# Hardwood Floor Restoration



## Jekart (Apr 27, 2006)

Seems to be a popular topic here lately.

I am doing some remodeling in my house and had planned to put in the engineered oak flooring in the living room. While doing a little investigating into what was under my carpet I found what appeared to be solid oak tongue and groove already laid. 

My question is, judging by the pictures, is this floor in good enough condition to attempt to restore?? I kind of like the idea of restoring the original, kind of a challenge.

All the white is what appears to be drywall mud and dust from sanding the walls. There seems to be less the further I get from the walls.

Curious to hear your thoughts.










A little closer look









Closer









Closest


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## FISHMANMARK (Jun 11, 2007)

Those pics look fine.... Did you pull up all of the carpet? Make sure you don't have bad spots somewhere else.
We ended up carpeting our living room because after we got all of the carpet up, we found where the previous owners cat had pissed all over in a couple of corners. FYI... If you run into something like that, several coats of Killz (primer) seals the smell. Of course, then you have to carpet.

Good luck


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## Jekart (Apr 27, 2006)

I have not pulled it all up yet, I will be doing that this weekend. I just pulled it up at the seams in the doorway to the bathroom and 2 bedrooms to see what kind of floor I had to work with.


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## Greenbush future (Sep 8, 2005)

I would look it over and if it isnt damaged use what is already on the floor. I didnt see anything in the pic's that would stop me. and for the price of the new fake wood floor I would keep the good oak stuff you have. The restoration is a big dirty job, that will be the question, if you do it or if you hire it out.


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## plugjerker (Aug 29, 2006)

I just wouldnt expect it look like a new floor,It looks a little stained.The tackstrip holes can be filled,depending how many times its been recarpeted,there are probably some razor blade marks that will not sand out,a new blade can cut pretty deep.The gaps would probably be better off left unfilled,if the boards have any movement the filler will work loose pretty fast.As stated above,dog and cat urine is the worst,the stain will set deep,and will probably not sand out.Id test out that black line with that sander before you go too far with renting all the equipment.If the worst spots come out with a little work,go for it.


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## cjric (Oct 30, 2004)

Find a spot where you can see the tongue and make sure the flooring is thick enough. If its been refinished a time or two you could end up exposing the tongue when sanding.


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## Wendy (Oct 6, 2008)

I was going to mention the same thing.. if you can slip a thin knife into the grove to find out what the depth of the floor is. You don't want to sand it too deep.

The only way to find out if the floor is good is pull up all the carpet... dark stains will be hard to get out, using a darker stain will help hide it. 

I think there are bleaching agents out there as well but I've never used them.


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## jpollman (Jan 14, 2001)

If it were me, I'd take up the rest of the carpet and see what the whole thing looks like. I'd probably give it a try. You'll be surprised what a few hours with a sander will do. 

I just finished stripping, staining, and refinishing 480 square feet of oak for a customer. If you're a first time floor refinisher I'd recommend renting a "U-Sand" machine. It is a disc sander as opposed to a drum sander. It looks like the floor had probably been used as a bare hardwood in the past so it is probably fairly flat. The U-Sand cuts much slower than a drum sander but that can be a good thing for a novice.  I've used them on several refinish jobs and they work very well. I'll go so far as to say that you would have to try very hard to screw up using this thing. It takes a little getting used to but once you get the hang of it will work very well. It also does a fairly good job of picking up the sanding dust as you work. 

If can find a U-sand to rent and give it a try, here's what I'd suggest. Start with 24 grit and do the first cut. Then do the second cut with 40 grit. If you have a lot of cracks open and nail/staple holes you can fill the entire floor. (This is what I just did) I bought a couple gallons of the filler and used a grout float to spread it on and work it into the cracks and holes. I then let it dry over night and then hit it again with the 40 grit to take off the excess filler. Then I vacuumed the whole floor and resanded with the 80 grit. Once you get the first cut done the sucessive sandings go MUCH faster. 

If you have any dark stains you can get a wood bleach to try and lighten them. I've used a dry form before that you just mix with water. It worked OK but not great. On the job that I just finished I had some stains that I wanted to remove so I went to a paint store and bought some wood bleach but this time it was a two-part liquid. This stuff worked great! But be careful because it really lightens things up and you can end up with the opposite problem. (light spots as opposed to dark spots )

If you do have some variation, a medium to darker stain will help things look better. Three coats of poly and you should be good to go. I don't like the water based poly they sell. I've got oil base through most of my house but used water based in my family room and it hasn't held up nearly as well as I'd hoped so I'll be redoing it in the near future and it was just done less than two years ago!

