More harwood floors

[fishyspringer]

I have a house that was built in 1928. To my knowledge the floors have never been refinished.They are in great shape. I have 2 questions. First, the house had the old octopus furnace removed so there are some spots where they filled in the old vents in the floor with just regular wood 1x6? boards. I want to repair these the right way, removing the oak to replace with whole pieces to fill it in and match the surrounding area. What is the best way to remove individual boards? Second, menards rents sanders that are basically three round dual action orbital sanders for floors. Has anyone used these? do they work?

Thank you.

[See yup]

Hello,

If you floors are in perfect condition I would take care if you are going to rent a sander and have never used one before. You can easily ruin your floors if you do not know the correct techniques. You can put gouges in the floor easily. People who sand floors have tech. and tricks to make stains disappear and to keep the floor even. My two cents-let us know how it all turns out.- The sanders will work if you know how to work them-not as easy as it looks or sounds.

[giddyup99]

He probably means the general condition of the floor is decent, but the finish is worn. If it hasn't been refreshed since 1928, it will need a good sand.

As far as removing the old wood you want to replace, first remove the 1x6 and start marking out on both sides of the void what boards you want to cut out for the new stagger. Some of the boards will have butt ends that you can cut to, but some will probably be further than you want to cut out. i.e. I wouldn't cut out an entire 8 foot board, just mark it back further and cut it with a cutoff tool or zip saw. Be careful not to cut into the adjacent boards!

Now that you got all your boards marked and cut new butt ends in some, take a circular saw and set it to the depth of the flooring. Cut 2 lines down each board from the void to the marked butt end. This will make it very easy to pull the center out of the board and room to chisel out the tongue portion where the nails are. You should be able to work it loose pretty easily.

Clean up your area, and drop in your new wood. You may have to cut the bottom of the groove side off in order to get the new piece to drop in. Use some PL400 or Liquid nails to set the boards. Top nail if necessary, you should be able to blind nail most of it.

Good luck!

[giddyup99]

The menards sander probably won't work for this. Most likely an oil or shellac finish on your floor and that machine will not cut it.

See if you can find a drum sander to rent somewhere that runs on 220v. Probably have to hit it with a 36g first and work your way to 100g. 36g-50g-80g. Make 2 passes with the 50g, with the first being an angled cut (not a steep angle), then pull it straight with the 50g. Make sure all the finish is out of the floor after that pass and fill holes, then final sand. There is a lot of info online on how to use the drum sanders, its not rocket science, but easy to screw up.

[reddog]

I just got done doing the same thing on a 1928 farmhouse. I used the 12X20 orbital sander with 80grit to start with and finished with 100. It was exceptionally easy. I also used a dewalt 5inch orbital sander to work the edges.

Then I stained the floor lightly to even it out and finished with 3 coats of oil based semi gloss.

Mine did not have to be perfect, and they are not, but they are very close to being perfect.

I used the padco finish float to apply the finish and that worked well also.

I refinished 488 sq ft.

[11-87]

Menard Sanders should work just fine. I've saw many floors that have been done and all with great results. Just because it might be rented from menards, doesn't mean its poor quality.

[Hwood]

The sander at menards is a bit more on the side of a finishing sander and may not take off your varnish very well, (I have used it) It will depend on the varnish. Sometimes it comes right off and other times it turnes into gum. Drum sander is generally what people use, and if you are planning on working some stains out, a better choice than the other sander. Most rental places have them and the 110 volt one is more practical for most guys. BUT, a drum sander and the wrong guy behind it can equal bad news in seconds. You do not have to use the same sander start to finish. Not sure if you know about the edger, I will let it introduce itself. Take the time to patch your holes so it does not look like a patch. This means no square patches and no cut ends right next to one another in the rows. Its a pian but you will feel much better about the job when its done. New wood is not going to match your old wood. Colors will be off. If oak, and you are going to stain it you may be able to work with it. But I would look for some old stuff. A wood flooring place may have some. And if all else fails, can you steal some from a closet and repalce that with new.

[fishyspringer]

Thanks guys for all the advise. I am going to pick up some oak to fill in the holes tomorrow from the reuse center. Then hopefully try and do some repairs. I'll take some pics and let you know how it goes.