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Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sjuraud
Two more questions about the wood flooring if anybody can help. Do any of you know the best way to remove the staples they put in the floor for the carpet pad? They're everywhere. I tried using needle nose pliers and they didn't budge at all. I was thinking of using a chisel, but don't want to damage the floor. The other question is about the holes that are in the wood now around the edges from the carpet tack boards. I probably won't repair them for now, but any thoughts on repairing those? Fill them with wood putty or cover them with quarter round maybe? Other suggestions?
Once again I'd really like to thank everyone that responded. You've been a big help!
I've found that a pair of end-cutters is the best tool for removing carpet staples. Some of them will lay too low to the floor to get a grip with the end-cutters. For those, you can usually get some separation from the floor with an ice pick and a flexible putty knife. The putty knife is used to protect the floor from the ice pick while you pry the staples up. If you plan to refinish little gouges are not a big problem.
I've found that a pair of end-cutters is the best tool for removing carpet staples. Some of them will lay too low to the floor to get a grip with the end-cutters. For those, you can usually get some separation from the floor with an ice pick and a flexible putty knife. The putty knife is used to protect the floor from the ice pick while you pry the staples up. If you plan to refinish little gouges are not a big problem.
.......And once you get enough of the staple exposed to get a grip with your needle nosed pliers, pull STRAIGHT up. DO NOT wiggle the staple. You'll just break it off.
I'd callo a professional and at elasst have the floors sanded if old hardwood type. I have ewhen young help a friend refisih a olf wooden floor in excellent condiiton except for age.He got advise from a floor man before satrting. We bascailly cleaned the wood floor with chemcial and scuff pads on a 12"X6# flat hoder on a hnadle. Thatwas to get any wax oer residue off tyh efloor. Thenh a scufffing dry. The as instructed we put a copating of oli based varnish over the floor and let it dry well. Then a light scuffing and coats of oil based floor finished over that. The oil base first coat was because it would not be effected like a poly if not prefect in some areas. It came out very nice and still is but I'd pay half of the cost to have gotten it sanded if he asked again.It was a job and that was for about a 420 sq foot living room as I recall.
Thanks for the replies. I might have a professional come out and give me an estimate at least just to get an idea of what it would cost. I'll try cleaning it with Ammonia first and if that doesn't work I'll try some TSP Solution on small area first and see how that works out.
Also looking to try cleaning the floors well and putting a few coats of poly down. I know they aren't going to look new but would like to bump them up a notch or two. Did you end up going this route? How did it look?
Quote:
Originally Posted by sjuraud
Thank K'ledgeBldr. I'm trying to avoid putting a lot more money into this house right now as I've already spent about $2500 on painting, replacement and repairs. I just don't have the money and time right now really to spend on having it professionally done. Basically the wife and I have two mortgages right now and she's in grad school. I'm paying $1000 each month that that house is empty. This is the reason I need to have the floor in a decent state quickly without having to put to much into. Believe me, I would love to do it the correct way from the beginning, but it's just not in the cards to do it right now. I'll definitely keep the shoe molding in mind though when I do refinish the floors. I've never heard of it. I'll end up painting the shoe molding to match the rest of the trim. I do have the smaller 3 -1/4" baseboards. The damaged room is roughly 10' x 10' and the stains cover most of the room. Thanks for the advice!
I just ended up paying some guys to totally refinish the floors, sanding and coating. It ended up around $2,000. I think it was worth it though. Some rooms the wood floors weren't that bad, but the back two bedrooms were worse. So it made sense just to have them re-done. You can see two of pics here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/21359827@N08/ - broken link). The house has now been rented out for a few years. Paint and having the floor re-done makes the inside look brand new. If you're floors are in good shape cleaning them and then re-coating could work. The place I hired also offered doing that for a lower price than totally refinishing. Good luck!
Keep in mind not all hardwood floors are sandable. The old 3/4" thick of course can be sanded but you don't see much of that type of flooring anymore. You will only see this in old homes. Anything more modern is going to be engineered hardwood. This IS NOT sandable because it is basically a veneer surface over laminated plys. 2 passes with the belt sander will go right through the veneer rendering it useless.
You can not stain any wood without starting with raw unfinished wood. Stain penetrates and paint sits on the surface. So stain can not penetrate wood with a finish already on it. Some people are crazy enough to paint cabinets but I really don't recommend painting your floor.
Put a cheap rug back down and worry about what you're going to do some day when you sell the house.
I understand different. Many engineered hard wood flooring can be refinished. It all depends on the thickness of the top veneer. As a matter of fact, some can be refinished more then once.
If the existing floor is in good shape, you can simply screen it and re-coat. We have done this many times. It is also sometimes the only option becasue either the owner wants to preserve the patina of age, the floors were oversanded by an overenthusiastic floor person in the past, the floors have been sanded too many times already, or time and/or budget contratints do not allow for full sanding. In many cases sanding is unnensaccery unless you are looking for a floor that looks brand new (which looks stupid in historic homes IMO).
Personally I would sand it. My daughter just refinished her floors and the sanders they rent these days are way easier to use, and do a better job that the ones of old, They completely sanded 2 rooms and a hall in one afternoon. The floors now look great!
If the existing floor is in good shape, you can simply screen it and re-coat. We have done this many times. It is also sometimes the only option becasue either the owner wants to preserve the patina of age, the floors were oversanded by an overenthusiastic floor person in the past, the floors have been sanded too many times already, or time and/or budget contratints do not allow for full sanding. In many cases sanding is unnensaccery unless you are looking for a floor that looks brand new (which looks stupid in historic homes IMO).
I once had new hardwoods floors installed and I was not happy with the sheen as in it was dull. When I asked I was told a floor refinisher could "scuff?" and apply a poly coat. When asked about the "scuff" they said it removes little to nothing but gives the poly something to adhere to.
What are the advantages to a "scuff" on say and old floor as being discussed here?
An aside. I did nothing but use Bona Liquid Floor wax. It came up shiny as I like. I do have to clean and recoat occasionally but easy peesy.
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How did it turn out?
