dwlodyka

Hello,

My home was built in 1965. About ten years ago, I repainted a bedroom. At the same time, I washed a hard wood floor and, after it dried thoroughly, brushed on a coat of oil based polyurethane. After several months, I noticed that the finish did not adhere. It flaked and could literally be peeled off of the floor. Because the floor was covered by a rug, I just let it go.

I'm redoing the room again and want to address the floor. Specifically, I want to re-coat the floor with poly. What steps can I take to insure that my finish won't fail again.

tpolk

how big a room, flooring oak? budget?

ArmchairDIY

Is it big areas peeling? Or small spots? The first thing I thought of was the floor had furniture polish or wax of some sort on it.

Bob Mariani

Sand the floor to be assured all contaminants are removed. anything else and it will fail again.

dwlodyka

The floor is oak, stained and finish coated. It seems lile the entire floor is affected. The floor is 12' by 12'. I think that I'm going to lightly sand the entire floor and then wash with a commercial floor cleaner.

ggcanner

First why are you washing wood floors? Water is the enemy of wood, you should use a cleaner specifically for hardwood floors..... Also, you cannot just polyurethane a hardwood floor after simply washing it. You need to sand it first or the polyurethane will not stick. I am sure that is what your original problem was. If you just want to "perk" up your floor's finish with a fresh coat of polyurethane, sand it with a 100 grit sandpaper then coat with polyurethane. If you have damaged areas down to the hardwood, you need to rent a sander and remove all the finish down to the bare wood and stain(optional)and then add at least 2 coats of polyurethane lightly sanding in between each coat.

repair24/7

Could not have said it better ggcanner i think you hit the nail on the head}