Here's something else to think about. When it comes to refinishing hardwood floors, the Poly is the easy part! The hard work is the preparation. Once it's all sanded and stained (if you decide to change the color) the Poly is a piece of cake. Just get yourself a lambs wool applicator and you'll be good to go.

If you decide to tackle it and want some more info just drop me a line via PM and I'll send you my number. You can give me a call and we can talk.

Good luck!

John


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## Jekart (Apr 27, 2006)

Thanks John, I was hoping you would respond to that post 

I am going to start the sanding next weekend so I will probably be in touch.


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## daddyduck (Nov 2, 2001)

jpollman said:


> If it were me, I'd take up the rest of the carpet and see what the whole thing looks like. I'd probably give it a try. You'll be surprised what a few hours with a sander will do.
> 
> I just finished stripping, staining, and refinishing 480 square feet of oak for a customer. If you're a first time floor refinisher I'd recommend renting a "U-Sand" machine. It is a disc sander as opposed to a drum sander. It looks like the floor had probably been used as a bare hardwood in the past so it is probably fairly flat. The U-Sand cuts much slower than a drum sander but that can be a good thing for a novice.  I've used them on several refinish jobs and they work very well. I'll go so far as to say that you would have to try very hard to screw up using this thing. It takes a little getting used to but once you get the hang of it will work very well. It also does a fairly good job of picking up the sanding dust as you work.
> 
> ...



When you redo a floor with a sander, do you have to pull all the trim up?


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## Elk5012 (Mar 27, 2008)

Looking at the gaps in the floor you need to rough sand to remove the finish and lightly spray water on the floor to swell the wood back to size. No puddles you don't want the oak turning black again. Let dry over night, then finish sanding the floor before staining or clearing. That should tighten up most of the gaps.


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## jpollman (Jan 14, 2001)

daddyduck said:


> When you redo a floor with a sander, do you have to pull all the trim up?


Yeah pretty much. That way you can get right up to the wall and then you have a nice clean finish when you put the trim back up.

John


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## mi duckdown (Jul 1, 2006)

Jekart. Pull the carpet. Call 3 companies that refurbish oak floors and get a price on doing the job. They will tell if it is worth doing..I had mine done professionally, 15 years ago. When I priced the rental of the machine, the sanding pads, sealant,my time etc. It was cheaper to have it done. If it is an older home, an oil based poly uerathne is the way to go. the water based stuff that looks like a basketball court will crack over time due to the movement of the floor. I had 10 people call the person that did mine for there floors. Pm ME if you need more info.


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## jpollman (Jan 14, 2001)

Elk5012 said:


> Looking at the gaps in the floor you need to rough sand to remove the finish and lightly spray water on the floor to swell the wood back to size. No puddles you don't want the oak turning black again. Let dry over night, then finish sanding the floor before staining or clearing. That should tighten up most of the gaps.


The problem I see with that method is that once the wood dries out, the cracks will come right back. Unless you increase the humidity in the house and keep it at a constant level, the wood will dry and the cracks will open back up. I have hardwood through my entire house except for my kitchen and laundry/mud room. For the most part the cracks are very small and not noticeable most of the year. In the winter they open up a bit but it's still not that bad and I don't worry about it. Once Spring comes, the humidity goes back up and the gaps close.

John


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## Elk5012 (Mar 27, 2008)

jpollman said:


> The problem I see with that method is that once the wood dries out, the cracks will come right back. Unless you increase the humidity in the house and keep it at a constant level, the wood will dry and the cracks will open back up. I have hardwood through my entire house except for my kitchen and laundry/mud room. For the most part the cracks are very small and not noticeable most of the year. In the winter they open up a bit but it's still not that bad and I don't worry about it. Once Spring comes, the humidity goes back up and the gaps close.
> 
> John


 Thats what I do and tell the home owner they need a humidifier to keep moisture in the air. You're right, the wood does shrink and swell due to humidity. This just quickly puts life back into the wood. I've painted new homes and had case mouldings draw up away from the hardwood floors about an 1/8th of an inch within a few months with a poor set humidifier. Make sure you adjust it to the seasons.


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