Hardwood floors...

[hyldemoer]

There's a really nasty black, gooey glue that shows up under flooring that was covered in the fifties or sixies (a guess), often under lino. It would soak into the wood and be pretty difficult to remove.

That was our kitchen's maple floors, plus there was some water damage from a hot water heater that once was standing in the corner of the the original 1912 kitchen.

It looked pretty good when the floor refinishers were done, and still does.

[s1m0n]

The first thing he did when he saw our floors is stick a knife blade between the boards to measure how thick the boards still are. The more times you sand, the thinner they get.
I think when we had them sanded it was the first time ever and the building went up in 1912.

If the flooring is tongue and groove (most wood flooring is) you need to stick the knife at an end joint, not one of the long side joints.

[missy]

simon - you are correct - it's that black glue. Plus disintigrated padding that has melted into the wood.

But as for the Pergo - I've had it before. I know it tends to be "cold" - I'm ok with that. The new stuff looks much better than the "first generation" and is much easier to put down (no more glue or straps).

This house and neighborhood just wouldn't "return" the amount that putting new hardwood floors down would have cost. I also looked at bamboo, but since it's thicker than the original wood - it wouldn't have worked to replace, and wouldn't have worked to go on top. The Pergo (and we are using Pergo, not one of the others, but only because we liked the pattern) isn't as thick, so we're not having to plane all the doors, etc.

I was also concerned with all the urethanes, and finishes, outgassing. None of that with the Pergo.

I've been "Swiffer" ing daily, and vinegar/water mopping once a week. So far, we're good.

And I can't believe how much crud was in the carpet!!!!!

[djm]

If you have a polyurethane covering you are exposing yourself to all manner of VOCs being off-gassed, unless it is a very recent polyurethane that specifies on the label that there are no VOCs (which doesn't necessarily mean it isn't off-gassing something else).

The new laminates have a very thin veneer, which means maybe one or two sandings/refinishes at best, and if you get a significant divet taken out of it you are screwed, because no two batches of this stuff look the same.

Carpets are easier to clean or replace than trying to clean between the cracks of old wood flooring. Carpets are meant to be replaced from time to time, regardless what they are made of. Everybody loves the look of wood floors. Who wouldn't? but they are cold in winter and treacherously slippery.

djm

[Jerry Freeman]

Regarding polyurethane finishes outgassing ...

That's only a concern for the first two or three weeks unless the individual is exquisitely sensitive, which is not what we're talking about here.

Urethane is done outgassing very quickly and then becomes much more neutral than the vast majority of carpets and carpet pads. Carpets mainly outgas 4-phenylcyclohexene (the characteristic new carpet smell); foam carpet pads outgas toluene di-isocynate. Both outgas far longer than polyurethane finishes do.

Every time I carpet a mobile home, I'm impressed by the fact that the carpet fumes kill every insect that was there. Dead flies all over the place the next day.

Best wishes,
Jerry

[mutepointe]

I'm not a big believer in remodeling just for remodeling's sake. What would be wrong with just leaving the hardwood floors just as they are and just maintain them? Fix what damage needs repaired but leave all the character in the floor. So what you got a dark spot where a previous owner's animal left a mess, it's not like the mess is still on the floor.

The hardwood floors in our house are original from the 1950's. So are the kitchen cabinets. No one has ever bothered stripping, sanding, or refinishing. I believe that a very long time from now, some rich people, are going to pay big bucks for our floors and cabinets that are in "historic" original condition.

[cowtime]

There's a really nasty black, gooey glue that shows up under flooring that was covered in the fifties or sixies (a guess), often under lino. It would soak into the wood and be pretty difficult to remove.

That was our kitchen's maple floors, plus there was some water damage from a hot water heater that once was standing in the corner of the the original 1912 kitchen.

It looked pretty good when the floor refinishers were done, and still does.

Yeah, that black stuff is a bit tough to get up, but you can do it. I did with the aid of my trusty wood chisel and a sander. I discovered that hard black stuff under the original, 1930s linoleum that was under the glued down plywood, that was under the vinyl in our kitchen. Whew that was a lot of layers! We had to replace a few boards that were water damaged, but staining the new boards to match the old made them match up fine..
The resulting floor is fantastic.

If the finish is just worn, you can take mineral spirits, wipe up the old finish and put down new. No sanding is even needed in that case.

