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My husband and I are remodeling a small older home that has been a rental for years. Under the carpet we discovered wood flooring. Looks like hardwood in the living room and possibly pine in the bedrooms. This will be an office for our business when it’s done. The floor has many staples and blemmishes and also a few darker stains. I like the old look so I wouldn’t expect perfection, but are we crazy? Should we just get more carpeting and not hassle with it.
Can you bleach out stains?
Can I stain it a darker color to hide the stains.
Can anyone recomment a “how to” to help us with this, or is it basically: pull out nails & staples, clean with Murphy’s, sand , fill, stain and varnish. Would apreciate any helpful tips. Cost is also a consideration.
Thanks, Debi Olson
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Debi:
Forget about Murphys Oil Soap! You have a classic floor with alot of character...it's in vogue these days. Pull the staples with needle nose pliers and set the nails about 3/8"..forget the stains and call in a pro..you'll be amaized at the final product!
*Debi, I agree with Ken... Don't worry about the old nail marks from tack strips or dark spots from stains. Some of these may be erased during the sanding process, but not all by any means. Bleaching won't achieve much, and a dark stain to hide things will only make the house dismal. After your flooring contractor has sanded down the floors and applied a stain (optional) and finish (two coats minimum), your old floors will have a look of age and care.Good luck, Steve
*Debi, My husband and I bought an 80+ year old cottage with the same problems you are talking about. We ripped out the carpet, removed the staples and tack strips, had them stripped and refinished by a professional, and now everyone who sees them says they are the best part of our house, imperfections and all.We had Southern Yellow Heartwood Pine. We didn't re-stain them, but instead just went with clear polyurethane finish. They are gorgeous. I truly love them.Also, our refinishing cost about the same as having someone come in and lay good quality carpet.IMO, get them refinished. You will be very happy you did.
*Also agree with refinishing the floor. Even if you later decide to carpet, the floor won't be pemanently ruined, which could happen with another carpeting job and no first aid done beforehand. I had the waffle pattern of the foam padding indelibly stained into the wood, and nothing short of abrasion would remove it. I don't think there's a better interim solution than sanding and refinishing.
*Don't carpet. In my house (90 yrs 1600ft hardwood & pine floor) we rented on of the random orbit square edge sanders (you can rent them at the dreaded home depot) & simply took off the finish. we left the stains & blemishes & gouges as they are part of the character of the house. Try it, you'll like it.
*What do you want the finished room to look like? If your design would be helped by a wood floor with character then refinish. If your office design would better match your business with carpet then carpet. You can go either way. Which is best depends on what you want the finished space to say about your business. Be faithful to your design.In either case this is definitely a project for someone in the business. That person will have the tools and knowledge to do the job quickly and well. Although you could rent the tools and do it the time and effort just isn't worth it.
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My wife (Me) and I have just finished the floors of our house, a 110 year terrace – we're in Sydney, Australia, so not sure what the US equivalent is. (An Aussie terrace has a ground floor living area with the bedrooms above and common side walls with the neighbors.)
Our floors are a mixture of Baltic pine (from Scandinava) Cypress pine, and various Australian hardwoods such as Sarah, Brush Box and Karri. The color of the boards varies from pale yellow to a deep red brown.
Our treatment was to fill the worst holes with an epoxy glue. We used mainly earth toned ochre dyes (vary from about $5.00 for 4oz to $10 for 1oz) to color the epoxy so as to match a particular board. (Australian hardwoods often have gum veins and this technique is also used to repair areas where the vein has crumbled and dropped out prior to final finishing – natural gum veins are often a glossy purple black and the repair imitates nature.) we used a slow cure epoxy but I know of people who use the quick set variety.
We then used a professional to sand and coat the floor. The remanded re coated old floor is almost indistinguishable from the room where replaced the entire floor. (You can rent the equipment and do it yourself but an old floor doesn't have much board thickness to practice on and hand held belt or disk sanders will take forever.)
One tip to get the best performance from the coating you need to leave it for several days before subjecting it to traffic. 5 to 7 days is suggested for Tug oil (then give it at least 3 coats of water based liquid wax), and up to 6 weeks for the clear two pack epoxies (marketed here as full gloss Estapol). I know many people who haven't waited long enough and ended up with depressions in the coating where furniture was placed too early.
Our take on coatings. Estapol is tough and low maintenance, but a pain to cure correctly or repair. Tug oil requires regular maintenance but seems to handle everyday wear and tear. We note that squash courts are frequently coated with tug oil and liquid polish.
*Got to get the hang of this spell checker. Wife's name is Meg, and the species of Australian timber is Jarah (not Sarah).hope this helps Ian
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My husband and I are remodeling a small older home that has been a rental for years. Under the carpet we discovered wood flooring. Looks like hardwood in the living room and possibly pine in the bedrooms. This will be an office for our business when it's done. The floor has many staples and blemmishes and also a few darker stains. I like the old look so I wouldn't expect perfection, but are we crazy? Should we just get more carpeting and not hassle with it.
Can you bleach out stains?
Can I stain it a darker color to hide the stains.
Can anyone recomment a "how to" to help us with this, or is it basically: pull out nails & staples, clean with Murphy's, sand , fill, stain and varnish. Would apreciate any helpful tips. Cost is also a consideration.
Thanks, Debi Olson
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debi, Seems no one is for the carpet route. I have to agree with them. You can rent most of what You need if You feel handy or go the professional route. Either way the results should be good. While it may seem a daunting task, it is not if you take time and don't repeat DON"T look for any short cuts. Allow 5 days minimum depending on how fast You get the sanding done and again be patient and You will be rewaded. Good luck Skip