The grout color was protected for a while with normal cleaning. They have continued to darken over the past couple of years and I wanted to again return them to the original color. I have now tried most everything I can find, including phosphoric acid (which worked the first time) and cannot lighten them up very much Two comments. First, acid washing will generally only work once. How acid works is it reacts with the lime in the grout, which releases the dirt. Acid should only be used for removing grout haze initially after grouting... if even then-- never just for the purpose of cleaning. Second, I've said this in here many times, including in the FAQ's on the gallery side of this forum-- Sealing grout will not stop grout from showing traffic patterns, or aging (darkening). The best thing you can do is use medium to dark grouts in high traffic areas, and if you really want the lighter colors, your best bet is a grout colorant. One other thing-- in answer to your question about the acid removing sealer, it won't touch it. If you want to remove the sealer, use an ammonia based cleaner with a floor machine.

We have built and owned two homes over the past 36 years. In the first we had 3, 5, and 7" Bruce prefinished red oak. We also had two large (60 and 70#) Elkhounds-- no detectable damage in 12 years. In the second, where we have lived for 24 years, we have 3" and 4" site finished red oak on nearly all of our floors. Over those 24 years, we have had a standard poodle, a great dane mix, a Newfie, a lab, a Border Collie/Golden retriever mix, a pit bull, and a doberman. Again, no real damage from the dogs except for a few scratches on our staircase from when they ran downstairs after being detected illegally upstairs. We refinished the floors last year because we wanted to take those few scratches off the staircase and wanted to make sure that the wood all matched. I do not believe that dogs are necessarily the cause of your problems. Our dogs were all in the range of 60--100 # and we really had no problems. I would sand the floors and invest in a really good finish: either multiple coats of oil based floor varnish or multiple coats of a good catalytic floor varnish. Will

I have wanted to refinish my oak stair treads originally finished with Tried and True wood finish (BLO and beeswax) 2 years ago. It's not holding up to traffic (event though we don't wear shoes in the house - wax and wet/sweaty/oily feet don't mix). Now I *really* have to refinish them - DS threw up on them last night. I cleaned up the vomit (mostly on 1 tread) with dry, then wet paper towels, and the grain is raised. 1. How do I disinfect the tread(s)? 2. The risers, skirtboard and trim are all poly'd, they are OK. I want to refinish the treads with something more durable (either poly or Waterlox), can anybody recommend something that wouldn't take too long to dry since we are living in the house and it's hard to keep people off the stairs for more than 8 hrs max (that's if I have prepped the night b4, put 1st coat on as soon as the kids leave for school, and don't let DD upstairs until DS gets home from school). 3. How do I prep to make sure I've got all the BLO/wax off so the new finish will stick? Or do I just use dewaxed shellac to seal it, then poly over it (have had success with non-floor surfaces doing this, but not over wax either, just using shellac as a sanding sealer). Thanks

My hardwood floors are probably filthy, but look really good. I have them throughout the first floor. I sweep them daily, and run the occasional Swiffer WetJet on the kitchen portion of the floor in front of the sink, dishwasher and stove. I have tried a lot of things when mopping, and found that I prefer to use hot, HOT water and a damp rag mop once a month to get them really clean. I often have to refill the water, as it is black during this cleaning. Should probably do it more often, but I don't have the time.