Author Topic: Caring for not-hard-sealed wood floors  (Read 2170 times)

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

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Caring for not-hard-sealed wood floors
« on: April 20, 2015, 07:29:53 PM »
Our wood floors probably need to be refinished soon-ish, like not this year, but maybe next year or the year after. Our house is old and the floors do not seem to have that hard sealant on them. Which is kinda weird, actually, because the kitchen was remodeled (stainless and granite) a few years ago and the wood floors cover the kitchen.

So anyway, how do I take care of them in the meantime? The kids spill food on them (blech). I'm already planning to get a rug for the sink and for the back door and maybe under the dining table--what else should I be doing? Wax the floors or something? And what kind of rug should I get for the sink, anyway, because I read that it has to be breathable!

Drifterrider

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Re: Caring for not-hard-sealed wood floors
« Reply #1 on: April 21, 2015, 10:24:18 AM »
What kind of wood (3/4 inch T&G, engineered, etc)?

Are you sure they have no top coat?

If you plan to refinish in the near term, why not put down a water based sealant now?  I saw one show where they put it on with a squeegee and cleaned the tools with water.

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

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Re: Caring for not-hard-sealed wood floors
« Reply #2 on: April 21, 2015, 04:25:58 PM »
How would I know what kind of wood it is? They are the nice relatively light wood in narrow planks that you see in older houses.

If it had a top coat, wouldn't water bead up on it? Every little spill seems to soak right in.

Frankies Girl

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Re: Caring for not-hard-sealed wood floors
« Reply #3 on: April 21, 2015, 04:59:28 PM »
When I was a teenager, one of my jobs was to wax the wood floors of house from the 1800s used for a business. I swept them really well, lightly mopped with Murphy's Oil Soap, let it dry, then I would use a slightly damp mop again with wax, going with the wood's direction. I'd have to use ammonia about once every 3-4 months and strip off the wax build up, but overall it was a pretty easy process and you got a good workout doing it.

I have no idea how this would build up or complicate things if you're planning to refinish the floors down the road, but wood floors before polyurethane were likely finished with shellac, and then maintained with paste wax, which was stripped reapplied a few times a year (depending on heavy traffic). I would not use this if the wood floors have been refinished with modern polys, but if your floors are old, I can't see why waxing wouldn't make them look better and be easier to keep clean as well. (and if you're feeling really adventurous, you could look into a deep clean and using shellac yourself as a cheaper workaround to professional refinishing).

And from the sound of it, your floors sound like a light yellow oak (if your house was built any time around the 1940-70s, that is a likely choice). If your house is older, I'd still wager they're oak, but they might possibly be pine (but pine is usually wide planks from what I have seen).

« Last Edit: April 21, 2015, 05:21:32 PM by Frankies Girl »

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

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Re: Caring for not-hard-sealed wood floors
« Reply #4 on: April 21, 2015, 05:29:20 PM »
1925! But I don't know if they're the original floors. If I were forced to guess, I would guess oak. They look like the oak floors at the house where I grew up.

My mom says she used to use bowling alley wax at our old house and it was a major pain, but your way doesn't sound too bad :-). Will investigate...

 

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