talk or try to talk my clients out of staining these floors. btw what are you going to do with all your left over expensive finish . I say embrace the gaps.. the filler WILL eventually pop out. I'd set the nail holes and spot fill those but that's it. Good Luck

Thank you both for the advice.

I had read about fillers popping out here. I have never seen a post that said, go ahead and fill away. This house will have upcoming foundation work as well which might flex the floors which makes the decision not to fill even easier.

I do like the idea of spot filling small areas. Some spots in the floor are dangerous without filling or sanding to fix the sharp edges.


We chose the stain hoping it would disguise some of the cracks and gaps.
What problems might I encounter if I choose to stain?
Does it just not absorb or get splotchy or..?
I guess I can make a test board to try it.

Choosing the Traffic was a long researched decision made here at the forum. I read Fabulon might better suit me but was persuaded to get the one of a kind benefits and challenges that Traffic offers. I probably should have posted before buying.

I hope I didn't overbuy finish by too much. I went by Gary's estimates I think. I'm planning 3 coats.

I guess I will go with the 10" pad and 3/8" roller.
Do I use the roller with the finish in the roller pan or apply a 'river' of finish from the bottle perpendicular to the area I am rolling and spread it out?

I assume I can only edge as much as I can roll within say 10 minutes otherwise the edges would dry first. I'm guessing on a big room I'd do some edging, do some rolling, do some edging, do some rolling. Correct?

Can I clean or store the wet rollers, and pads somehow, or are they 1 time use only.

Are sureline brand pads OK for Traffic?

<----- heads off to do test stain and file nails

I thought you were doing 1k sq feet. oops. I think 10 minutes is too long but i don't use wb that often. Sureline is fine for Traffic.

Fir stains uneven and splotchy. But considering what it looks like now (not great), maybe it would be the better option to stain it. Also, if it were me, I think I'd go ahead and attempt to fill those cracks. They are ugly. And if the filler pops out, you are no worse off than you are now, right? But use Timbermate. It's the only one that has a chance.

Here is a reply I wrote recently:

Thanks for the great replies.

Gary, I saw that quoted text in the other thread, great info in there.

I also reread the Traffic directions and that answered most of my other questions.

I've not entirely decided on wether to fill or not as I'm not eager to rent the drum sander each time we get a room or floor cleared to stain and finish. It looks like I'd need to rent a 1/2" drill as well for mixing the Timbermate for trowel application.

I'll get some Timbermate and try some spot filling to see what it's like.

The biggest issue right now is the stain color. I did a test board and the 'antique' color is coming out much darker than anticipated. The dark color is likely to show dust when dirty and looks too dark overall.

I could go without the stain but I'd need to order Bonaseal then.
Since I have to order something anyway, I was planning on just getting a lighter or natural stain.

Looking at the photos here, you can see the areas I'd like to 'even out' with the stain.

Will a light stain help disguise the uneveness in the boards or the patch jobs?

What Bona stain adds just a little density and a little warmth? Golden oak? Puritan Pine? Natural?

What color would you do it Gary?

Thanks for the help.


patch job




more patch work




bona antique and old oil finish shown above bare floors




closeup of stained area. 1 coat on left (darker) 2 coats on right (lighter)

You have to keep testing till you come up with the color you like. That's the only way. Asking me what color I like isn't going to help. Refer to Bona's color chart to give you an idea of the colors before you purchase the stain. BTW, you've gone about this project in a haphazard fashion. You sanded the floors before you decided on the color you wanted or whether or not you wanted to fill the gaps. Those questions should have been addressed prior to the beginning. So if you decide to fill the gaps, you have resand the floors.
Poor planning, IMO.