Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Hardwood and floor

Does it matter?

blue_beetle — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:08:06 -0800

Should hardwood floors always be installed perpendicular to the joists?

Hardwood floor protective coating?

Mid — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:44:52 -0800

How to protect hardwood floors from my dog and child? We are moving into a new house that has very nice new-ish floors. The floors were either refinished or perhaps replaced about 1-2 years ago. They look great. I'm told they are "cherry," if that matters.

In the house we are leaving, the floors are destroyed. Our dog and our kid have just beaten the heck out of them over the years.

So, here's the question: is there anything we can do for the new floors before we move in to protect them? We have talked with a couple of floor guys, who both say that they would put "a couple of coats" on the floors before we move in. But, other people have told me that putting coatings on the floors will just make the eventual scuffs and scratches look worse. I have no idea what kind of coats we are talking about.

Obviously, we will put rugs and runners where we can.

Any clues here? Thanks

I knew hardwood floors can be expensive, but this expensive?

barc0001 — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 01:45:03 -0800

What's a relatively reasonable amount to expect to pay to repair a hardwood floor in an office? I know, how long is a piece of string, etc. but this seems just a bit out of whack to me... Long story short, we used to rent a very small (150 sq ft) office in downtown Vancouver near Gastown, but moved on to bigger and better quarters recently. The building is old and the office has hardwood floors which were apparently recently "discovered" under the rug that had been there for decades. The building was undergoing some upgrades when we moved in and it seems tearing out the carpet and spiffing up the hardwood beneath was all the rage at the time of our move-in. I noticed the day we moved in that these floors were pretty fragile, as just getting down on my hands and knees to run a bit of CAT5 cable I was getting a few splinters here and there despite the floor being freshly refurbished, so we went out and got some mats for our chairs to prevent wholesale destruction. However, despite our best intentions a couple of years later there are a few spots where our chairs sat that have what I would consider minor damage, as in about a millimeter or so of wood is worn/splintered away in spots.

The property management company is telling us that we're looking at $1500 to repair this. The total affected area that is damaged is less than 10 square feet, so this seems to me to be more than a little high. They're saying the entire suite will have to be sanded down and then resealed/varnished to do it properly. Again though we're talking a total "suite" size of 150 square feet, so even if they did have to go all scorched earth on it, would it really be $1500 worth of work to use a floor sander on 150 square feet and then apply varnish/sealant? Also are they correct that the whole floor has to be done to effect repair, or are they just trying to squeeze a few extra bucks out of a former tenant when it seems they're having trouble renting the (growing) list of vacant suites out?

Hardwood floor vacuum

sandpine — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 10:29:21 -0800

I'm looking for a reasonably priced vacuum for use on hardwood floors. Doesn't need any sort of powered brushes just suction. Thanks!

How do I clean the blood stain from my hardwood floors?

gemmy — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 22:06:55 -0800

I cut my foot pretty severely on a broken glass, and now it looks like someone slaughtered a pig on my hardwood floor. How do I get the blood stains out? While cleaning this afternoon, I accidentally broke a glass, overbalanced, and stepped on some of the shards with my bare feet... I'm absolutely fine now, it's not even that painful, but I bled pretty profusely from two cuts on my foot for a little while. Once I had patched myself up (and finished lamenting my own stupidity), I tried to clean up. Unfortunately, I live in an old building where the lacquer topcoat for the hardwood floors is all scuffed up, and in places almost gone, so now it looks like my blood kind of soaked into the wood itself. I did my best to clean it (cold water, murphy's oil soap), but it still looks really bad - like something out of a CSI episode.

I have been Googling for cleaning tips, but most everything is how to clean blood from clothing and sofas and things, or places recommending exactly what I did to no effect. Does anyone have experience cleaning blood off wood? Is there something I can do to at least make it less red, so its not so obvious? Would some hydrogen peroxide or bleach help, or do I risk an even bigger stain? Thanks, Hive Mind!!!

