Questions tagged [hardwood-refinishing]
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95
questions
6
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6answers
1k views
Would it be appropriate to sand a floor between coats of poly with a handheld orbital sander?
Very closely related: How should I sand before the final coat of polyurethane?
However, I'm not asking for a how-to or which is the preferred tool/method but rather one specific tool and if it's an ...
0
votes
0answers
31 views
Hardwood floor refinishing - How can I fix yellow spots caused from sections of old poly not being completely removed?
I used a drum sander and edger to strip off the old polyurethane from my 30 year old hardwood floor. I somehow missed it after sand and tack, but there are hot spots of old poly coming through that ...
1
vote
0answers
29 views
Is it normal for a professional hardwood refinishing to not have removed black stains? (pet/iron oxide)
I recently had the hardwoods in my new (old) house professionally refinished. Besides the decades-old finish having been worn down completely, there were also black iron oxide stains throughout. After ...
1
vote
6answers
173 views
What species of wood floor do I have?
We are refinishing our wood floor and want to make sure that we make the right choices. Initially, multiple people suggested that it's pine wood but now after sanding our flooring guy thinks it's ...
0
votes
1answer
53 views
Can engineered hardwood floors be refinished? [duplicate]
I want to replace the floors in the lower floor of my home. I'm estimating about $8000 worth of work, installed. My wife has been looking into engineered floors. I have never been a huge fan of ...
1
vote
2answers
46 views
How to cut a door wrapped in sheet metal
In my kitchen I have a dumb waiter; the door is 1" thick solid wood wrapped in 1/16" sheet metal. I removed the old door knob (that's the hole in the photo) to make room for a flush pull. I need to ...
0
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0answers
30 views
A minimal regimen to remove the last bits of oil paint after applying stripper?
What is the best way to remove the last bits of softened paint in the panel crevices after applying paint stripper, shown above at right?
I'm stripping 100+ years of paint (including lead paint) from ...
0
votes
1answer
446 views
Why do I get brush marks with oil-based polyurethane?
I’m trying to refinish the above table but having problems with streaking polyurethane. Using Minwax Fast Drying. The process has been as follows; sand, stain and applied poly using a Purdy brush for ...
3
votes
1answer
85 views
Staining a 130 year old pine floor
So.. we decided to rip up carpet and plywood to find original planks (pine) in one of the third floor rooms in our 1880 home. Fast forward to save you on reading.. I applied a penetrating oil based ...
1
vote
1answer
67 views
How can I protect a hardwood floor against dog claws?
I just bought a house with new hardwood floors. One of my dogs is a little wild and keeps sliding and scratching the floors up. I've tried cutting her nails and she won't wear boots. Does anybody ...
0
votes
1answer
20 views
Panted & Varnished but rough to the touch
I have a rocking chair a Gentleman refinished for me. He stripped it, sanded it down then painted it and put a varnish on it. It looks really good but extremely rough to the touch. Without messing ...
3
votes
2answers
810 views
Spot repair hardwood floor due to Goo Gone
I just had my hardwood floors professionally sanded and finished with 3 coats of Bona Mega Water Base Satin Finish. Because we’re in the process of moving in and doing other renovations, it was just ...
1
vote
1answer
441 views
Reapplying spar varnish/urethane to exterior door
I have a 'knotty alder' front door that was refinished by a contractor last August. However, because the lower panel of the door has already deteriorated due to sun exposure, I decided to sand the ...
1
vote
4answers
106 views
Difficulty in driving a nail through with a nail setter
I've been pulling the carpet up and getting the nails out from where the carpet tack strips were nailed to original wood flooring, but about a half dozen are now headless. I watched several tutorials ...
2
votes
1answer
1k views
Mineral spirits not drying out of hardwood floor before finishing
I just finished sanding and cleaning up the floors in my living room and dining room and the last step I did was to clean the whole floor with mineral spirits before applying the polyurethane. I ...
2
votes
1answer
264 views
Found hardwood floors underneath carpet, but also maybe some MDF mixed in? Can I replace it? Picture inside
So I found out my entire upstairs has hardwood floors. I pulled up the vents in each room. One room has what appears to be MDF board that is level with a section of the hardwood floor. See
It's ...
2
votes
1answer
114 views
Oscillating or Drum Floor Sander
I'm refinishing the floors in a 4 bedroom house, built circa 2003. The house is roughly 1800 sqft total. The 4 bedrooms have pine floors, while the living room and the hallway are some sort of ...
