Ok... the title covers most of it, but what I'm looking for here is information on making my floors which are in desperate need of replacement workable. I've vacuumed and damp-mopped them, but they still seen to remain dirty. Short of renting a floor sander and refinishing, what are my options for making these look less like the floors of a crack house? They don't have to look anywhere near perfect when I'm done (...for now), but I'd really like to be able to walk barefoot in my place without wearing slippers to avoid having filthy feet after walking a few steps. Thanks.

 

What did you use to clean them? They may have a "few" years of grime built up on them.

I use a little ammonia with water to wash our wood floors, but they've never actually been what I call dirty, as they've been re-finished. You could try Murphy's oil soap, or maybe Bass will chime in with what he used.

You might need something to cut through the grime. How about that "simple green" stuff? Check that out too.

 

I (well... Lynda in some cases) just used the same TSP stuff I used on the walls. Maybe that wasn't enough. It was night and day compared to where they started, but obviously they need more work.

 

You could put a coat of polyurethane on it. It won

 

Are you going to refinish them?

If so....I'd give em a coat of some Future Floor Wax.....just seal the crap in until you are ready to sand/refinish

http://www.makezine.com/pub/tool/Future_Floor_Wax

 

Shug beat me to the concept....but the polyurethane would be harder to eventually sand off...

 

I might... but what they really need is replacement. I'm hoping I can do something short of refinishing (a coat of poly as shug suggested might work) that will tide me over until I can afford replacing the sub floors, re-leveling them, and all new floors. Refinishing will no doubt make them look a lot better, but not as good as I want them in the end.

 

Erick, another option is to spend a few $, go to Building 19 or the Job Lot and get a couple of area rugs, they will brighten the place up. The bad floors won't be so noticeable as only the area around the rug will show, and you'll have a clean surface to walk on.

If you do buy area rugs, don't forget to get the "gripper" mat, sold separately (cheap money) , so the rugs don't slip and slide.

 

Area rugs? Come on Lainey! This is Erick.

Coating would be super cheap.

 

Well, we want the house to look inviting to the HAWT assistant, don't we???

I've got some cute little curtains with ruffles that might look good on his windows too.