I wanna see myself in my hardwood floors

printchick — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 15:42:19 -0800

What is the best way to clean a hardwood floor? I've gone the Murphy's Oil Soap route and it just leaves splotches, even after I try to wipe it with a rag afterwards. I'd rather avoid getting on my hands and knees. Anything that is tried-and-true and will make my floor shine? We have a prefinished floor, if that makes a difference. I've searched other threads and they don't quite answer my question. Isn't there some sort of Swiffer product out there for hardwood floors? Any other method that works for you?

Hardwood Floor Help

Mid — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 07:31:05 -0800

Hardwood Floor Filter -- How can I spruce up my hardwood floor without a major refinishing project? We have wood floors that have seen better days. They were installed in about 1991 and I do not believe they have been refinished since then. I do not know what type of wood or finish was used (it was before we bought the place), but the guy who rehabed the house before us generally went with basic (not expensive) stuff from a Home Depot-type store. My best guess is that it's a basic maple or pine with a poly coating. If it helps, the wood is like a light brown/honey color. Nothing exotic.

The floor has a number of spot areas that are dulled with grey scuffing, nicks, and a few black gouges in places. I'd like to do something to make these areas look nicer, short of sanding and refinishing. I imagine we will have someone refinish the entire floor in about five years, but now is not the right time for us.

The web is full of contradictory advice about what to do. It seems that some products can somehow damage the wood and wreck future refinishing. There's also a giant assortment of different products at the store that all claim to do different things.

Has anyone done this? Thanks.

Floor Sanding!

Yelling At Nothing — Mon, 18 Jul 2005 21:24:55 -0800

I need tips on floor sanding. I'm going to have to sand some hardwood floor in the near future. I have heard that floor sanders are tough to operate, so I'm looking for tips.

I'm capable of reading and following directions, so I don't need a total runthrough of 'How To Sand a Floor.' What I'm looking for are tips, things that 'they' don't tell you, etc.

The floor is not large, probably a hundred and fifty or so square feet. I believe that the floor is oak (or some other dark wood), and would like to preserve that color if possible.

Carpet (glue) bombing...

dersins — Fri, 10 Jun 2005 18:39:35 -0800

RenovationFilter: We just bought an old library out on the great plains. Yes, library. But that's not the point. It's a wonderful, hundred-year-old brick building. The floors are beautiful, straight-grained, old-growth fir. Unfortunately.... ...some time in the mid-1950's, the town decided it would be an excellent idea to glue horrid industrial carpeting directly to the floors. We pulled up the carpet, but there is glue residue covering every square inch of the floor.

First, we tried scraping up the glue with a paint-scraper, to no avail. Next, we got a drum sander with 30-something-grit paper, and the glue just gummed it up within a few feet each time we ran it.

We switched to a 60-something-grit paper to try to sand it off a layer at a time, but we only got a little further before it gummed up completely.

We have well over 1300 square feet of floor to refinish-- is there anything we can do to this glue to weaken it (without harming the floors) so we don't have make multiple passes and go through literally hundreds of sheets of paper (at 2 bucks a pop)?

(FYI, we've tried: acetone, paint thinner, diluted paint thinner left on overnight, plain old powdered dishwasher detergent dissolved in water, and commercial adhesive remover.)

Refinishing Hardwood Floors

archimago — Tue, 27 Apr 2004 09:12:15 -0800

I'm gearing up to re-finish my hardwood floors this spring. My question is about stains and polyurethanes. Can I use an oil-based stain with a water-based poly coating over it? I can't seem to find any water-based stains, and I want to be able to put multiple coats of the poly down, and I only have about a week to do this (2 small rooms), so I need to take into consideration the quick drying times of the water-based finishes. The guy at the paint store said I could do the oil stain with the water poly as long as I let the floors cure first, but walked away from me when I asked him what that meant. Is a week enough time to sand and finish the floors of two rooms?

want to get wood floors installed, looking for local but not bank breaking

hummus — Tue, 13 Apr 2004 08:36:33 -0800

Does anyone have any experience with having wood floors installed. I just got a quote for almost 3k to install maple strips in less than 200 sq. ft. Home Depot does installations, and although I would like to patronize a small company, I can't do it for double the price. Any ideas?