Refinishing face nailed flooring

[Roger Feeley]

We are repainting a room for our two grandsons in anticipation of twins in November. The floor is T&G pine that is face nailed with square nails. There are so many things done wrong and cheaply in that house I share didn’t see this one coming.

The square nails appear to be driven below the surface of the boards. When I sand off the finish I’m sure to expose some nail heads. Should I drive those nails further or just let them show? I’m going to finish with oil based polyurethane.

[Dave Sabo]

I’d just sand them with the floor. Be sure to use a heavyweight cloth backed sandpaper though.

[Roger Feeley]

I’d just sand them with the floor. Be sure to use a heavyweight cloth backed sandpaper though.

I was wondering what I should do if I sand enough that the heads are visible. Leave the shiny metal bits or recess them.

[Andrew Hughes]

I would like to suggest something other then Oil based poly.
That stuff takes a long time to dry look at the msds sheet I bet it has voc that are not good.
Rubio monocoat is a good finish for floors. It’s not shiny but friendly to humans
Good Luck

[Roger Feeley]

I would like to suggest something other then Oil based poly.
That stuff takes a long time to dry look at the msds sheet I bet it has voc that are not good.
Rubio monocoat is a good finish for floors. It’s not shiny but friendly to humans
Good Luck

the varnish I want to use has a nice amber tone to it. My usual varnish is from Vermont Natural Coatings which is very human friendly. But it dries very clear. I want to have a floor that is easy to repair meaning sand and varnish. I don’t want to have to blend stains. The oak floors in our house are this low maintenance finish.

[Andrew Hughes]

I figured you have some reasons for wanting oil based poly.
But what about the small people that will live in the room. I’m not a green new deal fan and don’t believe in global warming. I think we should drill everywhere for fossil fuel.
When it comes to man made chemicals for finishing im out.
I don’t want drain bamage.
Good Luck

[Greg Funk]

I figured you have some reasons for wanting oil based poly.
But what about the small people that will live in the room. I’m not a green new deal fan and don’t believe in global warming. I think we should drill everywhere for fossil fuel.
When it comes to man made chemicals for finishing im out.
I don’t want drain bamage.
Good Luck

Interesting that you believe some, but not all, information provided by scientists.

[William Hodge]

I never like sanding iron or steel, because it shoots sparks into the sawdust stream. I'm just concerned about sparks festering in the sawdust until later when no one is looking, and they smolder, and burst into flame.

[Tom M King]

We have face nailed Heart Pine flooring with cut nails in the main old part of our house. It was tongue and groove roof sheathing on a mid 19th Century railroad station. The tongues and grooves were so ruined by the crew that took it down that I ended up just ripping them off, and putting it down square edged. It was so cooked on that roof that it has never moved any since being in our house.

I hate the look of puttied holes, so I sanded it with a regular floor sanding drum sander to see what it would do. It ended up looking like such floors that have been walked on for a hundred years. The nails stick up ever so slightly higher than the surrounding field of the floor, and the wood tapers down all around the nails like one walked on for a hundred years so it's still all very smooth. The drum sander had no trouble with it, and I don't think more modern floor belt sanders would either.

I used moisture cure urethane, and it's not been refinished since I put it down in 1980.