New here and getting started on a recently purchased 1961 house.

I've pulled up all of the old carpet and pad throughout the house, about
1900 sq ft, to reveal the original hardwood floors. The floors in the
bedrooms were finished at some point in the past but appear to have been
covered with carpet for a long time, as they appear to be relatively free
of
any defects [except of course the holes from the staples removed]. In the
formal living room and dining room, however, the oak floors were never
finished. I don't notice any un-level boards but they do retain their
coarse
texture.

At this time, I'm not wanting to pour a huge amount of money into the
floors, as there are some other updates/repairs that I would like to make.
For the living room and dining room, my question is, could I stain them or
put a finish on them and have them look reasonably good without going
through the sanding process? If so, are there particular things to be
aware
of? My main reason for wanting to avoid doing this at the time, in
addition
to the cost and time, is that my wife is pregnant and we don't want to
deal
with the mess of all the particles in the air. If I can get away without
sanding and truly finishing at this point, is there any coating that would
keep the boards from being a "problem" (i.e. dangerous) to our new
daughter
when she starts crawling around in several months.

As an aside, for the bedrooms, which have the finished floors, is there a
good cleaner I should use on them just as general upkeep in transitioning
them for use. Since I'm not refinishing them, I'm not filling the staple
holes, but we will use area rugs.

Thanks for any guidance in advance.


-------------------------------------

On Sun, 03 Jun 2012 05:11:49 +0000, startning_new
wrote:

New here and getting started on a recently purchased 1961 house.

I've pulled up all of the old carpet and pad throughout the house, about
1900 sq ft, to reveal the original hardwood floors. The floors in the
bedrooms were finished at some point in the past but appear to have been
covered with carpet for a long time, as they appear to be relatively free
of
any defects [except of course the holes from the staples removed]. In the
formal living room and dining room, however, the oak floors were never
finished. I don't notice any un-level boards but they do retain their
coarse
texture.

At this time, I'm not wanting to pour a huge amount of money into the
floors, as there are some other updates/repairs that I would like to make.
For the living room and dining room, my question is, could I stain them or
put a finish on them and have them look reasonably good without going
through the sanding process? If so, are there particular things to be
aware
of? My main reason for wanting to avoid doing this at the time, in
addition
to the cost and time, is that my wife is pregnant and we don't want to
deal
with the mess of all the particles in the air. If I can get away without
sanding and truly finishing at this point, is there any coating that would
keep the boards from being a "problem" (i.e. dangerous) to our new
daughter
when she starts crawling around in several months.


I had my floors sanded/coated a few years ago. 1959 house.
You don't know what it cost until you get a few estimates. It helps
if you know somebody who had it done and recommends somebody, which
was my case.
It was a lot cheaper than I thought it would be, so you should get the
estimates, and advice on what process to use for the dining and living
rooms. I never heard of oak floor being unfinished. Around here it
always starts finished, then maybe gets covered later.
The floor refinshers will know about that.
Again around here - Chicago and nearby - there's Polish guys who work
as teams and do a good job for a low price.
Try to find the equivalent where ever you are, with referrals.
No sense paying a general contractor's cut, or for the overhead of a
big outfit. It's a small time setup doing floors.
You might rethink the sanding "particles." The guys who did my floors
left no dust anywhere. Sander was hooked to a huge vacuum that stayed
outside.
It's the fumes from the finish you don't want your wife breathing.
So plan to be out of the house a few hours after each finish
application. Three times.
If you can do that, and the price is right, might be better to do it
before the baby arrives.
BTW, congratulations!


As an aside, for the bedrooms, which have the finished floors, is there a
good cleaner I should use on them just as general upkeep in transitioning
them for use. Since I'm not refinishing them, I'm not filling the staple
holes, but we will use area rugs.


A wet sponge works. If they're really "dirty" add a couple drops of
dish soap to the water.
I had plenty of staples in the floor, but after refinishing you can't
see the holes.
A guy in this group passed on a good idea when I mentioned I had some
dark spots from rusted nails which were used for carpet tack strips.
Drill and put dowel in before sanding. 1/8 or 3/16 should do.
Another thing to think about is the baseboard and shoe.
We found the floors looked so good, we wanted oak base and shoe to
match, because the original had been painted numerous time and was a
bit beat up.
If you're going to replace that, it's best to have it off when
sanding. Makes it easier for the sanders, and you won't have to deal
with ridges along the walls
If you decide to do the baseboard, of course that's going to butt
against old painted door casings. We did those too.
What you need for that is some time, a tape, a saw, and a nail gun.
You'll have to lightly sand and finish that oak with a couple coats.
That's all up to you. Just warning you what might happen,
The oak doesn't cost much.
Keep in mind exact measurements, because trim sizes have changed
since 1961.
Some guys here have sanded the floors themselves, and will pipe in.

