I believe I have red oak floors, still in good condition but wearing down in high traffic spots to the wood. Is it possible to restain the entire floor to give it additional layers of protection and fix these high traffic spots? I guess I am trying to figure out the process used to finish floors to determine if I need a clear sealer, wax coating, or an oak stain to use?
Can you restain/seal oak floors?
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Simple answer is yes if it is for sure real wood.
You would be far better of subbing this job out for many reasons.
You would be far better of subbing this job out for many reasons.
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If it is real oak flooring and not a thin substitute, it can be sanded to bare wood and finished like a new floor with whatever appropriate finish you want to use. Mine was sanded by a previous owner, then I did it in the 1980s and again in 2017. It looks like new. If you don’t have the equipment and know-how, hire it out. It is easy to ruin the floor.
The floors are still in good condition, it's just some high traffic spots you can tell its not as high gloss anymore which is why I thought applying a few more protective coats of something would help.
That is why I am wondering how the floors are finished, they just use a wood stain and then 5-6 coats of poly clear? I have noticed that standing water on the floors causes it to leave a gray cloudiness, does this mean my floors are waxed and my only solution is to re-wax them? Below are some pics of the floors if it helps
That is why I am wondering how the floors are finished, they just use a wood stain and then 5-6 coats of poly clear? I have noticed that standing water on the floors causes it to leave a gray cloudiness, does this mean my floors are waxed and my only solution is to re-wax them? Below are some pics of the floors if it helps
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Regardless of the finish on your floors, if they are real solid oak you should be able to sand them down to bare wood and refinish. Old rule of thumb was can do three times over life of floor before you begin to get close to the nails. As to whether you can just scuff sand and finish over what is there, it depends on what the prior finish was.....and how it was kept up. As you said if it was waxed, that needs to go. Ron
Most wood floors today just have 3 coats of poly. Yrs ago when lacquer or shellac floors was the norm it was common to have 5-6 coats.
Oil base poly should adhere fine to your current finish provided it's lightly sanded AND if there is any wax it must be removed!
Oil base poly should adhere fine to your current finish provided it's lightly sanded AND if there is any wax it must be removed!
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As I said above, you can sand and start over. You might be able to scuff them up with a screen pad and top coat them. The risk is that someone might have put something on them in the past and it could reject topcoats. Wax might. The product Rejuvenate is hard to get off and will reject finish.
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That's not how it works - stain colors the wood while something else protects it, commonly polyurethane and this is known as the finish layer.
Thank you, that helps answer my question then. The floors are in good enough shape that I don't need to sand and refinish. I just want to apply additional top coats as its thinning out, I figure this would also bring back the shine. So polyurethane is what is commonly used? Should I be concerned my floors are waxed if water turns it grayish?
Isn't that how you tell if you have wax finished floors versus poly finished? Put a puddle of water on your floors and if it turns grayish then it means they are waxed?
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