Ideas to spruce up wood floor - selling house

[SAT887]

Howdy!

So I need some help. We are getting ready to sell our house this spring (fingers crossed) and we are going through and finishing up interior projects and giving it a good clean (organizing closets, removing what little clutter we have, touch up paint, making sure things are finished 100%) So in the past year we have put a lot into our home (refurbed kitchen, new half bathroom, added 2 rooms in basement, landscaping and plan on painting exterior when warm weather comes)

Well, we have our living room floor - it honestly could use to be refinished, but I don't want to put the time and money into that after doing so much other work to our house (we have done it before in a previous home). It is not a bad wooden floor but the poly/varnish is definitely lacking. It appears to be oak, and is 2 in slats. We plan on giving it a good clean but does anyone have any tips or suggestions for giving it a little bit of life? Thanks in advance!

 

[wiigirl]

Works wonders (temporarily)

 

[teacup princess]

Can you just put on a coat of wax?

 

[SAT887]

Can you just put on a coat of wax?

I've never waxed a floor... Last house we re-did floors and just cleaned --- this house, it was on our list - never got around too it and never did anything to it...

Wiigirl - the orange glow have you ever used it before?

 

[baseballmickey]

I read somewhere that a solution of unsweetened black tea boiled in water works well on unfinished wood floors.

For deep scratches, they say you can use crayon of a matching color to fill it. i think you have to melt it with a hair dryer after and clean up the excess/smooth it out with a cloth or towel after that.

 

[Jenny3]

I've always used Murphy's Oil Soap on my hardwood floors

 

[JessB320]

Look on pinterest, they have tons of ideas for wood floors without actually sanding them down

 

[Angeni11]

Bona works great on floors.

We used it on ours when we were selling and they looked great.

 

[lovesmurfs]

Howdy!

So I need some help. We are getting ready to sell our house this spring (fingers crossed) and we are going through and finishing up interior projects and giving it a good clean (organizing closets, removing what little clutter we have, touch up paint, making sure things are finished 100%) So in the past year we have put a lot into our home (refurbed kitchen, new half bathroom, added 2 rooms in basement, landscaping and plan on painting exterior when warm weather comes)

Well, we have our living room floor - it honestly could use to be refinished, but I don't want to put the time and money into that after doing so much other work to our house (we have done it before in a previous home). It is not a bad wooden floor but the poly/varnish is definitely lacking. It appears to be oak, and is 2 in slats. We plan on giving it a good clean but does anyone have any tips or suggestions for giving it a little bit of life? Thanks in advance!

We have floors desperately in need of refinishing. What I do to make them "perk" up (and I'm pretty sure it's not the "right" thing to do) is use Murphy's Oil Soap to wash them, then rub Old English on it. Makes it a little slippery for a bit, but they look really great for a while. (And yes, the website says not to because of the slipperiness -- I just warn the family before I do it).

Old English website recommends Mop and Glo Wood Floor cleaner.

 

[SAT887]

Thanks for all these great tips. I have some time this week and I'm going to empty the furniture out and clean them well - I have time to try a few of these to see what works well!

 

[laurafergie]

My DH does a "pad and recoat" for clients sometimes. It only works if there are not deep scratches, etc to the wood, just the top coat is scratched up and looking dull. Basically you scuff sand the floor with a buffer and then put new coats of water based poly on it. Very easy, and can be done in a weekend.

I found a website that sort of explains it.
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/intro/0,,20333774,00.html

 

[EdiePA]

before you do anything, please read

http://www.cinhome.com/murphys.html

I just put in hardwood floor and Murphy's Oil Soap is a real "no no"
Edie

 

[SAT887]

before you do anything, please read

http://www.cinhome.com/murphys.html

I just put in hardwood floor and Murphy's Oil Soap is a real "no no"
Edie

This is interesting... I never knew that about Murphy's Oil Soap....

 

[kid-at-heart]

Bona works great on floors.

We used it on ours when we were selling and they looked great.

Our house is over a hundred years old. I wax with Bona a couple of times a year. The floors look great.

 

[manning]

We refinished my MIL wood floors prior to putting it up for sale. WOW it didn't look like the same house.

 

[poohguys]

Try Halloway House. DH gets it at either Home Depot or Lowes. They look good for about 6 months after he puts it on.