--
Vic

On Sun, 03 Jun 2012 05:11:49 +0000, startning_new
wrote:




At this time, I'm not wanting to pour a huge amount of money into the
floors, as there are some other updates/repairs that I would like to make.
For the living room and dining room, my question is, could I stain them or
put a finish on them and have them look reasonably good without going
through the sanding process? If so, are there particular things to be
aware
of? My main reason for wanting to avoid doing this at the time, in
addition
to the cost and time, is that my wife is pregnant and we don't want to
deal
with the mess of all the particles in the air.

I understand your concern, but equipment and dust collection had
greatly improved. Have your wife visit friends for the duration, plus
a half hour and the minimal dust will be gone. In the end you will
have a much better looking floor.

If you finish the present floor and they are a little rough, they are
more prone to harbor dust and dirt for when the baby crawls around in
the future.

It won't take long and it is probably cheaper than you think to do the
job right.




If I can get away without
sanding and truly finishing at this point, is there any coating that would
keep the boards from being a "problem" (i.e. dangerous) to our new
daughter
when she starts crawling around in several months.

Sand them, then two or three coats of poly.

On Jun 3, 7:50*am, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Sun, 03 Jun 2012 05:11:49 +0000, startning_new

wrote:

At this time, I'm not wanting to pour a huge amount of money into the
floors, as there are some other updates/repairs that I would like to make.
For the living room and dining room, my question is, could I stain them or
put a finish on them and have them look reasonably good without going
through the sanding process? If so, are there particular things to be
aware
of? My main reason for wanting to avoid doing this at the time, in
addition
to the cost and time, is that my wife is pregnant and we don't want to
deal
with the mess of all the particles in the air.

I understand your concern, but equipment and dust collection had
greatly improved. *Have your wife visit friends for the duration, plus
a half hour and the minimal dust will be gone. * In the end you will
have a much better looking floor.

If you finish the present floor and they are a little rough, they are
more prone to harbor dust and dirt for when the baby crawls around in
the future.

It won't take long and it is probably cheaper than you think to do the
job right.

If I can get away without

sanding and truly finishing at this point, is there any coating that would
keep the boards from being a "problem" (i.e. dangerous) to our new
daughter
when she starts crawling around in several months.

Sand them, then two or three coats of poly.

Agree.

If you are set on not sanding the floor maybe just finish a foot or so
around the perimeter and use a big area rug. for the kid to crawl on.
(Don't stain it will just make it harder when you get it done right.)

Its not going to look at all OK for a finished floor if you don't sand, you
may even get splinters. But yes today they have great machines that use
HEPA and other filters to handle the dust. As for the finish you could go
water based but I'm not sure what the latest finish technologies are.

As for why they weren't finished, I'm assuming its because they were always
planning on putting wall to wall in those rooms so they just left them
unfinished. This was the 60's, wall to wall shag carpeting was the hip floor
finish of the day. As for the bedrooms maybe a prior owner finished them be
fore you.

As for why didn't they just us plywood well I'm not sure when they started
to use plywood for floors. My in-laws old house had oak floors throughout
their 1930's house. Its wasn't because it was an upscale floor finish it was
just what they used. Oak was the OSB of its day.

On 6/3/2012 1:11 AM, startning_new wrote:
New here and getting started on a recently purchased 1961 house.

I've pulled up all of the old carpet and pad throughout the house, about
1900 sq ft, to reveal the original hardwood floors. The floors in the
bedrooms were finished at some point in the past but appear to have been
covered with carpet for a long time, as they appear to be relatively free
of
any defects [except of course the holes from the staples removed]. In the
formal living room and dining room, however, the oak floors were never
finished. I don't notice any un-level boards but they do retain their
coarse
texture.

At this time, I'm not wanting to pour a huge amount of money into the
floors, as there are some other updates/repairs that I would like to make.
For the living room and dining room, my question is, could I stain them or
put a finish on them and have them look reasonably good without going
through the sanding process? If so, are there particular things to be
aware
of? My main reason for wanting to avoid doing this at the time, in
addition
to the cost and time, is that my wife is pregnant and we don't want to
deal
with the mess of all the particles in the air. If I can get away without
sanding and truly finishing at this point, is there any coating that would
keep the boards from being a "problem" (i.e. dangerous) to our new
daughter
when she starts crawling around in several months.

As an aside, for the bedrooms, which have the finished floors, is there a
good cleaner I should use on them just as general upkeep in transitioning
them for use. Since I'm not refinishing them, I'm not filling the staple
holes, but we will use area rugs.

Thanks for any guidance in advance.


-------------------------------------




A baby crawling around on rough wood is inviting disaster in the form of
splinters and dirt .. can't keep clean, and the baby's own messes and
accidents make finishing a necessity IMO. Major disruptions during
pregnancy are less fun than they are the rest of the time (BTDT), so,
why not wait until the baby arrives and do it then? If the HOUSE was
the major issue, I'd go along with suggestions for stripping out wood
trim and all that others have suggested. Since pregnancy and new baby
are the major considerations, I would do an "in between" project: seal
off room with plastic tarps, take up molding that can easily be removed,
sand, finish two coats. Done during warm, dry weather, finish will dry
more quickly and good ventillation for fumes/odors can be accomplished.
Two coats of finish, with decent care, will be fine for quite some time.

