Best way to clean and paint a LOT of floor in a Rented Apartment?

Question

Just rented a large apartment (900+ SF) in a really old Victorian house. Floors are rough wood, with matte paint finish that gravel dust from the parking lot sticks to like glue. The gaps between the boards are up to a quarter inch, and are embedded with dirt build-up that can't be vacuumed out. I mopped before I moved in, but it only pushed the dust around and stuck it to the finish even more firmly. It also shredded my sponge mop (really rough floors). I want to paint the floor with something glossy so it will be easier to clean. It's just me, my twenty-five year-old hands, and a teeny tiny budget. I don't think I can afford to rent a floor sander for the time it would take me to sand down all 900 SF, or manage to get up the dust afterwards. I'm almost prepared to pour exterior floor paint on the floor and let it go where it will, (what I think the landlord has been doing). What can I compromise on in the usual sand/paint/finish advice and still get livable results?

1) the landlord doesn't care. the place looks like crap and he knows it.

2) the reason i rented the place is that it has wood floors. i'm not putting carpet in.

3) the rooms are 15' x 15' roughly, that takes an area rug that's $200 at minimum, and i'd need three of them. i can paint cheaper than that.

i'm just looking for the best way to clean the floors and prep them before painting without going whole hog and renting a floor sander. thank you.

Answer 1

To start with, I try not to answer questions I don't think I have a chance of getting best answer on, but from the question and the answers I'll get out on a limb here.

You said you rented the apartment because it had wood floors and you weren't going to put carpet in. Then something about rugs at 200 bucks each.

I see two ways to fix your problem and I have been doing this for 35 years. Fixing problems that is, lol.

OK, if you want to stay with a wood flood but not rent a floor sander to sand it, You can buy a 5 in one tool at Lowes or Home Depot for about 4 or 5 bucks and a cheap belt sander from www.harborfrieght.com for about 20 bucks and a pack of 5 - 50 grit belts for it for another 5 bucks.
The 5 in 1 has a sharp corner that you can scrape the cracks with while vacuuming and that will get the biggest part out. Just take the hose itself and hold it right where you are scrapeing and it will pull it out. Alot of elboe grease but it will get it.

I'll get dogged for saying 50 grit because everyone know 50 grit is way too course for fine sanding, "BUT" a belt wears down fast. "Real fast".
In the first 10 minutes it will be equal to an 80 grit belt. Another 10 minutes and it is a 120 grit belt. Before long you have a 180 and then a 220 grit belt.
Make a fast pass on the roughest places on the floor to start with. If they are in different areas take a piece of chalk or even a felt tip pen and outline them.
Go back and find the roughest places still remaining and chalk them out again.
Now understand, this is on one room at a time. Buy the time you have made the second pass, your belt should be equal to a 120 to 150 grit belt. By now, you have cut down the rough wood that was tearing your mop up so bad and are ready to really start smoothing it down and now is when the elboe greese comes in, " If " you are looking for a really good finish, but if you buy a good grade oil based floor paint, it won't take long to get it ready. A good oil based floor paint will cover up a fairly rough finish and turn out smooth as a babies butt, with a lite, thinned down coat and thin a heavey coat after the first coat dries good.
You should only do this one room at a time and be able to close the door and open the windows to let it air out until it dries really good. Atleast 24 hours minimum, but I like to let it dry for two or three days, even between coats.

