Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with woodfloors

DIY-Filter: Attaching sliding-door tracks to hardwood floors without damaging the floor?

andrewmarc — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:33:33 -0800

DIY-Filter: Any suggestions on how to attach a sliding-door track to a hardwood floor without damaging the floor? The main living room in my apartment is huge, with a large alcove attached to it. Having just moved in, it's mostly used for storage now... but it's the perfect size for a small home office.

I've been through a series of ideas about how to do this, and the one that seems the best is to install a frosted-plexiglass sliding door there - this would allow the light through but still make a more permanent barrier than, say, a curtain.

My issue is that the sliding door needs a track on the bottom. Think shower door or closet door - similar to that. The owner (a friend) just had the floors redone, so I'd rather not screw the track directly into the floor if I can avoid it. I could conceivably screw a flat board across the opening and then attach the track to that - which would allow me to make fewer holes in the floor. Any other thoughts? Some sort of super-velcro? Some sort of epoxy that is easily removed with the right solvent?

Also - barndoor-type tracks (that attach to the ceiling) aren't really an option in this space... and even if I could tweak the plans a bit (which I could), the plexiglass would still need some sort of guide on the bottom, wouldn't it?

Security deposit vs. wood floors

juliplease — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 14:00:59 -0800

I'm moving out of my San Francisco apartment, after renting it for almost 4 years. My wood floors have taken a beating. Any ideas what I can do to make them look their very best for my final inspection? Is there a definition of normal wear and tear? I had a futon in my studio to save some space for awhile. I put carpeted pads on the feet of it, but there is still a superficial track of wear from the months of pulling out the bed every night. It's not terrible, but I think it will be noticeable. I have plans to apply Murphy's Oil once or twice before my initial inspection, but I'd like to be prepared. I've searched SF Tenant's Union website and a few others but can't find what normal wear and tear on a wood floor constitutes. Also, with over $2000 invested in the deposit, what worst-case scenario can I expect if they ask me to pay for any repairs to/refinishing the floor.

I don't know what kind of wood it is or how it's treated/finished.

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.)

Stained Wood Floor

Macboy — Tue, 03 Aug 2004 05:14:29 -0800

Cat urine and wood floors? Our cat didn't like our new house and left a mark that burned a spot in our wood floor. Any ideas on how to take the stain up?