In article , Hylourgos
wrote:

Allen Epps wrote in message
. ..
All,
Although perhaps better ask in the alt.homeimprovement group I'm more
active here. I'm in the process of refinishing the wood floors in our
1924 Dutch Colonial and whatta mess. Actually the drum sander works
really well but the edge sander is melting the old finish and I'm
getting maybe 6 linear feet per 40 grit pad before they become
unusable. Wondered what folks thought that old finish was? I was
thinking shellac since that's what I found when I stripped the doors.
Although shellac doesn't strike me as durable enough for floors.

It's pretty well worn in spots but pretty good in others and has been
covered with lovely blue shag carpeting for quite a while before
we moved in. I only have one room left to do but just curious.

Allen
Catonsville, MD

I've had that problem too, and discovered, in my case, that the
"gumminess" was caused by two things: edges get more varnish when
applied incorrectly (common), and carpet tape left a nearly invisible
glue substance on top.

My solution was to switch to smaller grit along the edges for a first
run, used mostly scrapers around corners (which had a buildup of
varnish), and finally went with a chemical stripper in difficult
spots.

Good luck,
H

All,
Thanks for the suggestions. Yes the floors upstairs are pine but I
can't imagine them still being sappy enough to be a problem after 80
years. I'm not sure I'd call this pine old growth but the grain is
really tight on most of it. I ended using a scraper in the corners as
several suggested and that helped and from what other folks said I
suppose it was, in fact, shellac. I put the second coat of poly on it
this morning and it looks great. Much redder and richer finish than I
thought. At least at the end of the whole thing I actually get to spend
some time in the shop making some new bi-fold doors and SWMBO gets a
new guest bedroom / sewing room out of the deal so we're all happy and
this project is done before hunting seasons start!

Allen
Catonsville, MD