95yr old hardwood refinishing---eek

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smithc43

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We are in the process of ripping up our carpets and have found some beautiful hardwoods underneath. I'm assuming they are original to the house (95 yrs old). I have no idea where to begin with refinishing them. I actually like the color and would love to avoid sanding if possible. However, there are paint spills and some sort of build up/damage on the finish. The wood itself looks like it's in great shape but the finish is pretty rough looking. There are scratches and areas of unevenness in the finish. Is there anyway I can fix this and put a new coat of finish on without having to sand? Also, anyone have any guess what type of wood this is? The first picture is more representative of the actual color of the floors (more redish).

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I did a whole house a year ago and learned a lot in the process. I will try and link the thread rather than tell you about all my pit falls.

Your floors look really nice and I agree you want to enjoy them. Getting the latex paint off shouldn’t be too hard if you want to leave the rest. I think I would at least give them a light sanding and couple coats of fresh water based poly. There are two types of floor sanders you can rent. Drum and pad type. The pad is less aggressive and is about 2’ square. The drum will really take it down but if not careful can scalp. The pads also get into corners pretty well. You can get all kinds of grits and even scotch bright pads for them.

http://www.houserepairtalk.com/showthread.php?t=16565


My guess is yours are oak.
 
You might find this interesting, esoecialkly if you like watching paint dry, there are 4 parts.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=His4gFKywwk[/ame]
 
I actually saw this guy's videos on youtube and started to watch one but after the first 3 seconds of his voice I couldn't take it anymore. I'll have to force myself to watch.
 
You can try "Oops" or a similar product to remove the paint spills. Not sure what build-up/damage involves, but a scraper may remove the build-up. After you remove what can be removed, you'll have to assess the remaining damage. Depending on how long the floor was covered, the finish may be shellac instead of poly. You should do some testing in a closet or other inconspicuous place. You may be able to do spot repairs. A distressed floor can be attractive.

You may also call in a professional to get some input. If he has the right answers, it may be worth the money. Sanding and finishing can make a big mess and often requires breathing protection. In the end, you may end up stripping the floor and matching the color with a brand new coat of stain.
 
So I stripped some of the finish off. Unfortunately, I think to really get all of it off and get the floors in a good enough state to put a new coat on, I'm gonna have to sand. So, next question.....can I use an orbital sander or do I really need to rent a drum sander? It's not a huge room and our closest hardware rental store is almost 45 minutes away. What grit(s) would be recommended to work all the finish off?
 
In post 2 I warned against a drum sander unless you have used one before or have a place to practice. They make one that vibrates and takes a 2’x2’ square pad. The place I rent mine give you a big selection of sanding papers and you only pay for the ones you use. I had a hard time forcing myself to use the roughest one as it looks like it will eat the floor to the basement. It is what you need for paint and layers of old varnish. You want to work your way down to the smoother papers so start with a medium paper and see what it does. You do not have to go to bare wood unless you want. I took mine down to the bare chestnut and didn’t stain at all. The poly brought out a beautiful color. I’m guessing the vibration sander takes 5 times as long as the drum, but the chances of messing up are 100 times less with the vibe sander. It’s a heavy machine maybe 80 to 100 pounds.

http://www.bobvila.com/articles/diy-floor-sander/#.VjutrrerR9M

Here is the one i rented.

http://www.essexsilverlinewest.com/esl/SL1218.html

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3v8hk-MEq4[/ame]
 
It would be a lot of work with a small sander but if you want to try use a 50 grit to start. Starting with a 3x24 belt sander might be quicker, stay away from a 3 x 21.
 
I sanded about 2 sq ft with my 3x24 in the back of the pantry, then tried a stain and just poly before I started with the big rental. I don’t know how old the OP is but my knees at 20 couldn’t have taken doing a whole floor that way plus you will spend more on 3” belts than you could rent the sander for. I did the rent on Friday night get Sunday for free thing and the whole bill was about $150. not to mention you will wear out your small sander.
 
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