Q: I have Junckers hardwood flooring in my house, except for the bedrooms. It is a light maple colour and it is oak. It has held up really well for 9 1/2 years except for my kitchen, which has faded. I had a refinishing contractor over today that had been highly recommended and has been in the business a long time. He was going to do a light hand sanding to just my kitchen and adjoining small den area and apply finish. As we talked, I started telling him about what I had used to try to bring the colour back into my floor. Please don’t laugh too hard when I tell you that I applied peanut butter to my kitchen floor.
This had worked beautifully on a linoleum kitchen floor years ago when I accidentally dropped some peanut butter on it. It restored the colour that had been ruined by my son spilling turpentine on it. With this information, the contractor did not want to touch my floor. He said it would all peel off because of the oil / oily contaminate. Now I am devastated that my floors might have to remain in this condition which he said will even get worse. I am in hopes that you can help me with what to do. I even ask about completely significantly re-sanding all the wood in my house. He said the big machines that do that kind of refinishing and sanding are for smooth hardwood floors and because Junckers is so distressed and wavy, he didn’t seem to even want to try.
A: Well, there are very strong chemical cleaners designed to remove most all contaminants. Basic Coatings has a chemical prep system called Ty Kote. It will remove the oil and prep the existing finish to allow the next coat to bond. Poloplaz has one similar called Tie Tack. Look both up. I think that would be your solution.