Do I really have to have a subfloor??


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Old 03-23-10, 05:07 PM
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Do I really have to have a subfloor??

Hey... this may sound crazy but I just got this old farm house with a wee kitchen. I went to remove the old linoleum and found that the subfloor is AWESOME... it is nice planks laying diagonally .... it is actually wood planks from this land. I would LOVE to just sand them just a bit then put layers and layers of polyurethane on them! The under neath of the house is completely sealed from the outside elements etc.

Soooo.... what do you think! Can I do this or is this a big issue?

Thanks!
 
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Old 03-23-10, 05:11 PM
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Welcome to the forums! Aside from the weakness of the original flooring you could just leave it as long as it is sealed. Do you know how it is sealed? Quite often the linoleum was used to seal the cracks (not too well, I might add). Can you determine the thickness of these planks? They could be of rough cut lumber and be nominally thicker than our lumber today. What is your joist spacing?
 
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Old 03-23-10, 05:22 PM
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Whatever anyone else's suggestion is, and I'm pretty sure it will be a nod, or a why not, how many layers of poly are you thinking is practical? If you want to bring out the depth of the wood then just go with oil-based poly. But four coats is the maximum I believe. More layers doesn't mean better appearance! Read up on finishing also, if you're not already familiar. You sound like you wanna do it right!
 
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Old 03-23-10, 06:35 PM
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OK.... I can't see underneath to get real measurements but it looks like they are
at least 3/4 inch thick and I measured from nail head to nail head, on the one area I have exposed now, it measured 13.5inchs distance between joist!

Yes the linoleum is sealing it. I figure I can put a small bead of clear silicon down each
seam to increase sealing then do the poly!

Thanks for the poly coating number suggestion and the read suggestion on finishing! Is there something on this site?

Ok... off to bed I go! I feel very hopeful on a BEAUTIFUL floor in my kitchen! These planks are gorgeous ....so far!!

Thank you all sooo soooo soooooo much!!
 
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Old 03-23-10, 08:37 PM
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Originally Posted by d_question
OK.... I can't see underneath to get real measurements but it looks like they are
at least 3/4 inch thick and I measured from nail head to nail head, on the one area I have exposed now, it measured 13.5inchs distance between joist!

Yes the linoleum is sealing it. I figure I can put a small bead of clear silicon down each
seam to increase sealing then do the poly!

Thanks for the poly coating number suggestion and the read suggestion on finishing! Is there something on this site?

Ok... off to bed I go! I feel very hopeful on a BEAUTIFUL floor in my kitchen! These planks are gorgeous ....so far!!

Thank you all sooo soooo soooooo much!!
If you can get below the floor. I would cut some 2x10 pieces and put them in between the joists with joist hangers to stiffen them up.
 
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Old 03-24-10, 06:06 AM
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Not that it matters but what is under the kitchen? Yes you can sand the floors and use them. If they are strong enough to use now then taking the linoleum off won't weaken them. You don't need that much poly on them. Minwax recommends no more than two coats with it's product.
 
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Old 03-24-10, 03:22 PM
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It's hard to get a nice looking poly job with just 2 coats. 3 coats usually works well. I've never heard of any number of coats limit, since you should always sand [and remove the dust] between coats, I can't see where multiple coats [within reason] would be an issue.
 
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Old 03-24-10, 04:28 PM
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Mark is right. And the first coat is basically a sealer coat.

Never shake a can of Poly to mix it. Only slowly stir making sure to mix what's at the bottom with what is at the top, so you get uniform and expected sheen. You do not want to get air bubbles entrained in it. If a can sits(for who knows how long on a store or your shelf) and you never stir it, you might say get a semigloss appearance out of your satin poly, for example, from how the sheen ingredient settles out!

You want to make sure the floor is dust free after it is prepped. Poly has a habit of leaving blistered air bubble pops at the site of any dust particle, that you can feel afterward.

Always keep in mind that even though you thought you vacuumed the floor first really really good, that as you drag the vac away froma floor crack, the dust in the crack can be pulled out of the crack, and not quite make it's way into the vacuum cleaner! Go over and over the floor, and concentrate on making sure all the dust is out of any crack (lest you pull it out with poly on a brush or sponge applicator), and feel the floor as you go, to feel if any particles are still on the floor. You could use a tack cloth also, when all done.

It is very satisfying knowing what CAN go wrong, and avoiding that, and having it come out nice and smooth.

It must be about at least 7? years ago I repolyed a huge living room and long hallway floor, down on my hands (I like the comfort of doing that and can see good also, as to not puddle the poly, plus was down there feeling the floor as I vacuumed, as mentioned......yes, you think surely you vacuumed every square inch, yet can feel partciles, so you do it til you feel no particles!) and knees with a paint brush(note that lines from the brush brsitles in the poly disappear!), and I applied 3 coats, and it came out beautiful and has lasted almost unchanged to this day.......in a college rental, if you can imagine!
 
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Old 03-24-10, 07:59 PM
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Originally Posted by d_question

Yes the linoleum is sealing it. I figure I can put a small bead of clear silicon down each
seam to increase sealing then do the poly!


Careful here. I'd find a better approach to handling the seams. How big are these seems?

Maybe someone has a better suggestion on this one.
Anyone know if pore filler will fill out a seem?
I do know that whatever can be used to seal the gaps if polyurethane won't will have to be put down after perhaps coat number two. So that any excess can be wiped or sanded away without getting into the woodgrain.
 
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Old 03-25-10, 04:58 AM
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The problem with using fillers with wide cracks is the fact that they aren't flexible so there is a propensity for cracking

I don't particularly like the idea of using caulk for the gaps but depending on their width, I'm not sure there is a better solution.... and yes, you would want to apply at least 1 coat of poly before using the caulking.
 
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Old 03-26-10, 07:21 AM
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I had the same problem with old wide plank floors. To fill the large gaps I used oakum. The sanding process took the oakum down level and the varnish sealed it. The smaller spaces were just left. This is what gives the floor character.
 
 

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