Old hardwood floor refinishing (vacuum, paint, dining room, light)
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We had someone come and and quote us $200 plus supplies to refinish the hardwood floors in our greatroom. Thought about calling him but then decided to give it a whirl myself.
They're extremely old. They think they're around 80 years old. Said they were probably milled by one of the old mills here where we live and put in when the house was built. They're not tongue and groove floors, just the boards right up against each other.
While I love them, they are VERY dull and I hate that. The guy wanted to sand them down to the original wood and then put on the new coat of poly. I want to preserve the look they have, old nail holes and burn marks and all. You can't make history and to me those floors speak volumes.
So I decided to go for it. If I goof it, I'll just have the guy come in and sand them down and refinish them. Lose the history, but I guess the world won't end. Just hoping they come out nice enough with me doing them that it doesn't come to that.
I've lightly sanded them and put on the first coat. I'll leave it to dry tonight and give it another light sanding tomorrow and then two final coats at the very least. We've got dogs that use it as a racetrack so I may give it a dozen coats! LOL
Attaching the before photo with a small two foot by three foot on the right side of the picture that I put the poly on just to see how it would look. I'd not sanded the floors yet. Yes, they're THAT dull!
Forgive the unfinished trim work and such. We're going to sell and I'll repaint before we do so I figured there's no point in finishing now just to repaint it in a month. We're in a very ugly period of refinishing, redoing, ripping out and replacing, etc. The poor house looks God awful!
Any suggestions to help it come out better are always welcome. So far I've only done the living area of the great room. Still have to do the dining room and foyer. Just have to figure out how I can move us to the other side of the house for a couple days when I do the last couple coats or so.....
I think you "goofed it".
You put a bandaid on a problem. No potential buyer wants floors that look 80yo and have a glossy finish.
And that "quote" stinks to high-heaven. I can get hardwood floors re-done all day long for $1.25- $1.40 sq/ft.
I agree if you're going to do it, you've got to do it right and that means by having it professionally sanded and refinished. Leaving it like it is now with all the wear and scratches is going to be a big turnoff for buyers.
I agree with your concept. I prefer to keep the patina. If you want your floors to look brand new, buy a brand new house. New stuff in a 100 year old house tends to look silly. Your floors are not going to be perfectly smooth or without dings dents cracks etc. So a complete sand down and refinish can look kinfd of dumb. You have perfectly finished floors with dents, dings, cracks water spots.
If you want to maintain the patina, What you need to do is to lightly screen, not sand the floors. This will remove some of the finish, smooth out the finish that it does not remove and leave the patina of the wood alone. Then you want to use a satin finish polyeurethane. If you want it to be clear, use water based poly. If you like the yellowed look use oil base. With water base, you can put on a coat every few hours. You need a lot of coats for durability. Sand or buff lightly between coats (really fine sandpaper only, do not use a machine). Oil base you usually only need 2 to 3 coats but it takes days to fully cure.
OUr floors have held up beautifully for 4 years in this house and for 9 years in our prior house. The trick wis if you use water base, put on a LOT of coats (I used 6 overall and 15 or so in traffic areas)
I agree with your concept. I prefer to keep the patina. If you want your floors to look brand new, buy a brand new house. New stuff in a 100 year old house tends to look silly. Your floors are not going to be perfectly smooth or without dings dents cracks etc. So a complete sand down and refinish can look kinfd of dumb. You have perfectly finished floors with dents, dings, cracks water spots.
If you want to maintain the patina, What you need to do is to lightly screen, not sand the floors. This will remove some of the finish, smooth out the finish that it does not remove and leave the patina of the wood alone. Then you want to use a satin finish polyeurethane. If you want it to be clear, use water based poly. If you like the yellowed look use oil base. With water base, you can put on a coat every few hours. You need a lot of coats for durability. Sand or buff lightly between coats (really fine sandpaper only, do not use a machine). Oil base you usually only need 2 to 3 coats but it takes days to fully cure.
OUr floors have held up beautifully for 4 years in this house and for 9 years in our prior house. The trick wis if you use water base, put on a LOT of coats (I used 6 overall and 15 or so in traffic areas)
That's exactly what I was thinking when I decided to go this route. I've talked to people that like the old look floors too so I decided to leave them and just put on a new coat of poly.
I used a clear gloss oil based polyurethane. It's still a very tiny bit tacky this evening and it's been on the floor for about 24 hours. I'm learning quickly that their 'fast-drying' claim is pretty bogus! LOL
I've not sanded them yet. Had planned on doing it first thing this morning but when it still felt a little tacky to me I decided to not chance it. Once that tacky feeling is gone, lightly sand with super fine grit and then do another coat and then repeat? With the dogs do you think a fourth or fifth coat is a good idea or do you think three coats will stand up to doggie derby?
I've not sanded them yet. Had planned on doing it first thing this morning but when it still felt a little tacky to me I decided to not chance it. Once that tacky feeling is gone, lightly sand with super fine grit and then do another coat and then repeat? With the dogs do you think a fourth or fifth coat is a good idea or do you think three coats will stand up to doggie derby?
You've got the general idea. You really just want to scuff the surface so that the new poly bonds to the dry poly that you just put on. Not sanding it will lead to bubbles after a while. If you plan on selling the house fairly soon, 3 coats will probably be enough. However, if you and the dogs stay for a while (or if the new owners have dogs), a fourth coat may not be a bad idea. Not sure if I'd try 5 coats with oil-based poly, as it tends to get murky with thick buildup.
note: Make sure you sweep and vacuum very well after sanding and before putting the next coat down. I know it's common sense, but it's also easy to get in a hurry on projects like this and forget the little things... which turn into big things in a hurry.
Oh, and the quick drying thing? Very misleading. It will dry quickly in optimum conditions (low humidity, good air movement, etc.), but very few houses have those conditions in place.
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