Refinishing HW Floors

DDRowe

I just purchased a 110 year old house. The previous owners had put linolium on original HW floors. What they didn't cover, they painted. The linolium will just pick up. What do I do about the painted sections and what do I need to do to the rest to make it last?

Thanks

Humble Abode

Rent a drum sander and an edge sander, have the guys at the rental place explain how to use them. The edge sander is a bit tricky, but takes off about an 1/8 inch if I'm not mistaken, (it also has the potential to put nasty gouges in your floor) that should get paint off, same with the drum sander. After that stain or seal or both as per the directions on whatever product you get.

What type of wood is it?

747

Make Sure You Have A Good Grip And Weight Behind The Belt Sander Before You Turn It On Or It Will Take You For A Ride. WHAT KIND OF HARDWOOD FLOORS ARE THEY. WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE ONCE OTHER FLOORING IS UP. DO THEY NEED TO BE PATCHED IN PLACES? REPOST WITH THESE ANSWERED AND YOU WILL GET MORE DETAILED INFORMATION. TEETOR WILL BE ALONG HE IS A HARDWOOD FLOOR EXPERT. THE POST BY HUMBLE WAS ALSO ON THE MONEY.

Humble Abode

Good point, those things have some serious power behind them. I love refinishing hardwood floors, I wish I could give you a hand :D

DDRowe

I don't know what kind of HW floors they are. The house is 110 years old and I just bought it (2 weeks ago now). Under the flooring looks good. The wood is a little pale with some spots but nothing that told me I needed to put the flooring back down. There was nowhere that need to be patched. The only painted sections are about 1 foot (if that) from the wall all the way around the room. I hate to rent a sander and mess up the floor or walls trying to get that last foot.

Thanks for the help. I'll start looking around for a sander.

Humble Abode

It just takes a little patience and care to not mess up the floors.


It will cost you a little less than $200 to rent these two sanders from HD or another rental place. Conversley it would cost about $1000 for a professional to do a 14'x14' room.

Check out some of this info I found on the web.

a small video
http://www.bobvila.com/BVTV/HomeAgai...1321-01-0.html

a quick how-to
http://www.ehow.com/how_1856_refinis...ood-floor.html

Some more how-to
http://doityourself.com/woodfloors/index.shtml

Oak and Maple are two of the most common wood floorings today, not sure about 100 years ago.

747

Humble Is Giving You Excellent Advice. Do You Have A Digital Camera If So You Could Take A Picture Of The Floor And Post In This Forum. This Way You Would Know What Kind Of Floor You Have. 110 Years Old. You Might Have Old Straight Grain Pine Floors. Which If Thats What You Have A Worth Big Money.

DDRowe

I left my digital camera with the family back in Ga. Is there anything I can look for that might give me some idea as to the type of wood without cutting it out?

Some of the flooring looks new but this and a couple of other rooms looks like it might be original.

Thanks for the advice.

747

Here is what your going to do. Find out if the town has a historical society if they do just go up there tell them your stituation they will be more than happy to send somebody out free of charge to identify the hardwood floors. Plan B not historical Society. Knock on neigbors door ask them where do the oldtimers drink coffee at in town. Go in there look for a table with a bunch of oldtimers one of them we be more than happy to stop by long enought to tell you what kind of floors they are.

747

Always Pull Back On A Belt Sander When Sanding The Floors. Or Maybe You Will Get Lucky And A Rent Center Will Have One Of Those New Floor Sanders Which Have 4 Disc Underneath Them That You Put Sand Paper On I Think There A Lot More User Friendly For A Homeowner Than The Old Belt Sander. Teetor Is The Hardwood Floor Expert I Know He Is Watching This Thread I Bet This Is What He Is Thinking. If You Don't Know What Kind Of Floors You Have You Shouldn't Be Trying To Refinish Them Your Self. Teetor Tell Me If I'm In The Ballgame.

Teetorbilt

DDR, you may want to read this to get you started http://www.woodfloordoctor.com/ The process sounds simple enough 'sand floor' but takes a certain amount of practice to learn how to use large sanders without creating large divots and ridges.
See if you can locate a local refinisher who will let you watch him work, supply your own ear and eye protection. Note the size of the guys arms, the equipment is heavy and a real workout to use. Buy lots of Bengay.
Check out the site and come back with more questions.

DDRowe

Thanks to all who posted and even read. This has been a great help and is now book marked so I can come back often.