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Oil versus varnish wood floor finish: Pros and cons, which is the better choice of the two?!

When putting urethane on a floor what can I do if I somehow miss an area in the middle of a floor and see it after I have finished? How do I fix the problem without doing the hold floor over? This was a polyurethane oil base gloss finish used. Also, why is it necessary to go with the grain when doing poly if the poly is going to self level?

I am refinishing 112 year old fir plank floor in my farm house. These floors had received many different finishes over the years, including what appear to be orange shellac, varnish and paint. I am having difficulty in fully restoring the floorboards to an even colour, free of any trace of previous coating. Should I just continue to sand the floors aggressively with a drum sander and edger prior to finish sanding?

I don’t want to sand my floor. What can I use instead of sanding my wood floor?

I have old urine stains on my hardwood floors. There is no odour or buckling, just dark marks. When the moisture is high these areas become damp. How do I stop this?

We obtained about 500 sq. ft of maple gymnasium flooring that we want to refinish and install in our cabin. The flooring is probably 50 years old or more and has been heavily waxed, and it looks as though there may be a shellac finish under that. We had to dismantle the flooring but we are at a loss as to the best way of taking the finish down to the bare wood, removing the old gym lines, and then refinishing.

The flooring we are installing doesn’t offer a reducer, so I’m trying to plan how to treat the transition. One idea is to pull up the sub floor and install so both floors are flush (and use T-Moulding). Would I be stupid to attempt this especially since the 5/8 seems to run under some built-ins, so I’d be looking at how to flush cut it? Or should I look at machining my own reducer out of the flooring stock,and try to figure how to make one to cover the 5/8″ difference between the two floors?

When can I put an area rug down on a newly installed hardwood floor?

After removing carpet on a 60 year old floor in an 11×17 room, about 15 slats show slight to severe old termite damage. I have had to call the exterminator in the past, but not for a couple of years. I plan on carpeting again, my question is: must the whole floor be ripped up, or can just the 15-20 slats be replaced?

We are in the process of refinishing our hardwood floors and are debating whether or not to go with satin or high gloss polyurethane. We have two Golden Retrievers and are worried about durability. Our installer plans to clear coat the floor with 2 coats of high gloss polyurethane. He says that a satin finish will show scratches more than the high gloss. He also says that the satin polyurethane is a watered-down high gloss polyurethane and won’t last as long. Any suggestions?

We bought our house 20 years ago and it had carpet on the floors. We took the carpet up over 5 yr.. ago and noticed that it had hardwood floors, and no noticeable damage. Since we had already bought the carpet to put down, we put the new carpet down. Now we want to take the carpet up and use the hardwood floors. We do not have the finances to refinish the floors at this time but want to have it done in the next year or so. What should our next step be and what should we use to accomplish this?

We are looking to tile the entryway from the garage into the family room. This area is a step down from the kitchen. We would like to make the tile area rounded. How do we get a round carpet reducer? Does someone sell such a thing? If not, any suggestions?

Why are my wood floors sticky? I use warm water and no other cleaners, but lately I’ve noticed that my floors are kind of sticky, specially if the floor is exposed to a sunny area? help? the floors are only about 2 years old, birch, high gloss finish.

(TN) We are in the final stages of having red oak flooring installed in our home. We chose to have a water based varnish applied vs. the oil to allow more of the true wood colours to show. Prior to application of the water based varnish the floor was smooth and level. Subsequent applications of varnish have resulted in slight cupping in the flooring.

An area rug & padding was removed from my hardwood floor. A mark has remained where the edge of the padding was. How can I rub this away without ruining the finish?

We have put Danish oil on our 100+ old pine floor. My husband did not wipe off the excess oil but thought it would dry. It did not. In places the floor is shiny and sticky but in other places the floor is beautiful and just the look we wanted. What do we dod with the parts of the floor that have too much oil on them?

We are finishing our basement. It is cement and we are considering putting in a sub-floor, in-floor heating, and then installing cork flooring or tile. Which is the better option? We’re leaning towards the cork; however, will the cork flooring be durable enough in the event of a septic tank backing up?

Can area rugs discolour hardwood floors? I was told by a rug salesperson that rugs could discolour hardwood floors, especially new hardwoods. She said carpet pads alleviate the problem.

There is a large bubble in a click-type engineered floor in our basement. It was installed 6 months ago. The dealer says it is due to excess moisture and will charge for a T cap, removal of quarter round and repair to board. Is this reasonable?