If there is glue stuck to the original floor, there is stuff designed to break down the glues. All except that black stuff from way back when. Brute strength is the only thing that I found to remove that.

I refinished all the floors in my house, pine upstairs, oak downstairs. It was just myself and my little random orbital sander. That way, I kept the patina of three generations in the house and didn't end up with floors that looked brand new in an obviously old house.

Forget having to buy any fancy cleaners if your wood floor gets really dirty. Some vinegar in plain water is what you need to use to damp mop. If you happen to get a bit too much water on there, just take an old towel and dry it. I rarely mop, even with three dogs in the house. The vacuum and dustmop are the main things for wood floors.

Our wood floors are much easier to keep looking decent than any other flooring we've ever had.

[chas]

Our house had wall-to-wall through most of the public space. The woman we bought it from smoked like a chimney (as in we thought the clear-glass light fixtures were amber glass), had a dog with questionable continence, and we have dust-mite and mold allergies to boot. Over the first 2-3 years I pulled it all up. There's one riser in tough shape, and one room where the shadows of the tack-pads show, but otherwise they're not in bad shape.

I use Murphy's oil soap. I generally mix it about 10:1 with water in a spray bottle and use it that way. Not even very often, like every couple of months, except in the winter when we might be tracking salt in.

[emmline]

Learn to appreciate patinas. And that well-loved, well-trod look. Works here.

[chas]

Learn to appreciate patinas. And that well-loved, well-trod look. Works here.

My father had a cleaning business for several years. One of his clients was a five-star restaurant, which is located in a building probably from the late 1700s to mid-1800s. When he went in to give an estimate on cleaning the floors, he said, "You know, for not much more we can refinish them."

The guy said something to the effect, "Are you crazy? Do you know how long we had to work to get those particular wear patterns? That's part of the charm of the place."

My folks could never afford to eat in that place, so when they took the kid for a week, I got them a gift certificate that covered a dinner and a lunch. My father, who's very into food, still talks about it.

[s1m0n]

Yeah, that black stuff is a bit tough to get up, but you can do it. I did with the aid of my trusty wood chisel and a sander.....All except that black stuff from way back when. Brute strength is the only thing that I found to remove that.

I'm a firm believer in elbow grease and effort in renovation, but it's only fair to say that black goo is not always successfully removed. Much depends on the time available, and the difficult-to-predict degree to which the glue has penetrated the wood, which in turn depends on how the initial glue application was applied, the nature (if any) of sealer on the floorboards, and how porous* the wood itself was.

In some settings, the goo has penetrated so far into the floorboards as to be enormously difficult to remove for less than the cost of a new floor. If you're made of money, I've heard of a reno in which old flooring was lifted, sent for a quick pass unside down through a planer, and then re-laid upside down, sanded in place, and refinished. Looked great, but that was not a cheap job.**

I stripped and sanded the flooring in the place I'm in now, hauling out a ton of nasty lino and stinky carpet. It's now wall to wall fir, except for the bathroom where there was too much water damage, so I relaid newer tile. Only one room had really nasty glues, and that made for two very unpleasant and long days with a flooring scraper on a 48 inch shaft (made for lifting lino, I think), a paint scraper and a 1" chisel. Mostly the chisel.

*Out in the great north wet, vintage 'hardwood' flooring tends to be Douglas fir, which isn't technically a hardwood at all, and is not nearly as dense as maple or oak, the default hardwoods back east.

**A similar operation is often a good idea for people who want to resurrect wooden wainscoting. If it's been there 80 or 100 years and under paint for much of the time, odds are that the lead content of the paint is high. Sanding or stripping can be unhealthy. If you doing a major reno, popping the wainscoting off and reapplying it flipped over works best. Sanding or planing the former rough side and then finishing it makes for a safer job. It'll be virgin wood with no lead added.

[Redwolf]

You know, if the floors aren't in really horrible condition, I'd just leave them as they are. It's natural for wood floors to pick up scratches here and there...adds character.

We put in bamboo a few years ago, and I'm absolutely thrilled with it. The care is similar to what's required for hardwood...sweep it a few times a week and, if it gets really dirty (as it does in the kitchen), go over it with some Orange-glo.

The one thing we have to watch for, even though we have felt on the bottom of our furniture, is stray grains of sand (our soil is sandy here). If a piece gets under a felt pad, it can scratch hell out of the floor before we realize what's happening.

Redwolf

[Denny]

I use Murphy's oil soap.