Refinishing Oak Floor

[Jim McCarty]

I have about 150 sq. ft. of prefinished oak flooring in my entry. It came from the manufacturer with a stain and wax finish on it. I have rewaxed it several times with a wax and stain product made by one of the floor manufacturers. My question is this: This floor is very hard to keep looking good, so I want to strip it and use stain and polyurethane floor finish on it. Can this be done? If so, what process should I use to remove the old wax so the urethane is sure to penetrate/stick? My thought was to wipe it down several times with lacquer thinner until all the color stops bleeding out, and then sand it with 150 grit to lightly scuff it up. Getting in the V grooves will be a little harder, probably have to use my detail sander or just hand sand it with a triangular block. Has anybody had a similar experience with flooring? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jim

[Richard Wolf]

I think your best bet would be to use a heavy duty floor scraper for the removal of the wax and start to remove the finish coat. A regular card scraper or detail V shaped scraper would work well in the V groves. Trying to sand the grooves will lose some of the crispness in the V groove details. I would than follow up with a belt sander and RO.

Richard

[Steve Schoene]

Richard's program sounds pretty good, I like scrapers. But you also need to use something like naptha to make sure the wax is really off, it can survive sanding in some cases. Use the naptha liberally and pad it of with paper towels. You need a lot of paper towels to ensure they are clean. You also need serious ventilation while you do it.

I'm a bit perplexed about how short lived the finish seems to have been on this pre-finished flooring. The selling point is often how much more durable the finish is compared to floors finished after installation. How long has it lasted? Do you have a particularly tough situation--with lots of sand and grit just outside the door?

[Jim McCarty]

Richard's program sounds pretty good, I like scrapers. But you also need to use something like naptha to make sure the wax is really off, it can survive sanding in some cases. Use the naptha liberally and pad it of with paper towels. You need a lot of paper towels to ensure they are clean. You also need serious ventilation while you do it.

I'm a bit perplexed about how short lived the finish seems to have been on this pre-finished flooring. The selling point is often how much more durable the finish is compared to floors finished after installation. How long has it lasted? Do you have a particularly tough situation--with lots of sand and grit just outside the door?
My floor came with a stain and wax finish, not polyurethane. We have a lot of sun in that room and I felt the flatter finish of the wax would look better. I did-for a while. The wax is just not durable enough for an entry floor. I have 2 big dogs that like to sleep on it and if one of them drools, it leaves a spot where the wax and stain faded badly. Thanks for your suggestions. I'll start on it as soon as I finish the can lights I just installed today.

[Charlie Plesums]

Normally I use Mineral Spirits as the solvent for wax. Naptha is similar, so probably works too, but I was taught Mineral Spirits by a professional furniture repairman.

Lacquer thinner can kill you (it did a woodworker in town), so I only use it outdoors. I don't think you need it for this job.