Any tips on restoring hard wood floors (without hiring someone)?

Question

A house we may buy has nice hardwood floors. They look just a bit dull and have a few splashes of paint in a few areas. I've never had to care for hardwood floors, any ideas?

Does that "kaboom" stuff really work?

Answer 1

Well, you can use goof off to get the paint off. You can also slowly scrape it off with a razor blade.

If the floors are just dull and not damaged, you can give them a REALLY good clean. Use a special wood floor cleaner. Once you've done that, you get yourself a bee mop and a gallon or two of latex based clear floor varnish. Use the kind that dries really quickly, as you don't want to seal the hardwood floors, just refresh them. This will work wonders. After awhile, when you want to resell your home or have a bit more extra money, you can have them resanded and revarnished... But if they are just dull but still in good shape, what I suggested will work well for a few years... Moving into a new home is expensive so if you can get away with not doing the floors right away, that's a big plus.

Once the floors are done, keeping them clean and shiny is a cinch.... Just put plain old white vinegar into hot water and wash the floors. Not only does the vinegar kill bacteria, but it is natural, won't harm the wood and will keep the floors shiny and clean from dirt, grease and grime... it also only costs pennies... And don't worry about the vinegar smell. Vinegar only smells when it's wet... once it's dry, you won't smell it anymore.

Answer 2

You can rent a floor polisher very inexpensively. You should go this route. First thing is to apply a floor wax remover. Where you rent the machine, they should carry a good commercial product to apply which you would then polish to a high gloss finish with the buffer/polisher. No off the shelf product at Safeway will give you the results that you really want to obtain. I maintain a large floor in an Alzheimer's facility. True, it gets a lot more wear and tear than your home would... all the better. If you are like me, you dont want to be doing your floors all the time. My best, best advice is don't apply any polyurethanes or heavy duty varnishes. it is almost impossible for a do it yourselfer to properly prep a floor like this. Just dust and airborne stuff that is going to settle on it during the drying time will make the job look unproffessional and It will require paying a commercial company with expensive sanding equipment to get if off in the future.

If you get the house and need more advice on preparing (cleaning, etc...) the floors prior to putting any sort of surface on them, you can contact me through my profile. Not knowing what you actually have(or might have I guess) it would not be possible to advise you now.

Remember, you are buying this house. Don't treat these fine floors like a renter would,

Answer 3

rent a highpower sander for a day them put polyurethane over for seal and shine