hi all,

i pulled up old carpet in my living room to find nice hardwood floors underneath (it took me a whole day just to remove the staples that held down the carpet pad ); unfortunately before the carpet was put down someone painted the whole room and didn't lay anything over the floor so now there is latex paint all over the floor (some big globs and A LOT of little paint specs) i tried removing the paint with hot water (worked somewhat but very time consuming, even rented a floor buffer and used a red stripping pad to get the paint off with hot water but that didn't work) and even alcohol. i want to try to buff&recoat (screening?) the floor. i am assuming this would take all the paint off right? do i just use a screening pad or do i need to put anything else on the floor (liquid?) in order to get all the paint off? will the old paint clog up the pad? i consider myself an advanced do-it-yourselfer but i've never done hardwood floor before so any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

thanks,

E

The floor needs to be fully refinished instead of a recoat. That will require completely sanding down to the raw wood. This takes more skill and the proper tools. It is highly recommended you hire an experienced, reputable contractor for this.