removing badly mottled varnish on oak floors
 

My wife and I recently bought a fixer-upper house built in 1954 and the
oak hardwood floors need some help but I'm not sure exactly what to do.

There was wall-to-wall carpet in the living room, dining room, stairs,
hall and master bedroom which had been down for at least 30-35 years
judging by the condition of the padding under the carpet.

The finish isn't worn away, it has most of the same characteristics of
the rest of the floor but is a mottled darker shade of reddish-gold. I
suspect it's an effect of years of pressure and heat on the varnish
itself; before we took up the carpet you could see where the previous
owner had positioned and left his furniture for the past three decades,
and this mottling appears only in what would have been high-traffic
zones - around furniture, in the hallway, across the living room to the
stairs, etc. This mottling isn't on top of the finish because it's not
affected by any of the standard wood floor cleaners.

I really don't have the time at this point to sand the finish off and
redo the floors. Is there something I can do short of sanding and
refinishing the floors?

Thanks!

removing badly mottled varnish on oak floors
 

"RicodJour" wrote in message
ups.com...
wrote:
My wife and I recently bought a fixer-upper house built in 1954 and the
oak hardwood floors need some help but I'm not sure exactly what to do.

There was wall-to-wall carpet in the living room, dining room, stairs,
hall and master bedroom which had been down for at least 30-35 years
judging by the condition of the padding under the carpet.

The finish isn't worn away, it has most of the same characteristics of
the rest of the floor but is a mottled darker shade of reddish-gold. I
suspect it's an effect of years of pressure and heat on the varnish
itself; before we took up the carpet you could see where the previous
owner had positioned and left his furniture for the past three decades,
and this mottling appears only in what would have been high-traffic
zones - around furniture, in the hallway, across the living room to the
stairs, etc. This mottling isn't on top of the finish because it's not
affected by any of the standard wood floor cleaners.

I really don't have the time at this point to sand the finish off and
redo the floors. Is there something I can do short of sanding and
refinishing the floors?

Not really. You can try screening the floors (a screen is put on the
bottom of a floor polisher which essentially is a mild sanding that
doesn't remove much of the finish). Unfortunately that probably won't
work. The mottling you're seeing has probably penetrated into the
finish and will require sanding to remove it.

R


There are a variety of "Finish restoring" products for wood, floors and
furnature that you might try. I forget the one I saw on TV but it looked
like it might just actually be a watered down polyeurethane.

Try some thorough cleanings first to reduce the contrast to the traffic
areas.

removing badly mottled varnish on oak floors
 

wrote:
My wife and I recently bought a fixer-upper house built in 1954 and
the oak hardwood floors need some help but I'm not sure exactly what
to do.

There was wall-to-wall carpet in the living room, dining room, stairs,
hall and master bedroom which had been down for at least 30-35 years
judging by the condition of the padding under the carpet.

The finish isn't worn away, it has most of the same characteristics of
the rest of the floor but is a mottled darker shade of reddish-gold. I
suspect it's an effect of years of pressure and heat on the varnish
itself; before we took up the carpet you could see where the previous
owner had positioned and left his furniture for the past three
decades, and this mottling appears only in what would have been
high-traffic zones - around furniture, in the hallway, across the
living room to the stairs, etc. This mottling isn't on top of the
finish because it's not affected by any of the standard wood floor
cleaners.

I really don't have the time at this point to sand the finish off and
redo the floors. Is there something I can do short of sanding and
refinishing the floors?

Nothing other than putting down rugs.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

removing badly mottled varnish on oak floors
 

Use Orange Glo Floor cleaner and refinishing kit You'll love it.



wrote:
My wife and I recently bought a fixer-upper house built in 1954 and the
oak hardwood floors need some help but I'm not sure exactly what to do.

There was wall-to-wall carpet in the living room, dining room, stairs,
hall and master bedroom which had been down for at least 30-35 years
judging by the condition of the padding under the carpet.

The finish isn't worn away, it has most of the same characteristics of
the rest of the floor but is a mottled darker shade of reddish-gold. I
suspect it's an effect of years of pressure and heat on the varnish
itself; before we took up the carpet you could see where the previous
owner had positioned and left his furniture for the past three decades,
and this mottling appears only in what would have been high-traffic
zones - around furniture, in the hallway, across the living room to the
stairs, etc. This mottling isn't on top of the finish because it's not
affected by any of the standard wood floor cleaners.

I really don't have the time at this point to sand the finish off and
redo the floors. Is there something I can do short of sanding and
refinishing the floors?

Thanks!

removing badly mottled varnish on oak floors
 

"RicodJour" wrote in message
ups.com...
wrote:
My wife and I recently bought a fixer-upper house built in 1954 and the
oak hardwood floors need some help but I'm not sure exactly what to do.

There was wall-to-wall carpet in the living room, dining room, stairs,
hall and master bedroom which had been down for at least 30-35 years
judging by the condition of the padding under the carpet.

The finish isn't worn away, it has most of the same characteristics of
the rest of the floor but is a mottled darker shade of reddish-gold. I
suspect it's an effect of years of pressure and heat on the varnish
itself; before we took up the carpet you could see where the previous
owner had positioned and left his furniture for the past three decades,
and this mottling appears only in what would have been high-traffic
zones - around furniture, in the hallway, across the living room to the
stairs, etc. This mottling isn't on top of the finish because it's not
affected by any of the standard wood floor cleaners.

I really don't have the time at this point to sand the finish off and
redo the floors. Is there something I can do short of sanding and
refinishing the floors?

Not really. You can try screening the floors (a screen is put on the
bottom of a floor polisher which essentially is a mild sanding that
doesn't remove much of the finish). Unfortunately that probably won't
work. The mottling you're seeing has probably penetrated into the
finish and will require sanding to remove it.

R

It worked for me. Mine was caused by light hitting the floor, it had
yellowed the old varnish . I did one sanding and wiped the floor with
mineral spirits and this showed me it had helped but not got rid of all of
it so I sanded again. Third time got it all. You could sand a small spot and
refinish to see if this helps.