So, thought I’d write up a small report of stuff I wish I’d known before I started my floor, specifically about how it wears.
I have a
cob house, about 1100 sq-ish ft, three levels, with radiant tubes for heating. Here in the sandstone hills in northern California, we dug down below topsoil, put in about 44 tons of ¾” gravel (that’s about 6”-14” deep, depending on how much leveling we had to do) and then put in a
cob sub floor made from clay and ‘road-base’, which is a clay-full crushed gravel they use as a road top – sort of rural blacktop. That layer was something like 4” thick. Then tubes, then 1 ½” of fine sand, clay, horse manure mix “poured in” – that is, put in pretty wet and trowelled smooth.
When that had completely dried, I did one room one way, and the rest of the house another.
The bedroom got 6 coats: the first 100% oil, then I waited a week, and did a coat thinned to 75% with fancy citrus solvent. Waited a week, thinned again, to 50% waited a week, then did maybe 2 more coats at 50%, waiting each time until it dried.
The rest of the house was done (each room separately) ‘all at once’. Starting in the morning, I slopped on a heavy, heated coat, and as soon as it wasn’t puddled, did another, and another and another, using less (but still 100%) each time. I got 6 coats on in a day. Once everything dried, I did a fancy wax coat, buffing as much as I could.
Unfortunately, the one room done differently is the bedroom, which gets the least wear, so it’s not a good comparison.
They all look pretty good, with a dark chocolate color. The bedroom seems to be a bit shinier, which it turns out I like.
However, what I see in my kitchen (where most of the action is) is a floor that is NOT hard enough. The wooden kitchen chairs, when someone sits in them (and, surprise, that happens a lot) will leave (permanent) dents in the floor, deep enough for a quarter to sit in. I’ve dropped some things, and they’ve left noticeable dings. Basically, it’s not hard enough. That’s pretty frustrating, as I don’t know how I can repair it.
If I could do it again, I’d figure out a way to spend more time and get it harder, especially in the kitchen.
Tys