There are some hardwood floors in a house that my mom and dad inheritted that have been under carpet for about 30 years. We picked the carpet up to look at the hardwood and they looked really good. The thing is, being that the carpet has been down that long, they probably have a wax finish. My question is, if I want to put polyurethane down on them, do i have to sand it down to bear wood or can I just use a wax stripper? Also, do people still wax floors? If they look good and I don't want to sand I might just wax even though you have to reapply every year.

3/26/2009 7:52:23 PM

While they look good, is there a lot of dirt stuck in the wax?

Hm, I just googled a bit and found that it looks like some people do still have waxed hardwood floors:

http://www.hardwoodinfo.com/display_article.asp?ID=280

They have a hell of a lot of info on there about care. I suppose the other thing to consider is how the carpet was attached to the floor. I'm guessing the used those tack strips that you see almost everywhere nowadays? Otherwise the floors would look like ass, haha.

They also have this guide about refinishing: http://www.hardwoodinfo.com/display_article.asp?ID=283

I suppose if it needs to be refinished, though that might just include waxing the floor again, you could consider sanding the whole thing and then finish the newly sanded floor with polyurethane.

If you need to wax a floor every year as you mentioned, and this floor has gone thirty years without maintenance, it might be worth it just to sand and refinish with polyurethane anyway. Saves you the trouble of worrying about the wax. And as for just using a wax stripper, bear in mind that the floors are probably dinged up in spots (as I'd guess the floor had likely seen its fair use before they put carpet on it). This will give you an opportunity to nip all these problems in the bud at once, and it should cost less than putting down new carpet.

[Edited on March 26, 2009 at 9:08 PM. Reason : I apologize if I sound incoherent, my blood sugar is literally killing me right now]

3/26/2009 9:07:47 PM

Quote :

"If you need to wax a floor every year as you mentioned, and this floor has gone thirty years without maintenance, it might be worth it just to sand and refinish with polyurethane anyway."

this

3/27/2009 9:27:21 AM

You need to sand and refinish.

3/27/2009 9:46:02 AM

^ That isn't bad advice, but it's also worth considering the character of the floors. Some floors look great with 100 years of dings, dents, scrapes, etc. If that's the case then I'd consider doing a light sanding (something like 400, 600, 1000 grit) to get rid of minor imperfections while leaving the existing stain and then do a coat of poly on top.

3/27/2009 9:49:30 AM

^ agree.

3/27/2009 10:42:23 AM

[Edited on March 27, 2009 at 11:21 AM. Reason : nvm, lounge, sorry.]

3/27/2009 11:21:00 AM

I was in a similar situation just a few weeks ago after pulling up my carpet and seeing hardwoods that had a 40 year old coat of wax on them and I opted to have the floors sanded all the way down and then apply a few coats of polyurethane. Floors look fantastic now and even hiring a pro to do it for me only took a few days and didn't cost too much.

3/27/2009 11:24:46 AM

Keep in mind too that you can only refinish them so many times. Most of them start out 3/4" thick. Take off more than about 1/4" and you're going to be close to hitting the tongue and groove part of the plank that ties them together. That's not a lot of wood when you consider how quick those huge floor sanders can eat it up. It's always a consideration when you're dealing with boards that may have already been refinished a couple of times or more. Just another reason to consider surface sanding. Also, 400 grit might take off too much...Consult a pro if you consider doing this.

3/27/2009 11:24:50 AM

it's crazy how/why people in the 70's and 80's thought that shag carpeting looked better than old hardwood floors.....

3/27/2009 11:31:56 AM

^^

No way could you eat through 1/4" quickly.

How aggressive are those sanders?!?!?!

1/4" is a MILE

3/27/2009 6:13:38 PM

some friends and I have done several floors in several old houses. If you need some advice, just holler. It's tedious, but you'll have a very nice looking floor, minimal cost, professional look, and you (and maybe some of your peeps) did it all. very rewarding.

on a side note: i hate carpet

rugs: ok

i have allergies and hardwoods are just easier to clean and maintain. period.

3/27/2009 6:43:04 PM

Quote :

"How aggressive are those sanders?!?!?!"

Very. If you let it sit in one spot for just a second or two you'll have a visible dip in the wood. Professional sanders weigh 200+ lbs and have gas engines. The ac powered units that you rent aren't nearly that size, but they'll still destroy a floor pretty quick in the wrong hands. It's nothing like the little belt sander most people have in their garage.

[Edited on March 28, 2009 at 11:36 AM. Reason : l]

3/28/2009 11:35:32 AM

Yeah it is definitely a waxed floor after uncovering most of a room this weekend. The floors look great. That's why I hated to strip it all the way down if I didn't have to. If I had it done it would be about 1300 sq ft. I think I'll get an estimate just to see how much it would be. I'm thinking a couple thousand. If it's too much I guess I'll look into the DIY route.

3/30/2009 7:10:42 AM

I believe DIY sanding with the large sized floor sanders they use can be a PITA and difficult to accomplish correctly as well, so I guess if you went the DIY route it might be safest just to strip and reapply the wax.

Otherwise, if the chowdah is there for the spending, hire a pro for sure. Finished in place floors look absolutely amazing.

3/30/2009 7:22:56 AM

^^yeah, when I was getting it done, most of the places were charging 2-2.50/sq ft with two coats of polyurethane.

3/30/2009 9:04:33 AM