[Wald Jager]

Pulled up the carpets in moms house and find that the original white oak is beautiful. Looks like they were covered in the mid 60s and have always beed covered with rugs
One room had an old waffle pattern rubber pad that literally glued itself to the floor. Used an old angled paint scraper( looks like a bent wood chisel) and that took up all the rubber real good. Then I used my random orbitol sander to remove the waffle pattern in the finish. What surprised me was that the sandpaper did not gum up with the finish only leaving fine dust.
Question is ,what finishes did they use back in the 60 s to do floors? The only thing I can think of is an oil finish. What do you think?

 

[RonM]

I always heard of a product called " Fabulon", don't know if it's still available, check with Lowes.....

 

[Biggie]

Do you want to put a new finish on the floor? If you do, you already sanded it so vac. the dust up and coat with an oil based polyurethane for the best protection. Go to a hardware store (no the big box stores) and buy Zar oil based polyurethane. Pick the sheen you want and put it down with a foam throw away brush. After it dries, sand it and coat it again. If you want a professional look, do it a third time..............good luck.

 

[KingRon]

I thought back in the 60's they used Schelac or varnish to finish hardwood floors.

 

[steve3748]

In the 60s they start ed using urethane sinve it didn't gum when you sanded it wasn't a varnish. Use the xar oil based poly you can roll it on witha paint roller and then lay it off with a 9 inch edger pad which you can get from any paint store! Satin finish two coats gloss should get three

 

[Birch812]

In the 60's they did use varnish but Poly is much better now and more forgiving.

To refinish old hardwood floors I do the following.
Sand......damp mop......then use steelwool. Wipe area with a tack cloth. Having a clean dust free surface makes the whole job.

I then take 50/50 Mix of high gloss urethane (not the water base) and mineral spirits. I take a 1/2" nap roller and roll the area. This will dry as fast as you can roll, purpose is to seal grain and fill in scratches.

Then I do another sand with steelwool and tack cloth wipe.

On a total striped floor I will make another mix of 70/30 of urethane mineral spirit and roll again. I will not apply another coat till it has had at least 12 hrs dry time.

Another light steelwool sand and clean up then straight urethane coat. If it has enough shine after its dry.....your done.

Don't put onto much on the floor at one coat.... roll slow to avoid bubbles and do not go over any area if it looks dry....pick it up on next coat.

On new floors I will do a minimum of 5 coats total.

Take your time and make sure the area stays clean during the process.
If I am using a 5gal bucket to roll out of I just leave the roller in the bucket all night and its ready, if it's a small touch up job I wrap the roller in foil and put it in the freezer for the next roll.

This is not rocket science and a lot cheaper then bringing in someone to do it for you........Good luck

 

[Wald Jager]

Thanks for the response guys. Polyu the floor over the w/e with 2 coats, will do more this week. Never did find out exactly what was used originally. My guess it was an oil finish, It has a dull flat look and did not gum up the sander. The other rooms had jute under the carpet and they were in great shape. Just had to scrape a few paint spots around the edges

 

[Erik T]

I then take 50/50 Mix of high gloss urethane (not the water base) and mineral spirits. I take a 1/2" nap roller and roll the area. This will dry as fast as you can roll, purpose is to seal grain and fill in scratches.

Good advice here. This is the key to getting started. You could also use satin finish as well.