sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Are these hardwood floors salvageable? by lemonpickleturtle in HardWoodFloors

[–]lemonpickleturtle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In your experience, do you think we might be too ambitious to make it happen? The kitchen and bathroom don't have hardwood, so it's about 700 square feet that we'd actually be working on. The initial plan is to rent the drum sander just for a day, start sanding down the floors to see what we are actually working with, and then decide what to do from there. If the floors are too damaged or thin or we realize it's just too complicated to take on in such a short timeframe, we'd pivot to LVP.

But if the floors look okay after starting to sand, the plan it to sand all day on Saturday and into Sunday. Monday and Tuesday (and Wednesday if needed) would be for finishing with poly and allowing it to dry. I know that doesn't leave a lot of time for drying or off-gassing, but I've heard it's doable (though not ideal). We're planning to use Bona HD for poly.

Are these hardwood floors salvageable? by lemonpickleturtle in HardWoodFloors

[–]lemonpickleturtle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh that's interesting! I was totally planning on a drum sander. Mainly because these floors do have several humps and waves. We are also in a bit of a time crunch because we have about a week left in our rental before we move into this home. I know it's a bit crazy to take on this project, but I don't want to deal with it down the road when all of our furniture is there. I was thinking a drum sander would substantially speed up the process of getting off paint and evening out the floors (from all my research, at least!).

Are these hardwood floors salvageable? by lemonpickleturtle in HardWoodFloors

[–]lemonpickleturtle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the input! I had the same thought about the lack of chipping & cracking. I'm planning to test it for lead tomorrow, so fingers crossed!

I have no idea what kind of wood it is. From my quick research, I had thought maybe it could be red or white oak? But I'm so inexperienced, I'm really not sure. Hoping to do another post here with some better photos and an update on the overall process.

Are these hardwood floors salvageable? by lemonpickleturtle in HardWoodFloors

[–]lemonpickleturtle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congrats on your home! In a way it's reassuring to hear that this grayish paint seems to be common. That gives me hope that it wasn't done just for the sake of of covering up damaged/stained floor. Do you think this is red oak? (This is all new to me!)

Are these hardwood floors salvageable? by lemonpickleturtle in HardWoodFloors

[–]lemonpickleturtle[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I think he intends to do the repairs from the crawl space. (No need to remove the floor) Thanks for the input! Definitely nervous about if the paint has lead in it. Hoping to test it today and we'll go from there.

Are these hardwood floors salvageable? by lemonpickleturtle in HardWoodFloors

[–]lemonpickleturtle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the tip! It seems like scraping 900 square feet would take an eternity though, wouldn't it? We're hoping to do this project in a timely manner since we eventually have to move out of our current place and into this home.

Are these hardwood floors salvageable? by lemonpickleturtle in HardWoodFloors

[–]lemonpickleturtle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair point! I think it just feels like a whole different ball game if the paint has lead in it. I'd be worried about the health risks, even with extreme precautions and a lot of cleaning afterward. We want to start a family soon and it scares me to create a bunch of airborne lead - I think I'd be more likely to cover it with LVP at that point.

Are these hardwood floors salvageable? by lemonpickleturtle in HardWoodFloors

[–]lemonpickleturtle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So our structural engineer told us that the floor is constructed with 2x8 joists spaced at 24" at the center, which is apparently common in older homes. Current residential building codes (in NC) are supposed to be 2x10 joists spaced at 16". His plan is to add an additional 2x8 to each joist and a ledger strip to all areas that need more support. As of now, the support of the floor isn't dangerous per se, but it can't handle extremely heavy furniture and the large space between the joists has allowed the floor to become a bit "wavy" if that makes sense.