0
votes
0answers
30 views
Which sander and sandpaper should I use on floor after using wood filler?
I've sanded my 100-year-old floor with a drum sander, and troweled wood filler over the entire surface. Now I'm ready to sand again before staining. How aggressive of a sander (drum, random orbital) ...
0
votes
1answer
140 views
What to do when a toe-kick saw doesn't fit underneath cabinets?
I have hardwoods in my kitchen that I want to refinish. The only problem is that there is a plywood layer with laminate tile on top of the wood. The plywood goes all the way to the wall, but we don't ...
0
votes
0answers
32 views
Repair espresso stained oak furniture
One of those kids glow in the dark bracelets leaked overnight onto our nightstand and it dissolved the finish. I sanded it down to what I thought was bare wood, but the new stain is not taking very ...
1
vote
1answer
871 views
How to resurface a patch of hardwood floor? Reapplying stain and poly
Resurfacing Background
So about a year ago, I resurfaced my entire upstairs by myself. In the process of doing so, I water popped the floors, went with an oil based stain, and a water based poly. I ...
3
votes
1answer
510 views
Hardwood floor refinishing with polyurethane. Do I need to use any sort of base coat? What are the advantages?
So we are refinishing an old oak hardwood floor, we have sanded it and are cleaning it currently before we apply a satin water-based polyurethane (with no stain). Probably from varathane or minwax.
...
1
vote
1answer
2k views
How do I dry out a damp patch in my subfloor?
I bought my house over a year ago and had the hardwood oak floors refinished. One of the bedrooms had water damage from a leaking roof (previous owners fixed this before I purchased the house) so they ...
0
votes
1answer
61 views
oak chair remains sticky after using formbys refininisher
I am refinishing an oak chair, after using formby's refinisher, 90% of the chair is smooth and clean, however, the back slats (in this case, round) are still sticky to the touch. I have cleaned and ...
6
votes
2answers
3k views
How to repair separated rails and stiles on solid wood doors
I'm refinishing solid pine wood doors in my home, the doors are original from 1940 when the home was built. After stripping multiple layers of paint, I found a few panels separated on some doors (just ...
1
vote
3answers
340 views
How to clean wood dust without permanently clogging a wet/dry vacuum's paper filter?
Can you ever use a wet/dry vacuum cleaner (shop.vac, Kubota, Stanley, etc) to clean wood sanding dust?
My one experiment so far resulted in complete clogging of the paper filter after cleaning the ...
1
vote
1answer
33 views
How can I repaint an antique piece of furniture that was varnished?
I want to repaint/varnish a piece of furniture, but have no idea if I can use a similar paint color, or if I need to find the exact type of varnish used. Is there a big difference in varnish vs paint?
3
votes
1answer
279 views
Ideas to save hardwood floor from botched tung oil job?
We bough a 200+ (but not much more!) old farm house last year, and we're renovating slowly, but surely. Earlier in last year, we we discovered old hardwood floors under layers of linoleum on the ...
1
vote
1answer
76 views
Add more Polyurethane to recently refinished hardwood flooring?
Back in February 2016 I refinished my own hardwood floors. I had a couple guys come in at the end and do the staining and polyurethane because I was spent...
We have a few areas of high traffic in ...
1
vote
1answer
856 views
can this antique douglas fir floor be saved?
I bought a 100+ plus house and to my horror, under the carpet was not the strip hardwood floor we expected, but particleboard. Not OSB, not plywood - particleboard (which I just learned would need to ...
3
votes
2answers
97 views
Cons of Not Refinishing Worn Wood Floor?
I am moving into a house. The wood floors show signs of wear and tear. The varnish has worn away in places and the bare wood is showing. But refinishing will cost $3,000 for some 1,100 sq.ft. That ...
0
votes
0answers
429 views
Wax over Shellac Wood Floor: Over waxed
I have a shellac'd** floor with a protective wax coat. The lightest traffic leaves smudges and marks. I buff it, and it looks great, until the next traffic comes up.
I tried paint thinner to remove ...
1
vote
3answers
680 views
Are foam brushes suitable for applying wood stain, or is a cloth necessary? Is “rubbing in” required?
Before staining a hardwood floor, I sampled the stain on a scrap to test the color.
The floor is oak, but the sample I had was birch.
The oil-based red mahagony stain appears far darker than I ...