On Jun 2, 10:11*pm, startning_new
wrote:
New here and getting started on a recently purchased 1961 house.

I've pulled up all of the old carpet and pad throughout the house, about
1900 sq ft, to reveal the original hardwood floors. The floors in the
bedrooms were finished at some point in the past but appear to have been
covered with carpet for a long time, as they appear to be relatively free
of
any defects [except of course the holes from the staples removed]. In the
formal living room and dining room, however, the oak floors were never
finished. I don't notice any un-level boards but they do retain their
coarse
texture.

At this time, I'm not wanting to pour a huge amount of money into the
floors, as there are some other updates/repairs that I would like to make..
For the living room and dining room, my question is, could I stain them or
put a finish on them and have them look reasonably good without going
through the sanding process? If so, are there particular things to be
aware
of? My main reason for wanting to avoid doing this at the time, in
addition
to the cost and time, is that my wife is pregnant and we don't want to
deal
with the mess of all the particles in the air. If I can get away without
sanding and truly finishing at this point, is there any coating that would
keep the boards from being a "problem" (i.e. dangerous) to our new
daughter
when she starts crawling around in several months.

As an aside, for the bedrooms, which have the finished floors, is there a
good cleaner I should use on them just as general upkeep in transitioning
them for use. Since I'm not refinishing them, I'm not filling the staple
holes, but we will use area rugs.

Thanks for any guidance in advance.

-------------------------------------

Lots of good answers.

step by step we did on a 1906 floor section::

put an 'exiting' exhaust fan in a window to run while creating dust.
Put up some plastic paint drop cloths for curtains at the other
openings to concentrate [and prevent wasting'] the air flow.

use a tumbler sander, not a large disk [get 'swirly patterns with
those]

wood may have a wax residue from years ago, won't show up until you go
to apply finish.

since relatively unfinished, use the finest grade paper, quickly,
gently sand in X pattern on the floors to cut the top, but prevent
unlevelness.

final sanding again using new papers and this time go with the grain
as everyone says.

vacuum floor, walls, everything that dust wants to settle on or cling
to.

then use 'tack' rag/cloth to remove particles, you'd be surprised how
much dust vacuuming leaves behind.

Use oil based finish [I rarely stain, and like to use boiled linseed
oil] and gently pour into throw away container [do not create
bubbles], like the bottom of a cut down water bottle. NEVER return
unused to can, throw away! The brush will pick up contaminants from
the floor, [if you see any large ones, remove from brush] keep your
brush out of the bottom of your reservoir to avoid picking any crud
up.

Apply first primer cut 10-30% [when I know I'll do a lot of coats, I
cut 50%] with thinner and FLOW IT ON! Dip brush, run off excess and
flow on - I've done an 18 by 15 foot room in less than an hour. Do
NOT 'paint' the floor three or four times by brushing and brushing.
Best technique to get even coverage is to flow on at right angle to
grain and then gently brush from unfinished into finished area to coat
completely BUT NO MORE! If you spot a dribble bump, don't worry,
you'll get it next time. As I said flow cross ways, brush with grain
goes incredibly fast.

When finished allow to dry. Keep room dust and bug free [impossible to
do] then Within 24 hours the floor's finish will be hard on tops but
slightly gummy under the surface so be careful. You'll notice as you
walk over the surface you may ease into it leaving foot prints. You'll
also be very dissapointed with all the particulates stuck into the
surface. Don't worry.

Now here is a key: Get 120 - 150 grain wet n dry sandpaper and use a
FLAT HARD block and use a wetting agent [Jet Dry], or a Windex Window
cleaner [Easy Off Window cleaner was the best, but no longer made]
spray cleaner and sand away to flatten the surface and knock off all
those little bumps you'll see, including bugs. The water seems to
harden the surface. and thepaper being wetndry will NOT gum up from
the not quite dried finish. Iused one sheet to do that 15 by 18 foot
section, goes quickly. DO NOT GO DOWN THROUGH THE FINISH to bare
wood. The surface must be abraded, else the next coat does not adhere
well.

When done, dry, vacuum, but you MUST tack rag again.

Next coat, use uncut oil finish, flow on as before. This time you'll
notice almost NO bumps! [I found each coat, got less and less until so
few could flake off with finger nail and become invisible.]

If you want another coat, because it goes so fast, NOW you can use a
soft pad for sanding.

The last coat do not sand. You're done, with a hard surface that can
be invisibly patch repaired if any 'accidents' occur scratches, water,
etc.

Do NOT ever use wax.

The floor finish will last at least 25 years.

I found I could redo heavy traffic areas using slightly cut finish,
and the floor was back to looking new for another 5 years. Just avoid
going down to bare wood at any time. With age, colors change and
start getting color differences that are subtetly noticeable. Not
letting go to bare wood keeps a uniform color.

You should be done in less than 7 days.

put sheet vinyl over the floors you want to avoid refinishing at this
time if its cheaper than refinishing......