We are buying an old home.As with all of us we can only afford so much specialty the rest is up to us. Under the carpet is beautiful wood floors. I want to know how to clean them up and if needed revitalize the shine without sanding and refinishing. I am not Mrs.FixIt and need to make all the hard projects coming up easy for me to do. Thanx
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Hi pamela,
Well, I must say that your 'plan' is a difficult one to call since you're honest enough to say what your level of handiness is.
What you might want to consider doing first is getting a few bids. As you go, ask questions of the Pro as to what he's going to DO for the price he's quoting. This way, you'll have some first-hand knowledge of what he's going to do AND if you're up to doing the work yourself. There are some jobs that, depending on your level of comfort, are best left to a Pro. (This could be one of them.)
All I can add is that your floors are probably going to be the FIRST thing you and your guests see when they enter your home. With that, you want the floors to look their best! I still suggest you have a few Pros evaluate the floor. You know, SOME floors can't be refinished depending on the type of floor. Have them check it out.
My best to ya and hope this helps.
Jay J -MOderator
PS: Once you have some info, come back w/particular ?'s and we can go from there.
PPS: Some hard projects are already as easy as they can be. There are only 1 or 2 ways to refinish a hardwood floor ...
PPPS: There are Revitalization products on the market out ther BUT you don't know if you can use them UNLESS you know, specifically, what type of foor you have AND what type of finish you have. (There are no universal fixes ...)
Thanx Jay. I do have a general contractor as I got bogged down into to many lil things I didnt know about. Maybe once I rip out the carpet and he is around, maybe he will be nice enough to answer some questions. Otherwise thanx so much for your input for 3stooges MrsFixit
In most major cities, there are refinishing services that can refinish 600 square feet of hardwood floors in a day or two for $400-$600 or so; a real bargain and very nice and efficient. They know their stuff and do it very efficiently.
Short of refinishing, Murphy's Oil Soap and then lemon oil actually does wonders to restore old wood floors. Some friends of mine had a huge party way back in college on a wood floor that had little to no finish left on them to begin with. The morning after, it looked like the party had ruined the floors, with tracked-in salt, mud, water, and dried beer and everything. The sort of sight that makes college kids stop, stare helplessly, and think "Shyte, we just lost our security deposit and then some." A few moppings with Murphy's Oil Soap and some lemon oil made the floors look better than when the party began.
[This message has been edited by Lawrence (edited July 14, 2001).]
