clean rough cut exposed floor joists
torontoboyjim
| Posted in General Discussion on
hello all
in the process of renos on an old Toronto victorian that is +120yrs old. Low basement 6′-2″ is going to get dressed up by leaving the 2×10 rough cut floor joists exposed, some all and some half with some trimtex L-bead zipstrip and drywall. Instead of painting the exposed joists, we want to probably do a flat varnish or linseed oil treatment.
I am looking for a suggestion to best clean the exposed joists, and the underside of the 1 x various t&g pine subfloor boards prior to the sealer treatment. Lots of wiring / cable runs, flex gas line and PEX to contend with, but the whole space is gutted so even slightly messy options would work. See the pix attached.
thanks in advance
jc
Replies
Cleaning dirty wood
About 1-2 cups of TSP mixed with a gallon of warm water will clean that very effectively. I have used that to clean joists that look exactly like those in your photo. I used a sponge mop for most of it in order to distance myself from the washing action a bit. You should wear eye protection because when working overhead, it is possible to get a big surge of liquid in your face.
Go into the mix, wash an area, and then rinse the sponge mop in the laundry tub. This way, you keep the mix clean so you don't possibly stain the wood by transferring the dirty mix back to it for continued washing. I worked small areas completely clean before moving to the next area.
re: cleaning dirty wood
to kdesign:
thanks for this tip. i think with my old boat deck scrub brush on a broom handle i should be good. goggles a must. my wife is 25weeks pregnant, so i am always cautious working with chemicals. any idea if TSP is a concern?
any suggestions on sealer? i am thinking matt finish waterbased varnish, or linseed oil like this:
http://www.solventfreepaint.com/cleaned_linseed_oil.htm
curious if you have photos of your finished work to share...
thanks
jc
You could try deck cleaner. Something else even messier, but would do a real job is soda blasting. Soda blasting would probably probably not be a diy job though.
rough cut floor joists
I had a similar situation many years ago. Gutted a old 1830's farmhouse and found beautiful Cherry floor joists and beams in the living room.I wanted to leave them exposed and put sheetrock between each joist. But, the joists were filthy and in places residual material from mouse nests stank something terrible.
My solution was to staple a large plastic sheet around the parimeter of the room and dip the plastic so that one edge went out the window like a chute. Than I used a 2000 psi pressure washer and power washed all the beams. joists and underside of the floorboards exposed from the room above. I had to do the room in sections, moving and restapleing the plastic so that I could reach each area. Once it dried, the final result was fabulous with very little further work needed.
I sealed all the beams and floor joists with two coats of satin poly. This completely eliminated any residual mouse smell that had soaked into the beams.I than nailed 2x material on the upper edge of each joist to act as a nailer for the sheetrock. Once the sheetrock was in place,plastered and painted I added cove molding, stained to match the cherry joists around all the joist/sheetrock edges.
Hope my experience help!
Sheesh.... that sounds like a ton of work, but I hoped it turned out OK.
To the OP.... as you can see, there probably isn't any easy solution. I guess it depends on how much time/work you're willing to invest in the exposed joist look.
I'd also add (being an HO that has an exposed rafter ceiling) that this look creates an ongoing vacuuming/cleaning chore. Cobwebs love to gather in exposed lumber cavities.