WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO FINISH A OLD WOOD PAINTED FLOOR??

Sand down and either stain and seal or paint again. Original wood floors can't be beat. You are so lucky!

You can do anything. Repaint or have them refinished. Paint will wear faster, refinishing is harder but more permanent.

Hi Ins,

Whether you refinish or paint, the choice is up to you. In either case, you'll need to sand the floor, but if you're going to paint it, you won't need to get all of the old paint off. You'll just need to smooth the areas that are chipped. Use 2 coats of primer, then 2 coats of paint and a few coats of a polycrylic finish and the floor should last a long time.

If you want to stain it, you'll need to sand off all of the paint and also the stains - if they went through the paint. You can then stain the floor and finish it with your choice of a sealer. Wishing you the best.

If you like the farmhouse, chippy look then you can smooth them out and seal them as is.

I once went through something like this but underneath 5 layers of flooring the wood (pine) was painted "barn red". I poured paint stripper on it and smeared it with a cheap broom then scraped it. Then rented a belt sander and sanded down, stained, and put two coats of floor polyurethane over the stain. It held up for many years but eventually we put new oak over it to match the rest of the house.

Take a good photo to the paint department of the home improvement store and ask them what will work for you. They have the best selection, the most up-to-date materials and most important, the most informative sales staff to get you what you need for a professional job.

Here is a popular video that might help you decide which direction to go with this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tt-SGltms0