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Screen printer and Ideal Home contributor Hannah Carvell says she restored her cottage living-room floorboards for under £100 by hiring a sander and applying clear oil. The boards looked lighter after sanding, but the oil darkened them; Carvell said she had not tested the finish on a small area first.
Screen printer Hannah Carvell says she restored the stained and scratched floorboards in her cottage living room for under £100, using a day-hired sander and clear oil rather than replacing the floor. The boards looked lighter after sanding, but the oil brought them back to a darker shade than she expected—a result she linked to skipping a patch test.
Carvell, an Ideal Home Open House contributor, said she had begun redecorating the room after putting off the project for two years. She painted its walls, ceiling, skirting boards, window sills and doors in Dulux Heritage Sage Green. Once the walls were refreshed, the condition of the dark, varnished floor stood out: Carvell described it as stained and deeply scratched.
Replacing the flooring was outside her budget, she wrote, partly because the cost would include removing the existing boards and paying someone to install new flooring. Instead, she hired a floor sander for a day and worked on the boards with her husband. She said the work was hard and very dusty, continued into the evening, and ran until midnight.
During the job, her husband accidentally ran the sander over the cord of the household vacuum cleaner. Carvell said it fused with a bang and sparks, while the sander was not damaged. They later had the vacuum cord fixed and cleaned up before judging the result. She said sanding removed the old varnish, marks and scratches and brought the wood grain back into view.
A Low-Cost Alternative to New Flooring
Carvell’s account offers a practical example of restoring existing floorboards instead of paying for replacement materials and installation. The reported cost was under £100, but this was her project’s total, not a quoted standard price: it included £35 for one day of sander hire, sandpaper belts and a tin of oil. The belts were on a sale-or-return basis when the machine was returned, she said.
The account also shows that the visible finish can change between sanding and sealing. Carvell liked the lighter, freshly sanded wood but said the clear oil made it darker. She later found on the product tin that the wood would take on the colour it appeared to have when wet. The experience matters to people planning a similar job because the final look depends not just on sanding, but on the treatment applied afterward.
Her story is a personal report, not a price survey or a guarantee that every floor can be restored for the same amount. The source does not specify the floor’s size, wood species, condition beneath the varnish or the amount of sandpaper used. Those details can affect both the work and the cost.
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Why the Floor Was Sanded
Carvell said the living room had not been redecorated since her family moved into the cottage. Before the project, it had chipped walls, holes, no curtains and worn floorboards. She had planned to paint the room green and use colour across its walls and trim, but had not intended to work on the floor.
The fresh paint made the old boards look more conspicuous, prompting her and her husband to address them partway through the decorating. Carvell had considered discounted flooring online, but wrote that buying new boards and arranging removal and fitting still exceeded her budget. Hiring a sander became a lower-cost way to see whether the existing wood could be salvaged.
The floor work also led to another change in the room. Carvell had imagined making curtains from fabric bought at a sample sale, but said the quantity required would have made even discounted fabric expensive. She instead bought ready-made olive-green striped blackout curtains from Habitat for £50 per pair, according to her account.
The Finish and Cost Depend on Each Floor
The source does not give a precise final bill, breaking down the price of the sandpaper belts and oil or stating whether any other supplies were included in the under-£100 total. It also does not specify the floor’s area or timber type, so readers cannot use the account to calculate a reliable cost per room or expect the same result in another home.
Carvell said the oil darkened her boards, but did not establish whether a different product would have kept them lighter. She wondered whether wax might have produced a different appearance; that was speculation, not a tested alternative. The report also does not say whether she sought professional advice about the floor or whether sanding would suit other types or conditions of flooring.
The vacuum-cord incident is described as an accident during the work. The account says the cord was repaired and the sander was unharmed, but gives no further information about the repair or the equipment used. The article is a first-person account and does not independently verify the costs or assess the work.
Further Cottage Projects Remain Planned
Carvell wrote that the living room was ready for winter and that she was pleased to have brought the room together with new paint, restored boards and curtains. She also mentioned beginning a project involving the fireplace, but said she would share more about it another time. The source gives no date or further details for that work.
For readers considering a similar floor project, the clearest lesson from Carvell’s account is to test the chosen finish on a small, inconspicuous area before treating the whole floor. Her report does not offer a step-by-step guide or professional assessment; the suitability, equipment needs and final appearance of sanding will depend on the floor itself.
Key Questions
How much did Hannah Carvell say the floor project cost?
Carvell said it came to under £100. She listed £35 for hiring the sander for a day, plus sandpaper belts and a tin of oil, but did not give an itemised final total.
Why did the floor turn darker after sanding?
Carvell said she applied clear Osmo oil after sanding. She later read on the tin that the wood would take on the colour it appeared to have when wet, which she said made it darker than she had expected.
What did Carvell say she would do differently?
She said she had not done a patch test before applying the oil. A small test area would have shown her how the product affected the wood colour before she treated the full floor.
Did the sanding remove the floor’s scratches and stains?
Carvell said the brown varnish, scratches and stains were gone after sanding, and that the wood grain was visible again. This is her account of her own floor; the source does not establish how another floor would respond.
What else changed in the living room?
Carvell painted the room in Dulux Heritage Sage Green and bought olive-green striped blackout curtains from Habitat. She said the curtains cost £50 per pair.
Source: rss
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