Front Porch Floor Redo

Virginia Schoberg
by Virginia Schoberg
3 Materials
This summer I really wanted to have a nice sunroom to work from home and be able to enjoy the nice breeze and read a good book. Unfortunately, our front enclosed porch floor was covered in these awful peel and stick tiles that had been stained and all out just dingy!
Lucky, the peel and stick tiles came up pretty easy with the hot Wisconsin summer and a little help from my hair dryer! My next problem was getting the nasty, sticky leftover residue off of the wood floors. First I tried mineral spirits which work a teeny bit, but to no effect.
After I did some research, I came across a product called Citristrip Adhesive Remover and it was fantastic! I followed the directions on the back of the can and rolled it all over using a paint roller with a handle extender that we already had. I expected it to be more of a liquid and was scared it would have lack of control, but upon starting, I discovered it was a gel like product and it went exactly where I needed it to go! Worked like a charm!!
After I had scraped that all up(I waited about 4 hours for it to work its magic) I then washed off any residue left over on the floor with Murphys Oil Soap and it got it nice and clean. After that dried real good over night, I gave it a light sand with my palm sander, just to give it a scuff sanding. I then vacuumed all the dust up and then used an old rag with a mixture of 50/50 denatured alcohol and water and wiped it down.
The next day, after I had let the floor dry nice and good, I applied General Finishes Gel Stain in Georgian Cherry. This stuff is awesome! It gave me the nice rich dark cherry color that I really wanted. I only got a pint of it and I didn't even use the whole thing! A little goes a long way, which I'm glad, since I will be doing at least one more coat to get the nice even color and coverage I wanted.
I'm so excited with how this is turning out!! I will be posting the final results once I have finished! Stay tuned :D
After Citristrip Adhesive Remover
After 1 coat of General Finishes Gel Stain
Suggested materials:
  • General Finishes Georgian Cherry Gel Stain   (www.generalfinishes.com)
  • Citristrip Adhesive Remover   (http://www.citristrip.com/product/adhesive-remover)
  • Murphy's Oil Soap   (http://www.amazon.com/Murphys-134005-Oil-Soap-32-Ounce/dp/B0006ZHCK0)
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