Advice for waxing, polishing or just making oak wood floors look good again

[_RaT_]

What do you guys do to keep up your wood floors? In the old days we would use Johnson's paste wax and then buff it out with our old 2 polisher wheel machine. Do you still do it like that? Any advice will be welcome. Thanks.

 

[thatguy]

I dont think anyone waxes hardwoods anymore.. Most have gone to polyurathane (sp) finish because you dont have the yearly upkeep as wax..

If the floors are already waxed you will either have to keep going OR strip off the wax and put the poly down..

Good luck

Brian

 

[Egon]

A few years ago we refinished some oak floors.

Rented a sander and then applied an epoxy paint type finish. No waxing required. Cant remember the brand of finish but they are commonly available at paint supply stores.

The sanding should be left to summer months when the windows can be open. We rented a plate sander rather than a belt and went through three grit series to the finish product.

 

[InlineDieselFan]

If it is an old floor that you are trying to get back to looking new I would go with what Egon said; sand it, them and put what ever type of finish that you want.

If it is a newer floor that seems to have lost its luster and shine; we use vinegar and water. She measures and I dump a spash or two in the water. As I recall we try for 1-cup vinegar to 1 gallon water.

One of the best things you can do to keep a wood floor looking good is to vacuum regularly so the fine sand and grit from your shoes do not mar the finish.

steve

 

[automech]

We had a guy come in and fix ours up. The floor had dulled down and looked flat and had some marks here and there. He brought in a floor buffer, and put a rough pad under it to clean it, then put a smooth pad under it and added a paste wax with some stain mixed in it. Buffed out like new. We had the plastic coated at our old house, and it held up pretty well, but the dog's toenails' marks and other abuse was not easily fixable. I prefer the wax finish personally.

 

[_RaT_]

Thanks you guys. I don't think I have much of a polyurethane coating. If it is it is very thin. I agree about the dogs nails. I guess the old floors had a stain and then a paste wax. The beauty of such a system is the ease of bringing the floor back to life, the draw back would be the once or twice a year buffing. Thanks again.

PS- I have 2 labs that are older and probably would not do well on slick waxed floors.

 

[MarkV]

Hi Rat, I happen to be in the wood floor business so I’ll throw out my 2 cents. Putting wax on a floor will offer a temporary fix but you need to be prepared to redo it several times a year like you mentioned. Wax has not been used as the primary protection for wood floors for many years and polyurethane is most likely the finish on the floor if the house is built after the 50’s.

The best fix without completely resanding the floors is to recoat them with another coat of polyurethane. The process involves using a buffer with a steel sanding screen to lightly rough up the finish and remove any surface dirt built up. Then a good damp mop clean up and the application of a new coat of polyurethane with a lambs wool applicator. There are two conditions that have to be met before recoating is a viable option. First if the floor has been waxed the new poly will not adhere to the old. You can test by lightly sanding with a fine paper in an inconspicuous area to see if wax builds up on the sand paper. Second problem is if the original finish has worn completely through to the wood. This normally will be seen in the highest traffic areas. A good test is to damp mop the floor and look for darker areas where the water is being absorbed by the wood. The wet floor will look much like one that has a new coat of poly. If the coloring is basically consistent then recoating would be the best long term option.

If your floor does not past the little tests above then resanding and finishing would be what we would recommend. If that is not an option you don’t have much to loose by waxing. There are tinted waxes that help hide scratches. Put a bunch of the wax in an old athletic sock, rub it in and buff. The sock makes a good applicator as it squeezes wax through the cotton. The floor will look much better with wax, it just will not have much long term durability.

MarkV