Hardwood floor refinishing question: Brush or foam mop??

Hi:

I got the hardwood floor in the living room all prepared for the stain and poly tomorrow. Been working all day moving furniture and scraping old drops of paint off the floor. ( I just finished painting the ceiling today:) ) My question is this: The area to be restained is around the 4 sides of the living room. (For some unknown reason, the previous own decided not to put hardwood flooring in a 12 x 12 center section of the living room , just put down some sort of hardboard material and then carpeted over it) The hardwood flooring sections are about 3 feet wide from te wall out towards the center. Would it be better to stain the floor using a brush or one of those foam mops? I thought of the foam mop , thinking that it would be easier and quicker.

The floor guys I have seen all use some sort of mop- looks like fuzzy white hair on about 3" x 10" pad with swivel. I think they clean it before starting with the sticky side of duct tape to remove any loose hairs or lint. Any good paint store should have one.

I used what Menards sells which is what Ben is describing. I think they are Lambs wood and is an applicator that will fit on the end of a broom type handle.

Corey

What finish was on the floor area you are going to work on?

If you plan to stain, you need to remove all the old finish completely. This means mechanical floor sanding machines starting with 36 grit and working up to 120 grit. Don't attempt to apply a stain on a floor containing ANY old finsh.

Another point, you must let the stain fully dry. This can take 2-4 days. Don't believe the 8 hours called for on the Minwax label. Be sure to completely wipe up any excess stain as called for on the label.

Finally, you should be applying 3-4 coats of finish.

That would be a lamb's wool pad that many around here use for applying the floor finish. One day, I'll put hardwood floors in my house. :D

Thanks for all the replies!

1. As for the type of finish that is currently on the floor, I don't think there is finish that is on the floor . From what I can tell, all that is on the floor is a stain.

2. Product I got is Miniwax PolyShades stain and polyurethane. I wish I had the time to do multiple coats, but new carpeting is coming in next week. I figured this would be the next best thing. Plus, it is a very low traffic area of the living room that the hardwood floor is on.

Polyshades is going to be a bear to get applied evenly on a floor I would think. It dries quickly, so it is easy to get overlaps that show up as dark streaks. A quick search on this or other fora will show it to be widely hated.

Howard is correct. If you want to do this, do it right or you will be just making it harder to fix down the road. It needs to be evenly sanded--otherwise defects or variations--such as the places where you scraped off ceiling paint--will show up like a sore thumb. By the way, the old stain is essentially a finish--it contains a very thin varnish that is needed to bind the pigment to the wood. It is this old material that can interfere with the ability of new finish, especially if it is has polyurethane included , to adhere properly.

Got it done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D :D :D Took almost 2 hours to complete, but, I GOT IT DONE!!! :) It actually looks pretty darn good!!!:cool: Will post a picture when it is done drying.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bob Weisner

Thanks for all the replies!

1. As for the type of finish that is currently on the floor, I don't think there is finish that is on the floor . From what I can tell, all that is on the floor is a stain.

2. Product I got is Miniwax PolyShades stain and polyurethane. I wish I had the time to do multiple coats, but new carpeting is coming in next week. I figured this would be the next best thing. Plus, it is a very low traffic area of the living room that the hardwood floor is on.

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Read the can of Polyshades carefully. It says not to use on floors. It is impossible to get an even coloring on a large surface. Additional coats just exaserbates the uneven coloring. Also, Polyshades is NOT a stain. It's a tinted polyurethane varnish. It does not actually color the wood. Instead it is sort of a paint. Any floor need at least three coats of a clear finish to get any durabiltiy. One coat of Polyshades would need refinishing with a year or two. Finally, any poly finish needs to dry for a week before putting back any furniture. Then you walk on it in stocking feet for the next two to three weeks.

There has to be a finish over the existing stain. There is no other way. You don't just stain a floor and not put an overcoat on it.

I recommend you re-think what you want to do.