Restoring Hardwood

Oh the Joys of stripping paint after lime green paint, after lead. mmmmm

The Process of removing tiles, vinyl or anything else for that matter is absolutely awful. Ask anyone whose done it

though and oh is it rewarding.

A lot of problems we run across ( I say we meaning, clients, contractors, especially when doing it yourself is restoring hard

wood floors.

Doing them yourself is a great way to save time and money.

You'll usually need a week for drying time and in- between staining. I suggest staying with a friend or if your lucky enough

another area of the house that provides enough ventilation.

Here were some of the problems we came across over the summer while staining and the products we used to fix them.

Paint.

Oh the joys, I did a home that was painted from the 50's. So we're talking like 9 and 10 layers of paint. I don't know, maybe

the home owners were bored. You also have to factor in anything painted in or before the 50's most likely has lead. So be

careful when removing them and you can even contact your local gov't office which will provide both state and gov't grants

to help pay for the paint and removal process.

Polyetherene.

Old wood removal.

There are two types. One is a chemical based, and one natural.

Both amazing.

Your obviously going to have to ventilate with the chemical but let me tell you it works wonders. I personally used the

natural one in my home due to the fact that I have two large dogs and small children. but worked all the same. Just took

ALOT longer.

I would recomend the chemical if you have the time.

Simply pour over the area and after an hour or so simply scrap with a paint stripping tool and literally years of paint

(7 layers ) will slide off like icing. It's that easy.

Now Sanding.

When using a sander. Depending on your project, i.e. Stairs, banisters, flooring. Your going to need a number of different

sanders.

I like combined with a hand tool that also has an attatchment shaped like a cone to reach those hard to reach places

We had a person in our home working and I liked to compare it to that of having your nails done. You need a shaper, and a buffer

;) Layers people.

One of the problems we ran into while sanding in harder areas was the loss of wood grain.

I found with a wood putty that you could fill in the hole but then lacked the wood look and feel.

Find a stain a little lighter than that of which your using for the entire floor and work into the wood putty like a ball.

Then fill in the said hole and wait. You'll notice the color will not be the same and it will stick out like a sore thumb.

You may need to try this a few times until you find the closest match. It does not and will not look exact.

Now the grain. How can you make this non looking wood look how shall we say, woody?

Well local home improvement stores sell an actually graining tool. Before I found this we tried using things to recreate the

grain, but this works perfectly.

After you've used this. wait and let dry.

Once all of the putty and floor is prepped your floor is ready to stain! You can barely tell that it was ever a hole.

And because wood is so different to each specific piece, the natural look of color going light and dark throughout will make

it blend perfectly.

Hope you guys found this helpful!

Cait