# Fixing wood floors. questions...



## joshtank (Apr 5, 2010)

THE FACTS:

So I have a house circa the 40's and it has wood floors.

They have filler in between the boards, and it's come up in the high traffic areas, leaving these gaps in the floor.

It's a small house, so doing whatever by hand is fine - BUT we also live in it / have more animals than I care for / and my wife is pregnant. Taking everything out, and doing it all at once isn't an option really. (boarding animals, hotel, need that money for kid stuff etc). And room by room seems the way to go so the pregnant wife doesn't feel like she's living in an unending construction area.

SO…










I started using ZAR wood patch (it's like wood pudding) to fill these cracks. (we're NOT sanding the whole floor down and restaining then doing poly) so i tape of a crack, fill it, it dries, fill again, then sand, and stain to match, then pull up the tape. So far it's working pretty decently and we're happy with it. it's already less humid in the room having the cracks in the floor fixed. ha

After doing the bedroom this way, i'm going to poly it.

MY QUESTIONS:

1. A water-based poly is ideal for us. faster drying time, minimal fumes etc for pregnant wife etc. what do i have to do to the floor before applying it? i was thinking a light steel wool to rough up the poly it has now..?

2. cleaning the floor. what it the best thing to clean it with before applying the water based poly? vinegar and water? a box of 'magic erasers' ?

3. Any other fun things I should know about this project…?

THANKS


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## BarbaraGill (Feb 12, 2011)

Often when you fill between the boards in a floor, the wood movement will pull the fill apart making ragged edges. I don't put poly on a floor so I can't help you with that.
BTW in what part of Jacksonville do you live?


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## joshtank (Apr 5, 2010)

Yeah. My only thought is that it's less raggedy than a gap anywhere from an 8th of an inch to a quarter if an inch.

Riverside / downtown area.

I've been to Richmond a ton for band stuff. Maymont park is great!


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## BarbaraGill (Feb 12, 2011)

Our oldest daughter lives in Murry Hill. She has a house that is about of the same vintage.


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

strip with a de-waxer
or mineral spirits first
a light scuffing as you said
would be good too


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

Steel wool will catch in the wood and RUST when you apply a
water-base finished. Don't use it. Use synthetic steel wool
pads or sandpaper instead.


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## stevenhsieh (Jan 8, 2010)

http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/flooring/hardwood/refinish_1/applying_urethane.htm


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## joshtank (Apr 5, 2010)

loren, good call on the steel wool.

patron, i think it has some poly on it.. would the mineral spirits be for wax floor only? maybe what it has it wax.. i need to find out. so you're saying like mineral spirits and like a paint scraper? or just a plastic putty knife to skim it off?


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

Josh, it is fairly common on wood flooring of this age to have multiple layers of floor wax on it. In the 50s and 60s this was a common way to add a shine to the floor. If you put poly on without removing the wax then the poly will peel off. As David said mineral spirits will remove the wax. To remove it use a clean cloth dampened with mineral spirits and wipe the floor down. Rinse the cloth fairly often with more mineral spirits and continue the cleaning.


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## joshtank (Apr 5, 2010)

ok. this makes sense. thanks.

i'm assuming the mineral spirits will pull some of the stain out of the wood patch i already put down? ideas for solution to that? or just have to re-stain it / tape it off before spirits?


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## stevenhsieh (Jan 8, 2010)

Josh

Damp the rag with mineral spirit and lighting scrub the surface.

Here's another problem.

If you fill in the gap and put new poly on top of current finish, and match it to old poly next to it. it will not have even sheen if you look at an angle. Oil based products are what manufacture use. Overtime it becomes more yellow.

So the best way to do it is refinish the entire floor.


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## joshtank (Apr 5, 2010)

well yes, i'm not just doing the spots i have marked off with tape.

i will be redoing the topcoat of the floor.. floor just one room at a time.

so far what i'm gathering from this board's responses is.

1. wipe the whole floor down with mineral spirits. 
2. after that dries use a synthetic steel wool and roughen up the surface. 
3. wipe clean and vaccum. 
4. then apply the new waterbased poly.

and before i apply the new water poly, i may have to restain the spots i did with the zar wood patch. (i'm thinking the mineral spirits may lift the stain out of this)

thoughts?


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## stevenhsieh (Jan 8, 2010)

There is no need to use synthetic steel wool.

Scrub with mineral spirit
wipe
Sand with 150
vacuum
wipe
apply minimum 4 coats
scuff sand 150 grit between coats.


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

Josh, if I were doing this I would check to see if the stain in the zar patch will lift off with mineral spirits by playing with some scrap. If it does then you may want to consider sealing the patches with shellac. Zinsser's Sealcoat is readily available from woodworking stores as well as Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.

Basically I would agree with Steven that sanding the floor with 150 will rough it up enough for the new poly to bond. As Steven said vacuum, wipe again, and apply several coats of poly. With floors that I have refinished I have sanded with 320 grit between coats to remove any bubbles, dust nibs etc.

If you do a search for refinishing floors you will find some pretty straight forward tutorials.


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## joshtank (Apr 5, 2010)

very cool.

And the water based poly will bond even if what is there is an oil based?

likewise on the wood patch? the stain for that is oil base..

thanks!


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