Let's prepare a floor for lye application ...

I’ve had a lot of requests on how best to prepare a wood floor for lye application ,
so here goes …

Preparation and in this case correct sanding is key .

The basic sanding principles are generally the same as stated in The Art of Floor Sanding blogs but there are some details that are particular to lye application,

Firstly be aware of the grit we would like to finish on before the lye application .
This will effect grain raising and the amount of lye that is absorbed into the wood .
For example with a Victorian pine floor we would normally finish with an 80 grit (silicon carbide ) abrasive.
This allows the lye to really soak into the floors creating a slightly whiter finish than if the floors were finished at 120 grit .
The grain will also be raised giving a nice raw texture to the floor.

With an oak floor i would normally take the floor to 120 grade silicon carbide abrasives as oak already has an open grain and we may want a smoother more modern feel.

I would stress that at this point all sanding is done using some form of finishing machine as stated in previous blogs .

The belt sander if used before should be well out of the room! …Not suitable at all to be sanding at 80 Grit!
These differences in smoothness/ finishing grit are subtle but worth noting ,
More important is that the floor sanding is consistent,
To this end make sure that special attention is paid to how the edges are sanded.
They need to blend perfectly onto the main floor.
Lye will get stuck in rough patches of floor creating patches etc.
Our edges are always finished with a light rotary sander
Sand the edges WITH A LIGHT before the final passes of the main finishing sander .

In this way our main finishing sander will overlap the edge sander coming as close to the walls as possible to make the perfect blend .
Use the same abrasive on the sides as our last finish with the large sander.

 lye and white oiled oak floor