You really do need to work up a sweat…
Heather has wanted to take up the carpets on the upper level and go back to the hardwood floor. I finally started to get down to that job, and I started with the landing area. The bit of sadness and torture was the condition of the hardwood floors. I’m guessing that years back, someone was painting and said, “Who needs to be careful? We’re putting down carpet anyways”. So there was paint *everywhere*. Drops, streaks, footprints, etc.
At first I was trying everything to get the paint off (and not strip the floors too much) with little success. The only thing was working was sand paper - manually - and it was taking forever.
But then there was a break-through when I started dripping sweat on the floor!
I had a bucket of water and I’d been wiping down the floor with a sponge to get the dust off and see what was left. I’d leave that part to dry while I’d work on the next area. While I was sanding, a big drop of sweat landed there. I was trying to avoid it when accidentally ran the sandpaper through it - and the paint came off way easy.
So… I took the sponge and wiped a small area - just damp, not soaking wet - and quickly went over it with the scraper, knocking off the heavy stuff. Wiped it again, and ran the power sander over it, and that “buffed” off most of what was left. Then wiped it a third time, and just used the sandpaper and my thumb to remove any other marks. The only downside was that you go through more sandpaper because the damp dust really gums it up fast.
Once I stumbled onto that, I was motoring through it. I not only finished the landing, but I took the carpet off the stairs and cleaned up the steps too.
I plan to put in new baseboards and varnish the floor/stairs, but I need the weather to change. It’s way too humid right now for varnish.
At first I was trying everything to get the paint off (and not strip the floors too much) with little success. The only thing was working was sand paper - manually - and it was taking forever.
But then there was a break-through when I started dripping sweat on the floor!
I had a bucket of water and I’d been wiping down the floor with a sponge to get the dust off and see what was left. I’d leave that part to dry while I’d work on the next area. While I was sanding, a big drop of sweat landed there. I was trying to avoid it when accidentally ran the sandpaper through it - and the paint came off way easy.
So… I took the sponge and wiped a small area - just damp, not soaking wet - and quickly went over it with the scraper, knocking off the heavy stuff. Wiped it again, and ran the power sander over it, and that “buffed” off most of what was left. Then wiped it a third time, and just used the sandpaper and my thumb to remove any other marks. The only downside was that you go through more sandpaper because the damp dust really gums it up fast.
Once I stumbled onto that, I was motoring through it. I not only finished the landing, but I took the carpet off the stairs and cleaned up the steps too.
I plan to put in new baseboards and varnish the floor/stairs, but I need the weather to change. It’s way too humid right now for varnish.