LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

And what finish might THIS be...

693 views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Roswell 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
My sink decided I needed to take the day off from my other chores and do some plumbing. I had to pull everything out from under it, and unbeknownst to me, a bottle of Windex got knocked over and dribbled on the floor for quite some time. The next day when I was putting everything back, I noticed the spot. Oddly enough, it dissolved the finish and left a black spot on the wood underneath. I'm pretty sure that Windex has ammonia in it, which would definitely explain why the wood darkened. I've never heard of it being used to strip a finish. If you're yawning you better go now…

The backstory is we bought this prior drug house as a fixer upper and also is a place we wouldn't care too much when our kids damaged something. It has three inch wide wood flooring which is yellow and softish feeling. It definitely has two different finishes on it. I can tell that because somebody decided to topcoat the original finish, or what I should say is the bottom finish, and didn't bother removing food droppings or dirty footprints. It's disgusting. We've been planning to replace the entire thing, but it may be very easy to strip it and clean up the wood.

So having just stripped and re-shellac'd A drafting table, I decided to use the denatured alcohol I had handy on another location to see what it would do. With some gentle scrubbing and a stripping pad, the finish came right off. Now obviously alcohol will strip shellac and I've heard that if it sits for a while it'll at least soften varnish. But at this point I'm at a loss without further experimentation, which is ugly. Perhaps one of you folks who knows a lot more about finishing wood floors than I do would chime in and educate me. Whatever the finish is, it's somewhat soft and appears to be softening. There is dirt embedded in it in the high traffic areas. At least I think it's in The top layer and not between, but who knows. The house was original in 1991, and I'd bet the floor was 'redone' about a decade ago.

Thank you in advance for your time,

Roswell

-

Here's where the windex ate the finish and I scraped off the goop. You can clearly see the original finish under the dirty one. That an the amazing 'value' in this place cough

Brown Road surface Wood Beige Flooring


This is the proposed test spot before:

Brown Wood Road surface Flooring Floor


Immediately after (still wet)

Brown Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain


And once dry

Brown Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor
 

Attachments

See less See more
8
#5 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hard to speculate on your particular problem but Windex contains both alcohol and ammonia. Keep it away from shellac.

You can rent a floor finish sander and strip the entire floor then add your own stain and I would suggest a top coat of floor grade poly urethane.

Or do what I did, if the floor is sound and level, cover it with one of the Luxury Vinyl plank snap lock floorings. Relatively easy to install your self, no nailing or gluing, and quite durable. Prices for better quality ranges from $2.50 to $7.00 a square foot. I wouldn't use anything that is not at least 5mm thick with a 20ml top coating; 7 or 8 mm is even better. Patterns include various wood simulations and tile or marble, plus a few others.
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
No way shellac is on a floor.

- Robert
You Sir, underestimate the frugality and ignorance of the prior homeowner. My father, a builder, and I have had that same "There's NO way" conversation about a dozen times. Same genius used a Roto-zip to cut a hole through the exterior wall so he could rig up 220 in the basement. Vapor barrier: Gone. Air barrier: Open. Critters: having a field day.

Still on the yet to be solved aka WTH happened here list: someone (him because he was sure proud of how well his carbide blades went through the stucco) vented the dryer right through the bump-out in the stucco wall. Just a hole in in the wall. A jagged, ugly, ground-level hole. No louver, no mesh. And we got around 130 inches of snow here this year.

And then there's the part about dirty footprints UNDER the finish.

So, while I wholly agree with you that there's no LOGICAL way it's shellac…..enh. (don't worry, I got this dump as a fire-sale, it's appreciated 25%, and my wife gives me a blank check for tools.)

In case you want to see the train wreck… https://photos.app.goo.gl/qBGdKoz6kVVKgvAu5
 
#8 ·
Or do what I did, if the floor is sound and level, cover it with one of the Luxury Vinyl plank snap lock floorings. Relatively easy to install your self, no nailing or gluing, and quite durable. Prices for better quality ranges from $2.50 to $7.00 a square foot. I wouldn t use anything that is not at least 5mm thick with a 20ml top coating; 7 or 8 mm is even better. Patterns include various wood simulations and tile or marble, plus a few others.

- LesB
Now that's not a half-bad idea!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top