My husband and I just purchased a home that was completely wall to
wall carpeted. When we removed the old carpet we found lovely oak
floors which we intend to sand and refinish. My problem is with the
oak stairs. The previous owner covered them with linoleum tile stuck
down with black mastic. Both the stairs and the risers were heavily
scored. I have managed to get the tiles and the mastic off ("Foam Off"
worked great) but the gouges from scoring are not sanding out. The
stair feels smooth to the touch but I am left with these black lines
all over the stairs. I have used 50 grit sandpaper and as much muscle
as I can muster and can't seem to sand out these lines. I have used
both a palm sander and have tried hand sanding. Can anyone offer some
advice on what I can try next? I am almost at the point of resigning
myself to having to paint them but it would break my heart to cover the
oak.

I don't know is the black lines are from the old mastic but you could try
using plain old bleach. Pick a small, not too obvious area on a tread and
try dabbing a little on the stain, let it soak in and see if that helps, I
once used it to remove old pet stains on oak floors.

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Kelly wrote:
My husband and I just purchased a home that was completely wall to
wall carpeted. When we removed the old carpet we found lovely oak
floors which we intend to sand and refinish. My problem is with the
oak stairs. The previous owner covered them with linoleum tile stuck
down with black mastic. Both the stairs and the risers were heavily
scored. I have managed to get the tiles and the mastic off ("Foam Off"
worked great) but the gouges from scoring are not sanding out. The
stair feels smooth to the touch but I am left with these black lines
all over the stairs. I have used 50 grit sandpaper and as much muscle
as I can muster and can't seem to sand out these lines. I have used
both a palm sander and have tried hand sanding. Can anyone offer some
advice on what I can try next? I am almost at the point of resigning
myself to having to paint them but it would break my heart to cover the
oak.

You need different tools. A scraper would work better and faster than
sanding - also no saw dust flying everywhere.
http://ace.imageg.net/graphics/produ...-961259reg.jpg
It's still a lot of work and muscle, though, and you'd still need to
sand to get a smooth finish.

Failing that, a belt sander with someone holding a vaccum to such up
most of the dust.

Another alternative is to clean up only about 6" on either side and
have a carper stair runner.

R

"Kelly" wrote in message
oups.com...
My problem is with the
oak stairs. The previous owner covered them with linoleum tile stuck
down with black mastic. Both the stairs and the risers were heavily
scored. I have managed to get the tiles and the mastic off ("Foam Off"
worked great) but the gouges from scoring are not sanding out. The
stair feels smooth to the touch but I am left with these black lines
all over the stairs.

Oak is a porous material. The lines may go very deep, beyond normal
sanding.

On one tread, take a gouge and see how deep you have to go to remove it all
and you can plan from there.