Question:
I’ve got maple 3/4 X 2 1/4 that were strip sanded and urethaned about 14 years ago. The finish is now cloudy (dull, scuff marks). I’ve never waxed them but have occasionally cleaned them with things like Parsons Ammonia & Lemon. Water beads up on them so it appears that the finish has not failed. I’d really prefer not to have to strip them, but would like to get some luster back into them. One site said that buffing them with a commercial buffer would help. Are there any cleaning/restoring products out there that you would recommend? Is buffing a solution?
Richard
Answer:
Dear Richard
No wonder the finish is dull, you have never re-coated it. Didn’t the original floor guys tell you to screen and re-coat the floor every 5-10 years ? But also you have been using ALL the wrong cleaners, all the while. Please read my cleaning article in the Floored News section of this site, This will put you in the right direction, to get very cheap and effective wood floor cleaners. Never buff a film finished floor this will only scratch it more.
But now that that is said, if you are certain that you have never waxed the floor, you should really be re-coating it really soon. Certainly it needs a deep cleaning with Wood Wash first. And you should consider hiring a pro to do the screening ( a scuff sanding of the finish, not the wood), vacuuming , a good cleaning with solvent, and a brushing on a good quality oil modified polyurethane. A pro can do this for about 50 cents to a buck per square foot.
You can certainly do this yourself. If you want I can send to a detailed description of this job. Let me know, I’ll be writing it over the next 2 weeks for another contractor. You can get an advanced copy, but you would have to bring in a contractor to our site, read about this below. Otherwise you’ll see it 6 months to a year from now in this site.
As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor.