We have an old Wood Fllor it has been Cover for aprox 50 years. We would like to now re finish it. Looking for other Alternatives to polyurethane. this is going to be used in a retail toy store.
Looks like part of it had a finish at one point but most of it needs a serious bath.
Looking for cleaning options and finishing options.
Here are pictures the 1st one is the one that looks to have a finish and the other just looks to be bare dirty wood.



Thanks
Brian

To me, it looks like it already had that bath, a long time ago. Meaning it looks black from water stains. But pictures can be decieving. And before you get all gung ho here, you need to find out if the floors can be restored. They look pretty bad. Go to the worst and darkest, dirtiest spot and aggessively sand about a one square foot area. Use a power sander and course sandpaper. Or use a very sharp paint scraper. What you're trying to do is to see if you can get down to clean wood and determine if the floors are able to be refinished. IMO, these floors look beyond help. You should probably consult with a local professional refinisher before making any plans. An on-site inspection is warranted.

A dark stain may save it.

Or paint!

For god knows why paint is becoming a popular choice for wood floors. I think because it is in the Ralph Lauren paint books at the home store and you can see why they would want people to buy their paint and paint their floors.

It's pretty popular here right now to renovate some of the older buildings in our downtown area. Many have trashed floors like yours and just choose to sand it down to clean it up and live with what it ends up like. Dont think these will ever make it back to like new but if the antique rustic look is ok with you I would roll with it just dont have the preconception sanding will fix everything.

Yes were not looking for the GLory floor. what we get is what we get. Sanding and Polyurathaning it sounds like a huge pain in the ass. but it is by far cheaper then buying new floor coverings.

Any one ever use Scott's liquid Gold on a floor? it is a cleaner and wood preserver. we cleaned a Spot in our stairwell High travel. with Murphy's oil soap it clean very nicely and then we rubbed in some of this Scott's Liquid Gold. we like how it looks on the floor just not sure if this is a good solution for the floor or not.
There are a couple old buildings in our town with a floor like ours and they have done nothing for it. no sanding no cleaning nothing.

Brian

You could probably install a CHEAP plastic laminate for about the same cost of refinishing (sanding, etc.) and it will wear better and clean better and look better. Only you know what type of clientle you are looking to attract to your toy store. An old, beat up appearance may be a turn-off to some shoppers. Just some thoughts. BTW, the liquid Gold works for a little while. It stinks real bad and could make the floors slick while it's wet.

My daughter just had her diningroom floor refinished after it being covered since the early 70's. Her house was built in 1929. Because of water damage on the edges and the marks from the glue she felt like it did not turn out the way she wanted it to. She had it done by a professional. I suggested the darker stain but I told her to leave it as is since it tells a story of foolish people that covered a once beautiful floor. Hopefully she will leave it and continue to have the other floors redone.
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My wife dragged me away from my rennovation project to go on a shopping trip to Pasadena on Monday. Having spent a lot of time staring at my floor, I took note of all the restored hardwood floors in old Pasadena retail shops. Some were pretty rough in terms of scratches, stains, gaps, etc. All were beautiful, in my opinion, reflecting the rich history of the buildings they occupy. That kind of character wins hands down over that uniform, perfect plastic look. I'm not a floorman, but I'd say go for a sand and refinish and embrace the history.