I will be refinishing oak floors in my home. They currently have 3 coats of water based poly on them (much worn down). I plan to sand them with a large circular sander then refinish with poly. However, I have heard of an alternative to sanding: wipe on a mix of denatured alcohol and mineral spirits (presumably to dissolve the polyurethane), let dry and refinsih with new poly. Has anyone heard of this method and how does it compare with sanding? And would it work with water-based poly?
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You would have to use some hellaciously strong solvent to dissolve cured poly.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
It won't work on waterbase.
IanDG
Would it work on oil-based? I've heard that poly is very hard to remove.
you don't say if dirt/discoloration is apparent in the wear areas usually as wear surface deteriorates, underlying wood gets dirty if this is the case, it's time to sand, not cover it up w poly
No, this won't work on water based poly.
Assuming the worn spots don't go all the way down to bare wood, you should be able to screen the surface, and recoat with an oil based polyurethane.
If there are a lot of areas where bare wood is exposed, then I think you will probably have to sand all the old finish off, if you want the new finish to look right.
There are some chemical products that you can wipe on to old finishes that will allow the new material to adhere. EASY SURFACE PREP (by Flood) is one, but any paint store will have others. However, I would not recommend this technique for floors; you're much better off screening the existing finish.
Thanks to all who have responded to my original post. Ive been out of town since then. I will stick with sanding and refinishing per standard procedure.
Ben