WoodFlooringGuy.com

I have 2000 square feet of hardwood floors, and in some areas the poly looks like it is peeling off. So far I have made one huge mistake: I cleaned all the floors with ammonia, and that took the water, dirt, and wax off of them. Then I used an oil based product called Dura Seal on two rooms. It made a huge difference. I then added a water based poly to one room and it dried great, but you could scratch off the poly. I do not know what to do about that. I do not want to sand my entire house. Can you put a stain over old oil based polyurethane and then use an oil based poly? Any suggestions?

Please give me directions on sanding and top coating an oak floor. It’s mostly in good condition. It has been under a rug for the past 25 years.

I recently sanded my Red Oak floors and prepared them for staining. They looked amazing before the stain hit the deck. I applied DuraSeal Medium Brown with a Lambswool applicator, following the instructions from the container. I did about a 10 sq. ft., waited about 6 min., and tried to wipe off the excess. Every time I wiped (again with the lambswool applicator), I got a dark stain line where the applicator first/last touched the floor.

Recently I installed oak hardwood floors in my house. I used pneumatic nailer, but at the area close to walls I had to nail down manually, and I can see gaps between woods. How do I fix this problem?

Our house has engineered hardwood floors, and an open stair case (no risers). We would like to install solid slabs, and add risers. What would you recommend for risers? Is solid slab engineered hardwood (for this application) available?

I would question using “shellac” as a seal coat. It contains a natural wax which will not allow adhesion of other top coats. There are de-waxed shellac products that offer better results. Zinsser universal sealer or Dura Seal Universal Sealer are good choices. Good adhesion on both sides of the shellac.

I had problems with the third coat of poly drying too fast and leaving lots of bubbles. So, I hand sanded with 100 grit, and with the 4th coat decided to cut the fast dry poly with 25% mineral spirits to ensure no bubbles, and let it slow dry (no ventilation). Now I can see all the sanding marks on the floor? Did cutting the poly cause this?

I recently installed and finished a hickory floor myself. The install was tough, but it came out great. Sanding went well, but finishing left streaks and blotches (did an oil modified sealer then water based urethane). I wasn’t happy, so I resanded the floor back down, and this time did a water based sealer and then water based urethane. No streaks, but I do have the occasional lap mark where I needed to turn the t-bar around when dragging the puddle of finish. Any ideas on how to get rid of these? I have 1 coat of sealer and 2 coats of urethane. I am thinking of screening\sanding them down with very fine (300-400 grit) paper once the floor is cured for a few weeks. Any advice? And yes - I just found your Q&A, and you are right: leave the finish to the pros - it took me three tries to get the floor to where it is now!

I have a wall to wall rug that has been in my apartment since way before I moved in (more than 10 years), and I would like to remove the rug. Can I stain the hardwood floor without sanding first? I understand that I won’t know what condition the floor would be in, but I am looking for a easy way to make the floor look decent.

So I didn’t heed the expert advice and I refinished my hardwood floors myself…

I’m refinishing a 115 year old pine floor and getting a little desperate! I’ve already managed to sand and scrape off several generations of paint and reached the bare wood and my first coat of oil-based poly has dried.

I just bought a 70 year-old house. I’ve looked at the hardwood floors and they don’t seem to be in too bad shape at all (there was carpet covering them). I want to bring them back to life. Do I need to sand them down or can I just throw a coat of varathane on them, or wax them?

We applied a water based polyurethane to our freshly stained floors. We have only done one coat with a roller. We have places where there was not enough polyurethane on the roller and places where you can tell it was stopped to reload the roller. Should we apply the second coat and see how it looks or buff the floor then reapply?

We have just recently bought a house dated somewhere around the early 1900’s, After removing the 10 year old carpet and the 40+ year old linoleum we discovered the original hardwood floors underneath. The linoleum seem to have been laid with some sort of tar or tar paper under them. Is there anyway to remove the tar or what ever it is on the floor without destroying the hardwood and what is the best thing to finish them with?

We have a 3000 sq. foot hard wood dance floor (we think it’s oak, but not sure). We are looking at a minwax polyurethane water based clear finish. We are doing this job ourselves, sanding, sealing and finishing. We want to know which of their four options is the best for us to use; matt, satin, semi gloss or clear high glass. Please keep in mind we want to end up with the most durable, the best looking, the least slippery and the longest lasting finish. Please also keep in mind, this is a high traffic, commercial use dance floor used 7 days a week.

I am interested in knowing how I can finish an existing unfinished hardwood floor in the entry hall of my home. We had planned to buy the interlocking new wood floor system and do it ourselves. How difficult would it be to finish the existing original hardwood floor which is already there?

I recently bought a house in severe need of full remodelling. We are to the point of redoing the hardwood floors. I want to stain the white oak to a dark mahogany colour. I want to put down a layer of polyurethane first to seal the wood and then go over it with a poly/stain mix, then more polyurethane. My idea on this is: If we ever want the light colour back, we can just sand down to the wood. My questions then are: Is this possible? And, if so can I mix the stain and polyurethane (in what percentages)?

We have birch wood floors. They were given one coat of poly about 8 years ago. After 3 kids and 2 dogs running through the house, I’m cleaning them constantly with little success. I would like to sand them down, and refinish them. We have a very small house, children, and can’t think of a way to do this without moving out. Is there any alternative ways to refinishing wood flooring, which doesn’t require moving the kids out? They have a lot of gaps, and are very stained. Very little finish is left on them.

My husband and I would like to remove the carpet in our living room and dinning room. When I had it professionally cleaned they said the carpet was about 50 years old. When we lifted a corner up there is a mesh over red clay like stuff. Where the clay was lose there are beautiful wood floors. We would like to remove the carpet without having to sand and refinish. Is there any thing we could use that won’t damage the floors?

We recently refinished our floor and when I put the second coat on there were a lot of lap marks all over the room. Is there anyway to fix these? I have not put the cleat coat on yet- just the stain.