NOTE::: Most oil based paints are toxic and will do anything from give you a headach to cause you to pass out and fall off a scaffold and become disabled, as it did to me, if you stay in the fumes too long. And this is true. I have been setting here on the computor for the last 5 hours because I don't have to go to work in the morning. Knocked me out cold as a cucumber. When I woke up I was 10 feet below where I was working, laying on the concrete and the whole left side of my body was broken up, so please take heed to what I am saying.
Pay attention to the way you feel and if you start getting the slightest bit dizzy, Take your brush out side and clean it in mineral spirits. Get some fresh air and then go back for round two.
I was good at picking up on when I needed to get away from it, but the guy I was working for changed paint up paint on me, and I let it sneak up on me.
And that's a lesson for everyone that reads this.
OK, where was I at.
If you are only going to paint the floor and not put throw rugs or anything else down, start the painting after you are happy with the sanding job you did, by mixing about 6 oz. of thinner with one hald gallon of the floor paint. This will give it a good thin consistancy than the wood will soak up good. Just put a good thin coat on. Spread it out good.
Next, you can either use floor leveler compound or chaulking to fillthe cracks.
I suggest "Iron Man" leveling compound you mix with water. Cut the bottom 2 " from a gallon milk jug or something simular to mix it in.
Read the direactions for mixing it and please mix a very small amount to start with. As you get better spreaing it you can mix more, but this stuff sets fast so be ready to go to work as soon as it is mixed.
Just take the 5-in-1 tool and pack the cracks good. Don't worry about any on the sides. You can take the sander and knock it of really fast.
If you start in one corner of the room and work to the other, before you get t the other it will be ready for you to start sanding from the first corner and the whole process shouldn't take an hour or two and then you will be ready to mop and put down the second and final coat.
Pour what you had left from the thinned down paint you mixed back into the bucket it came from and it should be enough to paint the room.
This is for a 15' x 15 ' room.
It will take you 3, or maybe 4 gallons of paint and a gallon of thinner, or mineral spirits. Same thing. Buy which ever is cheapest on that.
You can buy good quality paint at some discount stores such as Big Lots for a quarter of what they cost at Lowes.
One thing you do want to do, Is get a fairly good brush and keep it clean.
You will probably need to buy a second gallon of thinner to clean the brush in, but you can use this to thin the second gallon of paint etc.

The second way of fixing the problem is to buy carpet remnates from a carpet store. You could probly get enough for something like throw rugs for all the rooms for less than a hundred bucks.

I hope this helps. It sure took long enough, lol.

God Bless
Dennis

Answer 2

You can buy a red devil paint scraper and use it on the floors. That should get up all the loose paint and any parking lot gravel. As for the cracks, there's nothing you can do, unless you want to scrap it out with a knife or some other tool and then fill them with a floor leveling compound.

that's still a lot of work but if you do it a room at a time, it may not be so bad. Good luck

Answer 3

Keep it simple.... I think one fellows suggestion of caulking the cracks sounds good to me.Caulking comes in acrylics and silicones, urethanes etc.Naturally you are going to buy the cheap one .... look for one that comes in colours. The cheap caulking will be water based and easy to clean up.DO NOT buy silicone based... no paint or varnish will stick to it. Now..... do you like the colour / appearance of the floor??? If so a varnish can go on top. Buy a small can of Varathane"s water based varnish to see if it adheres to what is there now. If it does , nice because it is non toxic and very easy to clean up. If not use the cheapest urethane varnish cause they all seem to work well and get good ventilation.
You can probably brush or roll on one coat to seal and make the surface 'sandable'( you can't sand a gooey surface) Sand very quickly with #80 or even #60 to take of the nastiest bumps and brush or roll on another coat. All the advice in the world won't take place of common sense...this will require some trial and error to get the finish you want.And you can try onemethod and ask again based on results.

Answer 4

Shouldnt the landlord be responsible for that? I think any money you put into repairs should come off of your rent. I have hardwood floors in my home and would never paint them. If I were you I would just wait until I had enough money saved to restore the hardwood floors and do the job as it should be done. Even if its just one room at a time.

Answer 5

Don't waiste your money on the landlord's floors!
You work too hard for it and the land lord should be responsible for maint. related repairs.
What you may want to do is find a carpet store and see if they have pcs left over from large jobs. I have gotten great deals on remnants before.
I don't recommend sanding or painting.

Answer 6

I'd go for cheap area rugs. In an apartment that size, you shouldn't need that many for places that actually get foot traffic, and the money you spend is on items you get to keep. Doing anything substantial to the floors seems unfeasible

Oh, nevermind then. Here's reality. You rented an apartment with floors that need to be redone. There's no shortcut way just cause you want there to be one.

Answer 7

Strip off or sand old finish. Get specific floor paint and use a roller. It usually takes several coats and can be a very messy and toxic job if you are not carefull

Answer 8

if you are renting you better make sure you have permission first. The company that ownes the building can sue you for your full lease, repairs to what you did and boot you out of the apartment. Go with rugs and save yourself the headache and money.

Answer 9

Get a caulking gun and caulk the cracks before painting.

Answer 10

Cover it with carpet.