Hardwood Floors

Colleen Ostrander
by Colleen Ostrander
My floor was covered in approx. 1000sq ft of peel 'em stick em tiles. To my dismay there actually was 2 layers of them covering my hardwoods in living and dinning room, the bottom layer glued down by some kind of adhesive that would rip up the wood when I pulled on them. Another 10x14 room was coated in latex paint. So I bought a used rental sander from Home Depot tool rental as I knew it would be cheaper than renting by the day as soon as it went on sale. I used to work there and sometimes they have great deals on used tools. It took a couple months to get these tiles up, often having to use a heat gun and mask and windows wide open in the winter. While I knew they would never be perfect, they are perfect for my home and could not be more pleased with my results.
the tiles of doom, not in bad shape or ugly, but do not belong in a large living room and dinning room.
after a few months, I got all of the tiles up and while I felt like I was walking on flypaper for a few days, I knew I had more potential in these floors than I even guessed.
Downstairs bedroom, someone had painted the floors with a brown latex paint that didn't stick, The dust is from all the drywall repairs I had to make
After several days of dancing with a floor sander. The glue was a mess to work with, it ruins the sandpaper fast.
Finally time to stain, I choose a dark color because the rooms are so large and house is bright so I was hoping for a cozy feel. It also hides many imperfections even if a distressed look is inevitable.
After a few coats of poly and finally moving back in! Don't let the pic fool you, that hallway is actually 6ft wide!
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  • Sherrie Sherrie on Dec 23, 2013
    Terry I refinish old furniture and when the veneer is damaged you have to take it off especially old old furniture. underneath that old veneer is beautiful wood!
  • Sherrie Sherrie on Dec 23, 2013
    and gummy glue
    • Terry's Flooring Terry's Flooring on Jan 02, 2014
      @Sherrie Really ..Didn't know that about old furniture..Thought all the old stuff was solids ..Thanks for the enlightment ...:)
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