on
2/8/2010
Our floors appear to be coated with shellac because it dissolves in alcohol. I have tried sanding other areas of wood in the house (woodwork, doors) and have found it just doesn't work very well. How much success can I expect with a sander on shellac?
The process For the best possible result floor sanding should be done after plastering the walls, before skirting boards are fitted and with no fittings or obstacles to the floor such as doors, toilets, kitchens. Floors sanders use very powerful machines and can easily scratch new kitchens or fleshly painted skirting boards. Although all care is taken an organized builder is ultimately responsible for the quality of the overall product. After floor sanding has finished and the standard 3 coats have been applied and are dry. The floor can be covered completely with a heavy material such as carpet or plastic and duct taped down all around in order to protect the floor against damage from falling debris, paint, putty and installations that will scratch or dent the floor. This initial phase is the builders obligation to provide an optimized surface for an bet...
on
11/10/2009
The first thing my wife and I did when we moved into our first house a year ago was to remove the old carpet and refinish the oak floor underneath. Talk about intimidating! Luckily for us, the floor was in pretty good shape to begin with, but there were just enough problem areas to justify a full refinish.
Black spots -- We had 3 very large black spots, presumably from water or pet damage. I treated each of these spots with oxalic acid (AKA wood bleach) several times and now they have virtually disappeared.
Old finish -- We were using a Varathane ezV orbital sander (highly recommended! Easy to use. Very forgiving.) starting with 20 grit paper (I think). Within 5 minutes, the old finish had clogged up the paper so bad that it was effectively useless. First solution -- harsh chemical strippers. Not cool. Noxious fumes and if you got any on your skin, you'd develop a pretty g...
on
7/20/2009
Acetone is a stripper. There is a simple test you can do to see if you can refinish that area. Take a damp paper towel and rub the area this will show you what the floor will look like with a finish applied. If you like the look then you are ready to refinish. Follow the steps above for finishing but lightly sand first and remove dust. Or check out mrsandless.com
on
7/18/2009
we had new oak hardwood floors put in February 2009, and within a few days beads of poly are constantly appearing in the cracks of the floor. This substance is sticky and if you walk on it it smears leaving unsightly marks. I'm very disappointed with the job and assume the floors will have to be resanded and polyed. The contractor told us to use mineral spirits to take up the poly beads, but that would require doing the entire floor in 3 rooms. Please advise.
on
7/1/2009
after sanding and staining with a natural oil based stain I left it dry then finished with varathane water based floor treatment initially the floor looked great and I applied 4 coats as instructed after 24 hours light areas appeared where more sanding had been done. any thoughts on why it happened and possible solutions?
on
6/19/2009
oh man, don't put renewal on the floor, put LamanatorPlus on it, - it's a hardwood, cork, laminate, bamboo, vinyl, restoration system. Their "kit" will do 800 s.f. but if you want two coats - and you should, get an extra bottle of restoration. The Kit will cost you under eighty bucks for their all inclusive kit which includes deep scrub initial cleaner (to get all the renewal, orange glow, and other garbage off the floor), the restoration product (plan on doing two coats) and residue free maintenance cleaner for after the fact. You can do it yourself DIY in just a few hours. My wife found them on the web, i bought it and she installed it after the kids went to bed. their website is lamanatorplus.com . NOTE: the kit contains two microfiber mop heads, the scrubber pad, and a holder, squirt nozzles for all three color coded bottles, a DVD for easy instructions, written instruct...
on
5/2/2009
A bottle of acetone based fingernail polish remover was spilled in the middle of my floor. The wood in that spot is now bare. Is it possible to refinish that one spot and have it match the rest of the room, or do I need to refinish the entire floor? (it's an oak floor, and the varnish is more than 10 years old)
on
4/21/2009
dmc57.As long as the dog only scratched the finish, you can lightly sand the floor and apply more finish. You did not state how old the the original finish is or what it may be. If the floor is older, like mine and the finish is worn and yellowed, you will have to sand the entire floor to remove the old finish. If the floor or finish is newer, you can lightly sand just the finish and reapply a polyurethane.Another option is to apply a product called Renewal, that can be applied without sanding, to restore your floor's finish. Again, try to establish what finish is on your floor at present. Renewal may not be compatible with older varnishes.
on
4/21/2009
marsin1.Did much the same thing myself. As the poly was still wet, I added more over the trouble spots. The poly filled in and leveled out and you cannot tell any difference. I used the water based Varathane for floors. Since by now your finish is dry, lightly sand the trouble spots and reapply finish over those spots. See how it turns out after one coat, you can always add additional coats if need be.
on
4/17/2009
I stepped on a hardwood floor that I didn't realize was still wet. Does the entire floor need to be redone or can the few spots with the footprints be sanded and glazed over? If anyone know please let me know.
on
3/13/2009
I live in a very dry climate and have a beech hardwood floor. I have some places where the boards look like they could be filled in with something and then sanded/polyurethaned over. Anyone suggest a product that works best for this type of flooring?
on
1/16/2009
I have walnut floors and a dog that has scratched them up. Do need a professional to re-sand? Is there a orbital sander that just covers the high traffic areas or the scraches then reapply a poly urthene coat over everything.
on
12/13/2008
I have just sanded a pine floor, and after applying a first coat of polyurethane, I notice that there are lighter spots on the edges of the floor than the center. What causes this?
