| Old wood floors give historic homes that charming | | | | order to keep from gumming up the sandpaper |
| warm look. Have you ever seen old wood floors from | | | | sometimes taking up 3/16 of an inch or more. A better |
| the early 1700's that clearly show the worn spots that | | | | way is to use a good paint stripper. Apply the stripper |
| thousands of feet have created? Sometimes the | | | | sparingly so the joints do not fill up with the stuff. After |
| knots in the old pine floors will be slightly higher than the | | | | the paint or adhesive is soft, scrape up the loosened |
| fibers around it, showing off the age of the floor and | | | | material with a teardrop or triangle scraper. Great care |
| attesting to the countless feet that have walked or run | | | | must be taken to avoid pulling up hunks or splinters of |
| on the area. When it is time to refinish, extra special | | | | the floor. |
| care should be taken so the historic tale that they tell | | | | After the majority of the adhesive has been removed |
| will not be ruined. Once the 'age spots' are removed it | | | | you will need to perform a final cleanup of the stripper |
| will be hard to tell the age and the charm and historic | | | | residue. I have used a product called Wilbond. It is a |
| tales are gone! | | | | paint surface prep product that is very volatile. This |
| Drum Sander | | | | means it dries very quickly which is what you want |
| Let us start by eliminating the biggest enemy to historic | | | | when cleaning up sticky paint stripper. Apply liberally |
| flooring. There is at least one way to ruin old historic | | | | with a rag and scrub quickly, constantly adjusting the |
| flooring and it is done easily by simply sanding with one | | | | rag to find a wet clean spot. You will go thru alot of |
| of those big heavy drum sanders and it's twin, the | | | | rags and Wilbond but the finished product will be |
| horrible edger. These two sanding tools will eat into the | | | | adhesive free, clean and dry. |
| wood like giant surface termites gobbling and gouging | | | | Light Sanding |
| the wood all while taking years off its life. The drum | | | | A best way to restore an old floor is to tackle it with |
| sander will leave slight indentation spots where the | | | | good old elbow grease. If a palm sander is used on an |
| sander was stopped and started, these marks are the | | | | historic floor the 'age marks' will be preserved. The |
| sure give away that the floor has been ruined. The | | | | sander will follow the contour of the worn spot where |
| edger will rip a ridge around the edge of the room | | | | countless feet have tread. It will take off a small layer |
| along the historic baseboard. The final product will be a | | | | of dirt, paint, even adhesive all while leaving the floor |
| flat floor with little or no sign showing the age of the | | | | for future generations to enjoy. It may even require |
| floor. Instead you will always see the teeth marks of | | | | (horrors), some hand sanding! Yes it does take a bit |
| destruction left behind. | | | | longer but who says restoring an old house should be |
| I have been in many friends and customers homes | | | | fast? |
| and have listened to them brag about their "beautiful" | | | | Sealing |
| refinished floors that had been destroyed by the awful | | | | I have found that a good Danish wood oil is an |
| drum sander. It takes all of my willpower to keep from | | | | excellent way to seal an old pine or fir floor. This oil will |
| telling them that their floors are horribly destroyed | | | | soak into the fibers of the wood and will harden to |
| because of all the flatness and the stop and start | | | | allow for many years of use. Polyurethane in a satin |
| marks left from the drum sander. | | | | finish is a good top coat for the Danish wood oil to |
| Prep and Cleaning | | | | allow for easier cleaning. |
| If your older floor has adhesive or paint that has been | | | | No Sanding or Sealing? |
| used to adhere vinyl or carpet put away the sander. If | | | | For true historic floors in a museum, sanding or sealing |
| you attempt to sand all that gunky and sticky adhesive | | | | is rarely if ever done. |
| not only does it clog up the sandpaper quickly it will | | | | Sand and refinish an old floor carefully and you will |
| also take many years off of the life of the floor. The | | | | avoid ruining them for life. |
| sander will dig into the dry fibers of the good wood in | | | | |