What do you do with an old oil soaked wooden garage floor?

Nancy Taylor
by Nancy Taylor
I want to make this huge cinder block garage (that was once used for auto repair and body work) into an art studio. Will do a wall mural, but the floor is impossible. Does anyone know how to clean filthy wooden plank floors?
  5 answers
  • Janet Pizaro Janet Pizaro on Jan 27, 2017

    I would try to use a concentrated purple degreaser to aid in the removal of the grease.Any big box stores or auto stores carry this.

  • Johnchip Johnchip on Jan 27, 2017

    After a good degreasing cleaning, I would sand/refinish and seal the wood floor. Even if there is some stain and 'age' left, the character and patina left can be very 'artsy' and much nicer than just washed old floors.

  • MN Mom MN Mom on Jan 27, 2017

    It sounds like this is less than a single spot of wood that needs to be cleaned up and more like an oil incident that occurred over many, many years. If the oil is soaked into the wood (vs a simple spill) you may have to sand it out. If the stains cover a large area you could consider sanding and then re-staining the entire floor a deeper tone. Ask a paint and stain professional at your local shop which product they'd recommend for a floor stain/decking stain to cover up. Flooring is easy to srain with a roller. Enjoy the history of your new studio!

  • Hillela G. Hillela G. on Jan 29, 2017

    I would try sanding, big job but worth it, I can't wait to see how it comes out!

  • Eroque022810 Eroque022810 on Jan 30, 2017

    I would wash with cke and then I would paint with kill when you've scrubbed the coke and see if that takes care of it otherwise it sounds like you may have to remove the boards and place new on in there.