Secrets of old Floor Refinishing Revealed

July 11, 2010 - PRLog -- SANDING OLD FLOORS IN LANCASTER PA
Old wood floors give historic homes that charming warm look. Have you ever seen old wood floors from the early 1700's that clearly show the worn spots that thousands of feet have created? Sometimes the knots in the old pine floors will be slightly higher than the fibers around it, showing off the age of the floor and attesting to the countless feet that have walked or run on the area. When it is time to refinish them extra special care should be taken so the historic tale that they tell isn't ruined. Once the 'age spots' are removed it will be hard to tell the age and the charm and historic tales are gone!

Drum Sander

Let's start by eliminating the biggest enemy to historic flooring. There is at least one way to ruin old historic flooring and it is done easily by simply sanding with one of those big heavy drum sanders and it's twin, the horrible edger. These two sanding tools will eat into the wood like giant surface termites gobbling and gouging the wood all while taking years off its life. The drum sander will leave slight indentation spots where the sander was stopped and started, these marks are the sure give away that the floor has been ruined. The edger will rip a ridge around the edge of the room along the historic baseboard. The final product will be a flat floor with little or no sign showing the age of the floor. Instead you will always see the teeth marks of destruction left behind.

I have been in many friends and customers homes and listened to them brag about their "beautiful" refinished floors that had been destroyed by the awful drum sander. It takes all of my willpower to keep from telling them that their floors are horribly destroyed because of all the flatness and stop and start marks left from the drum sander.


Prep and Cleaning

If your older floor has adhesive or paint that has been used to adhere vinyl or carpet put away the sander. If you attempt to sand all that gunky and sticky adhesive not only does it clog up the sandpaper quickly it will also take many years off of the life of the floor. The sander will dig into the dry fibers of the good wood in order to keep from gumming up the sandpaper sometimes taking up 3/16 of an inch or more. A better way is to use a good paint stripper. Apply the stripper sparingly so the joints don't fill up with the stuff and scrape up the loosened adhesive with a teardrop or triangle scraper. Great care must be taken to avoid pulling up hunks of the floor.

After the majority of the adhesive has been removed you will need to perform a final cleanup of the stripper residue. I have used a product called Wilbond. It is a paint surface prep product that is very volatile. This means it dries very quickly which is what you want when cleaning up sticky paint stripper. Apply liberally with a rag and scrub quickly constantly adjusting the rag to find a wet clean spot. You will go thru alot of rags and Wilbond but the finished product will be adhesive free, clean and dry.

Light Sanding

A best way to restore an old floor is to tackle it with good old elbow grease. If a palm sander is used on an historic floor the 'age marks' will be preserved. The sander will follow the contour of the worn spot where countless feet have tread. It will take off a small layer of dirt, paint, even adhesive all while leaving the floor for future generations to enjoy. It may even require (horrors), some hand sanding! Yes it does take a bit longer but who says restoring an old house should be fast?

Sealing

I have found that a good Danish wood oil is an excellent way to seal an old pine or fir floor. This oil will soak into the fibers of the wood and will harden to allow for many years of use. Polyurethane in a satin finish is a good top coat for the Danish wood oil to allow for easier cleaning.

No Sanding or Sealing?

For true historic floors in a museum, sanding or sealing is rarely if ever done.


Sand and refinish an old floor carefully and you will avoid ruining them for life. Call Brookline Builders for your project. We are a Lancaster PA builder, home improvement contractor and have completed many historic renovations. License # PA1840

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Brookline Builders offers complete historic restoration services in South Eastern Pennsylvania since 1990. Whether it is a small repair or a complete whole house restoration, Brookline offers quality workmanship in a timely manner. Attention to the small details is what makes our successful historical restoration shine.