I am not sure if this is the right place to post this question, but hear goes….
I have heart pine flooring in my home that came from an old cotton mill. Of course, once the beams were milled into flooring, it didn’t look old, so through experimentation, we came up with a finished that looks real old.
But now a problem has developed. On a few boards, in appears that sap is coming out or causing the finish to soften or something. It’s gets sticky, collects all kind of lint, dog hair, etc. I am looking for suggestions about how to fix this. Any help you can give will be appreicated. By my wife.
RLH
Replies
I would recommend first sanding the wood in the problem areas down to bare wood. Then use some solvent to remove as much of the surface pitch as you can--you may need to try a variety of things, but lacquer thinner should work well. Next, seal the surface with dewaxed shellac (Zinsser SealCoat, which you can get at your local hardware store or home center). The shellac will help prevent any further bleeding of the pitch from reacting with the top coat. Finally, reapply any stains, etc., followed by your top coat. You may have to finesse a little to blend the repaired spots, but it sounds like you've already done some experimentation with the finishing, so you probably already have a good idea of what needs to be done.
-Steve
What the other Steve S. has told you seems to me about the best you can do. Just be aware in some cases, where the pine hasn't had the sap "set" by kiln drying it may not solve the problem. In that case, you might even have to do something drastic like cutting out the offending boards and replacing them with non-sappy alternatives.
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