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April 28, 2008
How to say goodbye to Polyurethane
I can’t seem to find many tips online on removing polyurethane coats from a wood floor, only advice on how to apply. I definitely want to stain the wood at the top floor of a brownstone. The floors were likely re-finished with poly not too long ago, but the coat is a bit thick and glossy for my taste. Also, I would like to take a go at a white stain on what is probably a white oak floor. The wood is not great so I see no need to keep this poly and ‘natural’ look. Any advice on how to get the wood ready for stain? Also – any luck with a strong pigment white stain? Any advice is much appreciated – or recommendations for those who perform the services…
Thanks!
Comments
In order to stain you will have to sand the floor. If you what a white stain, you may want to look at a pickle finish. Info posted below.
http://alsnetbiz.com/homeimprovement/info4.html
Posted by: Rick at April 28, 2008 5:19 PM
Sanding eh? So no 'stripping'?
I have this image of sanding polyurathane and having it get all gummy and sort of melted-sticky.
I have looked into pickling - seems like that might be the way to go...
Posted by: spaderdam at April 28, 2008 5:56 PM
white stain is called pickling. in most cases
the wood is sanded and not stripped. probably too big of a job to tackle on.
Posted by: guest at April 28, 2008 6:18 PM
From my (limited) experience with stripping (paint, not poly; on shutters, not floors) you would need to sand after stripping anyway as the solvent chews up the grain. Our shutters were kind of /fuzzy/ after the chemical stripping process and we had to sand by hand. The stripper (deGamba on 7th Street) told us the wood was fur, a soft wood, results may be different if you have a pine floor, but both are soft.
Also, we have a pine floor that we looked into having refinished because the previous owner had done a shitty job with the sanding + poly. We got only one guy in for an estimate who told us that the floor looked like it had been finished recently and therefore the poly was too "green" for resanding. I believe he was saying that the sander, which creates heat from the friction, would end up /melting/ the poly rather than breaking into dust...
Posted by: phripley at April 28, 2008 7:43 PM
You rent a floor sander from Home depot and get 24 grit paper for the drum sander. Buy a lot of it. You should also get 60 grit and 100 grit depending on your floor. Read on line how to sand a floor. Do not try to strip poly off the floor. Rip it with a sander.
Posted by: guest at April 28, 2008 7:51 PM
7:43 that guy is full of it. I just took off 4 coats of poly on my floor because I screwed up the last coat. The poly was only on the floor for about 2 weeks. The sander does not melt the poly it takes it right off like another layer of wood. That guy does not know what he is talking about.
Posted by: guest at April 28, 2008 7:54 PM
Alot of times wood floor guys do not want to mess with a floor that will not come out well or is not a new floor. Some guys only want to do new floors so they make up some lame excuse. I have seen this happen numerous times....
Posted by: guest at April 28, 2008 7:57 PM
I would just hire someone. You'll screw it up if you do it yourself and end up paying someone anyway.
1800WOODFLOORS.COM
They are located in Astoria. I've had them do multiple floors for me after some idiot contractor thought they could save some money and do it themselves and ruined it. Just did a pickled oak floor as a matter of fact. Pickling is a very difficult look to master. Don't do it yourself. It takes alot of patience and talent. The GC did it once and screwed it up. A new guy came in and did half of it right, but they have to redo the stairs.
Posted by: guest at April 28, 2008 10:27 PM
if you sand off the finish, be sure you sand it ALL off. If the poly remains in the pores of the oak, you will not be able to "pickle" or white-wash effectively.
You may have to scrub the pores with some remover and wire brushes even after sanding, if you want the white to get into the wood pores.
Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 9:23 AM
Hire someone to sand. The sanding is the hardest part, and it is possible to REALLY screw up your floors if they're sanded wrong (against the grain, etc.)
A specialist will come in with a huge machine, sand the poly off in 1 day, and will probably charge about $1.50 a square foot. Done.
Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 1:21 PM
when sanding:
A quick rule of thumb is that if the paper is getting gumed up, your paper is too fine.
i.e.: if you are using 60 grit and is is getting gummed up, switch to 36 grit.
If you are using a drum sander, the key is to keep it moving. start the sander AFTER you start moving, and stop the engine BEFORE you stop moving. I was nervous my first time, but it's not that hard. In another city, there was a rental place that specioalized in flooring only (not a general rental place) and they had a practice area to teach new users. THey would not let you leave with their machines until you were doing it right... (at not cost for the lessons)
Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 4:14 PM
4:14. That is great they had a practice area, people in NY would never do that. Probably keeps their machines working good too. The only thing is you do not start and stop the machine but rather lower and raise the drum. But that is probably what you meant. Anyway I just did my floors and they had gops of paint on them it took like 25 pieces of 24 grit paper to remove all the paint and yes people I had to go against the grain to get it all off. No problem then took 60 grit paper with the grain to take out the sanding marks. Of course the floor lent itself to this kind of abuse because it is the original yellow pine subfloor and it has all sorts of nail holes and variations in the wood. Looks great if you like this kind of look.
Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 4:24 PM
Oh I forgot, you have to get the edger. this is harder work than the drum sander, I ended up using the edger alot to remove some of the paint too cause it spins like a tasmanian devil and can really get down and dirty. You really have to be a man to use this machine, so if in any way you are not or only half a man stay away..
Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 4:26 PM
My, my, I know woman who probably equal two of your "men".
Honestly.
Just say something like: "You have to be pretty strong and over 180 lbs. to handle this kind of edger."
Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 8:08 PM
I had my floors done by Verranzo. Reasonably priced. In business a long time. They give free estimates. If you live in Brownstone Brooklyn, Victorian Flatbush or Bay Ridge you have probably seen their trucks all over the place.
Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 8:21 PM
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