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tluther said
on 2/8/2010 Our floors appear to be coated with shellac because it dissolves in alcohol. I have tried sanding other areas of wood in the house (woodwork, doors) and have found it just doesn't work very well. How much success can I expect with a sander on shellac?
forafo said
on 11/17/2009 Polished Floors White paper
The process
For the best possible result floor sanding should be done after plastering the walls, before skirting boards are fitted and with no fittings or obstacles to the floor such as doors, toilets, kitchens. Floors sanders use very powerful machines and can easily scratch new kitchens or fleshly painted skirting boards. Although all care is taken an organized builder is ultimately responsible for the quality of the overall product. After floor sanding has finished and the standard 3 coats have been applied and are dry. The floor can be covered completely with a heavy material such as carpet or plastic and duct taped down all around in order to protect the floor against damage from falling debris, paint, putty and installations that will scratch or dent the floor. This initial phase is the builders obligation to provide an optimized surface for an bet...
captainbad said
on 11/10/2009 The first thing my wife and I did when we moved into our first house a year ago was to remove the old carpet and refinish the oak floor underneath. Talk about intimidating! Luckily for us, the floor was in pretty good shape to begin with, but there were just enough problem areas to justify a full refinish.
Black spots -- We had 3 very large black spots, presumably from water or pet damage. I treated each of these spots with oxalic acid (AKA wood bleach) several times and now they have virtually disappeared.
Old finish -- We were using a Varathane ezV orbital sander (highly recommended! Easy to use. Very forgiving.) starting with 20 grit paper (I think). Within 5 minutes, the old finish had clogged up the paper so bad that it was effectively useless. First solution -- harsh chemical strippers. Not cool. Noxious fumes and if you got any on your skin, you'd develop a pretty g...
mrsandless said
on 7/20/2009 Acetone is a stripper. There is a simple test you can do to see if you can refinish that area. Take a damp paper towel and rub the area this will show you what the floor will look like with a finish applied. If you like the look then you are ready to refinish. Follow the steps above for finishing but lightly sand first and remove dust.
Or check out mrsandless.com
classic77 said
on 7/18/2009 we had new oak hardwood floors put in February 2009, and within a few days beads of poly are constantly appearing in the cracks of the floor. This substance is sticky and if you walk on it it smears leaving unsightly marks. I'm very disappointed with the job and assume the floors will have to be resanded and polyed. The contractor told us to use mineral spirits to take up the poly beads, but that would require doing the entire floor in 3 rooms. Please advise.
jaybird1571 said
on 7/1/2009 after sanding and staining with a natural oil based stain I left it dry then finished with varathane water based floor treatment initially the floor looked great and I applied 4 coats as instructed after 24 hours light areas appeared where more sanding had been done. any thoughts on why it happened and possible solutions?
rodnette said
on 6/19/2009 oh man, don't put renewal on the floor, put LamanatorPlus on it, - it's a hardwood, cork, laminate, bamboo, vinyl, restoration system. Their "kit" will do 800 s.f. but if you want two coats - and you should, get an extra bottle of restoration. The Kit will cost you under eighty bucks for their all inclusive kit which includes deep scrub initial cleaner (to get all the renewal, orange glow, and other garbage off the floor), the restoration product (plan on doing two coats) and residue free maintenance cleaner for after the fact. You can do it yourself DIY in just a few hours. My wife found them on the web, i bought it and she installed it after the kids went to bed. their website is lamanatorplus.com . NOTE: the kit contains two microfiber mop heads, the scrubber pad, and a holder, squirt nozzles for all three color coded bottles, a DVD for easy instructions, written instruct...
who8thecat said
on 6/6/2009 litegrl , sorry to say but i have never seen a "blend in" for a hardwood floor that matched to the rest of the floor.
litegrl said
on 5/2/2009 A bottle of acetone based fingernail polish remover was spilled in the middle of my floor. The wood in that spot is now bare. Is it possible to refinish that one spot and have it match the rest of the room, or do I need to refinish the entire floor? (it's an oak floor, and the varnish is more than 10 years old)
ob77 said
on 4/21/2009 dmc57.As long as the dog only scratched the finish, you can lightly sand the floor and apply more finish. You did not state how old the the original finish is or what it may be. If the floor is older, like mine and the finish is worn and yellowed, you will have to sand the entire floor to remove the old finish. If the floor or finish is newer, you can lightly sand just the finish and reapply a polyurethane.Another option is to apply a product called Renewal, that can be applied without sanding, to restore your floor's finish. Again, try to establish what finish is on your floor at present. Renewal may not be compatible with older varnishes.
ob77 said
on 4/21/2009 marsin1.Did much the same thing myself. As the poly was still wet, I added more over the trouble spots. The poly filled in and leveled out and you cannot tell any difference. I used the water based Varathane for floors. Since by now your finish is dry, lightly sand the trouble spots and reapply finish over those spots. See how it turns out after one coat, you can always add additional coats if need be.
marsin1 said
on 4/17/2009 I stepped on a hardwood floor that I didn't realize was still wet. Does the entire floor need to be redone or can the few spots with the footprints be sanded and glazed over? If anyone know please let me know.
alleycat5 said
on 3/13/2009 I live in a very dry climate and have a beech hardwood floor. I have some places where the boards look like they could be filled in with something and then sanded/polyurethaned over. Anyone suggest a product that works best for this type of flooring?
dmc57 said
on 1/16/2009 I have walnut floors and a dog that has scratched them up. Do need a professional to re-sand? Is there a orbital sander that just covers the high traffic areas or the scraches then reapply a poly urthene coat over everything.
mariuspudz said
on 12/13/2008 I have just sanded a pine floor, and after applying a first coat of polyurethane, I notice that there are lighter spots on the edges of the floor than the center. What causes this?