Staining plywood floor in the basement

[Rhezuss]

Hi all, i'm in the process of finishing my basement. When we bought the house half of the basement was finished with a complete bathroom, a bed room and a living room. There was also a 14' x 25' (4.3m x 7.6m) left unfinished. This space is on the plywood and the exterios walls are plastered and ready to paint.

I started last week and I decided to finish this space with another bedroom, two wardrobes (one for each new room) and an open area that I call my geek space where i'll have a table in the middle of the place for some board game evening and my PC in a corner.

My question is concernant plywood and staining it. The plywood is in great condition with some slight surface oil stains. I thought about staining it instead of installing some kind of flooring over it. It would give a nice look and would not stop me from adding a new flooring down the road.

Here's a bad picture of the geek spot, which you don't see really well but it's the only picture I have on my phone that I can share at this very moment.

Also, here's a plan I drew to show the rooms, the one on the left called "Salle de jeu" (gaming room 😛) is the one I want to stain the floor.

As you can see the floor is in top shape but it has some small stains on it's surface, nothing too dramatic and the picture seem to accentuate the color a bit.

I looked at this site and there's some ideas and pictures to show the results: http://manningmarable.net/plywood-f...-flooring/plywood-flooring-for-the-kids-room/

Anyone of you did this and would like to comment?

 

[Carson Dyle]

I can't imagine that would look good. I would guess that anyone using plywood as a flooring material selected a grade of plywood with a good quality, finished side. What's down in your basement was most likely just intended to be a subfloor.

Put some flooring down.

 

[Belegost]

I can't imagine that would look good. I would guess that anyone using plywood as a flooring material selected a grade of plywood with a good quality, finished side. What's down in your basement was most likely just intended to be a subfloor.

Put some flooring down.

I agree, but really a bucket of stain is pretty cheap, and the work to stain it wouldn't be that much. Worst case, try it out, and if it looks crummy put flooring over it.

Or pickup some of the garage epoxy coating, it would look nice, fill in some of the imperfections, and take a lot of abuse.

 

[Rhezuss]

I cleaned the floor a bit more and it looks like pretty great. The plywood used for the floor is a good quality one. I'm gonna try it and like you say, if it's ugly I can just lay a new flooring over it, nothing lost.

Thanks!

 

[MongGrel]

Laminate.

 

[Micrornd]

That plywood has a "softwood" face, it's not meant for a "traffic" install.
It was meant to be a subfloor for carpeting or a wood or laminate floor.
It and the stain finish will wear quickly (compared to a normal floor)
If you really have to use it as flooring, an epoxy or polyurethane top coat will make it last longer.

 

[Stopsignhank]

FYI, I did something like this for my stair landing. It happened to be very close to 4'x8' so I too a sheet of oak finished plywood and put in on the landing. Then I stained it and put some polyurethane on it. It looks pretty good and has lasted for about 5 years or so.

It is worth it to buy a can of stain and try it. If you don't like it then put a floor over it and nobody will know.

 

[skyking]

you can use a water based stain and then top it with a polyurethane finish. The Varathane brand high traffic in the blue can was $48 at Lowes, and is extremely durable. I used it on some cabinets the other day and you can just sit on it with 400 grit and a random orbital and it just gets shiny. It has a high content of aluminum oxide, the same as the abrasive in sandpaper.
Put it on with one of those pad applicators and it works extremely well. Two coats and sand, then a third and a fourth if you want.

 

[DrPizza]

you can use a water based stain and then top it with a polyurethane finish. The Varathane brand high traffic in the blue can was $48 at Lowes, and is extremely durable. I used it on some cabinets the other day and you can just sit on it with 400 grit and a random orbital and it just gets shiny. It has a high content of aluminum oxide, the same as the abrasive in sandpaper.
Put it on with one of those pad applicators and it works extremely well. Two coats and sand, then a third and a fourth if you want.

And, I'd add the 3rd and 4th coat just to help make sure that you don't pick up slivers at the butt joints between the plywood sheets.

 

[Carson Dyle]

And, I'd add the 3rd and 4th coat just to help make sure that you don't pick up slivers at the butt joints between the plywood sheets.

And by this time, how much have you spent vs laying down some inexpensive but nice looking vinyl?

 

[Rhezuss]

And by this time, how much have you spent vs laying down some inexpensive but nice looking vinyl?

50 bucks
1 galloon of Varathane premium/high traffic stuff covers 800 ft.sq.
I have 170 ft.sq. to cover
I can lay 4 coats with one gallon, which will be enough for this floor which will have 1 day a week of use, and by use I mean walking on it with socks.

 

[skyking]

I love that stuff. does not stink and dries really fast. If you can get some air going there two coats can go on one day, sand and the third the next morning, and a 4th in the evening. If you go satin, you don't even see where you sanded it with 400 or above. Knock off any dust berries and done. The only caveat about satin vs semi gloss: It will burnish to semi gloss in high traffic areas over time.

 

[edro]

You probably need to sand and vacuum it all first to remove all the drywall dust, mill marks, oils/grease, etc.

I guess you could just wing it and throw stain on it... but you are definitely going to have major uniformity issues if you don't at least give it a quick sanding.

 

[Rhezuss]

Finally decided to put a floor instead of staining the plywood and I don't look back. Still need to install the mouldings and paint the walls (primer is on) but I like the clean look...and my board games give the room some color 😛

I also think i'm gonna leave the ceiling that way, it gives the room kind of a rough look and when the sun goes down with the lighting it looks great.

 

[edro]

Looks good; nice job.