On Apr 12, 11:54*am, JRStern wrote:
On Thu, 12 Apr 2012 07:46:09 -0400, "dadiOH"
wrote:





JRStern wrote:
Had a nice hardwood floor in 1930s house, cleaning up for sale.
Everyone advised me to have them sanded and refinished. *90% looked
fine, 10% was scratched - and I went for it anyway.

Now here's the thing, the original finish was probably some kind of
shellac, and that had many decades of floor wax on it - but was mostly
covered by throw rugs, actually, which kept it in good shape.

The new finish is I guess the MinWax Dura-something finish, which I
gather includes top coats of polyurethane. *I asked for semi-gloss top
finish. *Was that a good idea?

Here's the thing, apparently people seem to believe this kind of floor
finish is good on its own, doesn't need first coats or regular coats
of floor cleaner/polish/wax, indeed can be cleaned with water-based
cleaners.

So, my questions a

* Is what I wrote above about right for common practice these days?

Yes

* Should these floors be given a coat of polish/wax?

No need, it would give zero protection and you already have the sheen you
wanted. *The poly will retain that sheen unless it gets all scratched up by
not sweeping off grit. *If it does get all scratched up, you could wax to
bring back a uniform sheen but you would need to totally remove the wax to
reoat with ant top finish.

* How *does* one best care for these modern finished wood floors?

1. Sweep regularly so that grit doesn't scratch the finish

2. If necessary, clean spots with slightly damp rag or mop

Thanks to everyone.

So, it would strike everyone as just nuts, to refinish a floor today
with old-style varnish, just to duplicate the appearance - since
polyurethane is just so much tougher and easier?

I hired a pro, he used an industrial belt-sander for the main act, and
I think smaller disk sanders between coats, and I guess it all went
well.

The poly is just "too good" somehow, seems to lack character or
something. *Maybe a tinted poly, or does everyone stain the wood and
stick with clear poly - which is what I got?

Also, seems to try mondo quick now. *I used a lot of polyurethane
varnishes back when they were new circa 1970, and they took a while to
dry, especially after recoats. *Now, the finisher swore we could put
the furniture back the next day! *I gave it an extra day anyway. *I
went even that quick because I've seen other (epoxy?) floor finishes
(paint) that indeed did dry in just an hour or two, and seemed tough
enough to walk on, at least, that quickly. *Some progress through
science I guess!

J.

careful the new synthetics last around 25 years and turn into
something awful when they go.