Refinishing Hardwood Floors

By Cathy (Guest Post)

I just refinished 2 rooms of hardwood flooring. I took my sister's advice and didn't sand. One room had old varnish and stain on it, the other lots of carpet glue. I used an adhesive remover for the glue, and a furniture re finisher instead of sanding. If you sand, it takes the color out, and being old wood, you'd have to sand much of the boards away. You pour some of the re finisher in a glass jar, use a paint brush to work it around and wipe the old stain/varnish up with a rag. you'd now ready to put the sealer on. It's a beautiful pecan/golden oak color..one you couldn't match in the store with stain.

The gaps in your floor is what I have in our bedrooms. They built floors with the gaps to save on lumber. You could fill them in with clean caulk as someone suggested to help prevent dirt getting into the cracks. Good luck...it's a Big job, but well worth it.

By

Michael the Moe

My partner and I bought a 50+ year old house that had original wood floors under the "stylish" shag carpet. What I have been doing as I take the carpet up is to clean it really well, then I fill in any gaps with clear caulk. Once the caulk dries I sand any areas that are particularly "bad" and then I clean the floors again. Then I have been using Minwax poly that gives a build quick so I do have to go days and days at a time doing 5 or 6 coats; normally two does just fine.

HTH -- MtM

By rae (Guest Post)

Today i bought a product at Fred Meyers called Rejuvinate Floor Restorer and Proctectant. I want to try it on the 100 year old floors of the house I inherited from my mother. It is around $12 for a 16 0z bottle that should go a long way. I won't be home for about a month, but after trying it, i will let you know if it works. It is made by Life Products www.forlifeproducts.com.