Re: Refinishing Hardwood Floors?

T,

There were hardwood floors in the den and LR that were under carpets. We are having them sanded and finished, however at the edge of the floor the wood was missing and just had plywood so that is being replaced.

The bedroom had carpeting but no hardwood floor underneath, just plywood, so we are putting hardwood OVER plywood CAPISCE??

This is the guy we are using, he is great!
Mike Donnelly

Re: Refinishing Hardwood Floors?

Trish & Diane;

How would you describe the finish - like a shiny, glossy varnish, or a satin finish - more like a rubbed oil? I want to have our floors redone, but some I've seen are a real glossy finish which is not what I want. I prefer the finish that is more of a satin finish.

Also, did he use a water based finish that dries fast, or the other type that takes a long time to dry? I've been told the water based only takes a few hours (good for our situation) and the other takes a few days and you need to dispose of all opened food packages that were in the house.

Any advice?

Re: Refinishing Hardwood Floors?

oirs is a shiny finish. Not very glossy. We didnt have it stained, just polyurathaned(spelled that wrong) He put 3 coats of Curel over it. It dried within a day of each coating, but had to wait a few days before we could put any furniture in it.
You can tell them what type of finish you want

Re: Refinishing Hardwood Floors?

Diane; It's the drying thing that's the problem for us - the entire main floor of the house, except the kitchen, is hardwood floor so we'd have to move out for a few days it it has to dry overnight - or sleep in the kitchen! And where to put the furniture? I guess we could do it in stages...

We liked what we saw at the Home Depot booth at the home show, and they said they use the water based finish that drys in a few hours, so we could just leave for the day, then come back. They fill the cracks and it was the soft satin finish I liked, but the price sounds so high and I'd like to hear of someone that was happy with them.

Thanks for the response!

Re: Refinishing Hardwood Floors?

I guess since Diane and I used the same conmpany, we have the same basic situation....

we too have a shiny finish - he did two or three coats and a selaer. We also didn't have it stained, just polyurethaned. I am not sure of what he used, but it was dry to the touch in about a day, but we were also told to wait a few days before we could put any furniture in it.

You can tell them what type of finish you want - there are several grades of poly and satin finish is one finish you can do as well.

By the way, it was very smelly. We lived in our house at the time, and managed, but if you don't have to that would be great.

Re: Refinishing Hardwood Floors?

we also managed to live in the house too, luckily we have side french doors, and ate out a lot

Kitty had to be locked in the bedroom

Be careful, the curel finish that he put on, made everything in our freezer taste bad, even open stuff. Dont know what happened, but we had frozen pizza one night, and looked at each other, and it tasted HORRIBLE, smae with things like bread. It was bad.
I would wait till the summer, so that you can have the windows open.

Especially if it is hot and humid, the stain will dry even faster.

Re: Refinishing Hardwood Floors?

Just a note: we did our floors last July 4th weekend, figuring we'd be out most of the time anyway. We left all the windows open but because it was hot and humid, I think it took longer to dry! Now is the perfect time to have them done.

Re: Refinishing Hardwood Floors?

We were told that if you used the oil based products you would have to throw out any food you had in the house. I'm really leaning towards the water based if I can get assurance that it holds up and is durable. I liked the look (more like natural wood) and seemed more convenient.

Re: Refinishing Hardwood Floors?

Wow - how toxic is this stuff? You have to throw out all the food in your fridge. DH has to be very carefull about what he is exposed to due to his transplant. Has anyone done any research on this? What do they say about infants?