Help with hardwood floors

[Raddad]

In the hands of a professional sanding with 100 to 150 grit paper or screen and a buffer makes sense. In the hands of an amature I would use less aggressive Scotch Brite pads. The color of the pad determines how aggressive it cuts and they come in black, green and white. Practice behind the couch and keep the buffer moving. Use a dustmask and vacuum to get all the dust out of the cracks before varnishing. Inside corners must be done by hand and you will need to remove all the shoe molding first. Of course, as everyone knows, drinking cold beer the night before will prevent the dust from sticking to your skin.

 

[heehaw]

we tried paint thinner, and lacquer thinner but the only thing that would touch the carpet glue was acetone: plus we were going to have to sand the whole floor anyway. cleaning with the acetone was the only way to get the floor so it wouldn't clog up the sand paper within about 6-8 ft.
heehaw

 

[rlk]

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.

We have almost finished painting all the walls and trimwork, and now will start to focus on the hardwood floors.

My niece's lease on her current apartment is up Jan 31, and she is expecting a baby around Feb 14, so she has not been able to help with much of the work. Her husband, parents, and I have done all of the work so far. I really want to use a buffer and steel wool, then recoat with a water based poly, but my niece is afraid we will get bogged down, and she will not be able to move by the end of the month. She also has problems with allergies, and is afraid the poly will affect her and the baby.

Yesterday I put a couple tablespoons of water in various places, and none of the water soaked into the wood, which leads me to believe the finish is holding up well.

She and her husband are leaning towards renting a buffer with a non-agressive pad, and using mineral spirits to see how much residue will be removed (the residue is not carpet glue, but residue from the carpet pad). Assuming we get decent results, we will then use the buffer to wax the floors.

I think we will be ready for the buffer Wednesday, so we will probably try that and see what results we get.

Thanks again for all your suggestions.

Bob

 

[rlk]

We rented the buffer Tuesday afternoon and went over the floors. In a couple of places, we had to apply mineral spirits to clean some of the carpet pad residue. The mineral spirits worked great, but left the floor dull. The rest of the floor has a satin finish, but where we used the mineral spirits, the floor is dull, and has a slight haze on it.

I took the day off, but talked to my neice's husband around lunch time. He was headed to a store to try to find something to polish the floor with, i.e., some type of liquid in a can he could apply to the floor that would make the dull spots blend in with the rest of the floor. He was thinking about Murphys Soap Oil, or something similar.

I'll get a look at it tomorrow to see how well he did.

Thanks again for everyone's suggestions.

Bob

 

[Cliff_Johns]

We rented the buffer Tuesday afternoon and went over the floors. In a couple of places, we had to apply mineral spirits to clean some of the carpet pad residue. The mineral spirits worked great, but left the floor dull. The rest of the floor has a satin finish, but where we used the mineral spirits, the floor is dull, and has a slight haze on it.

That's because the mineral spirits took off the old wax. Rub in some johnson's paste wax or similar product and it will look fine.

 

[rlk]

That's because the mineral spirits took off the old wax. Rub in some johnson's paste wax or similar product and it will look fine.

Cliff, after reading your reply, it seems so obvious as to why the floor is dull where the mineral spirits were used. Guess I was so close to it, that I could not see it clearly. Thanks for the info.

We are having a little snow/ice/freezing rain this morning, so I may not get to view the progress until tomorrow.

Bob