2
votes
1answer
57 views
Hardwood floor help
Any advise on how to clean these floors after pulling up carpet would be great or is it time to just get a sander and refinish?
Much thanks in advance.
Charles
1
vote
3answers
10k views
What is the best sander to use on oak stair treads?
I'm about to start a stair refinishing project. The stairs are 100 years old, red oak. My plan is to stain treads and paint risers..
Question - what is the best sander to use on the treads? Is an ...
0
votes
2answers
587 views
Raised oak grain after 3 coats of acrylic polyurethane
I'm refinishing an oak table top. Got it sanded down smooth, stained, then applied 3 coats of Benjamin Moore Stays Clear acrylic polyurethane, lightly sanding between coats. But after the 2nd coat I ...
1
vote
1answer
210 views
How can I clean and smooth the finish on an old table?
I recently bought a second-hand coffee table and I'd would like to clean and smooth the existing finish. It's exactly same table as this, so I guess it's a copy of a common model.
Below you see ...
0
votes
1answer
628 views
Refinish Sections of Hardwood at a Time
The most feasible method of finishing all the hardwood in the home I am living in is one room at a time. The rooms all connect to a hallway.
Will there be an ugly area (if I do one room's hardwood ...
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2answers
1k views
Polyurethane Curing - will blue tape or dropcloths damage it?
I just sanded, stained, and polyurethaned the floors in a house I am refinishing. I put on 2 coats of Ultra-Fast Drying Polyurethane for Hardwood Floors on Monday, surface sanded and added a 3rd coat ...
0
votes
1answer
283 views
Is a NIOSH mask advised when sanding a fully dried hardwood floor?
I understand that a NIOSH mask is necessary if one is applying an oil-based polyurethane.
Is a NIOSH mask needed or advised if one is sanding a hardwood floor with a polyurethane of unknown type, but ...
1
vote
1answer
991 views
Can wood floors be refinished half a room at a time?
I have a small house. I'm doing it. or would like to do it. my funds are all tied up and I have no help. can't afford it either. can I just do 1/2 a room at a time?
6
votes
4answers
11k views
How to fill holes in Hardwood Floor, Large, Medium, and Small
The floors in this home are likely original from the 1920's. The lovely owners of the house before me did not care much as it was a rental, and we now have tons of paint and holes on and in the floors....
1
vote
2answers
81 views
Does it make sense to work on the hardwood floor first, not last?
The standard wisdom, as mentioned by the fellow renting floor sanders at the local big box store, is to paint the ceiling first, paint the walls second, and finally sand the hardwood floor and paint ...
1
vote
3answers
2k views
Is a “painting pad / sponge square” indeed the way to get a smooth wood surface after applying polyurethane?
My last polyurethane finishing experiment failed. I applied fast-drying Varathane to 3/4" maple plywood shelves. They were very finely finished before applying the polyurethane, and became very rough ...
2
votes
2answers
46k views
How best to remove fumes after applying polyurethane in a hardwood refinishing project?
I understand that oil based polyurethane used to refinish hardwood floors has a strong fumes and can stay for days. I also understand that opening the doors and letting air flow can help remove the ...
1
vote
0answers
334 views
What is the recommendation polyurethane application when refinishing hardwood floors?
There is currently no furniture in the first floor. So before filling up the first floor with furniture I am wondering if I should refinish the floors.
Floor History
Three of the four floors are 20+...
1
vote
4answers
541 views
Polyurethane on hardwood floor dilemma
We were on our third coat of water based polyurethane on my hardwood floor and ran out. I went and grabbed a can and when I started putting it on I noticed a difference. It was oil based. The area now ...
3
votes
2answers
3k views
How to fix office chair worn hardwood floor
I currently have a hardwood floor that is worn down by an office chair and it needs to be fixed, optimally without having to do the whole floor with a floor sander.
As you can see in this photo:
the ...
1
vote
1answer
1k views
Best way to fix excess stain on hard wood floor? Or just poly it?
I stained our hardwood floors one week ago and have let it dry but unfortunately all of it wasn't absorbed. I didn't notice the excess until a few days after I let it dry, and it's quite noticeable:
...
2
votes
1answer
12k views
How to cover old stair risers?
I recently had my 100-year old hardwood floors and stair treads refinished. No local contractors would do the risers due to the adhesives from the carpet that was removed. The risers are uneven due to ...
