We just did our kitchen floor and thats exactly what was on our floor! UGH,huh? Well, I'm no expert, but this is how I got it off. Bioling water. First I tried microwaving water (no oven-kitchen remodel) in a pyrex measuring cup but this took too long.....so then I bought a cheap coffee maker and kept it running while I worked. Pour a small amount of water on a 2ft x 2ft section and use a 1 1/2 in metal scraper. I let the water soak in for a few minutes and it came up in strips. I also sacrificed a rag mop head and mopped up any "slime" leftover. On the really tough spots, I dropped a few drops of lemon Dawn dish soap on the water. Don't leave the water sit for too long though (more than 10-15 minutes)...I did in one spot (luckily in a spot under a cabinet) and it left a mark. If I ever figure out how to post a picture on this site, I will show you our before and after.... Good luck and be patient, this process can be time consuming Heidibells

Thanks for everyone's input. Malhgold, my first thought was exactly yours: resand. But budge1 has a good point about the thickness of the floors. They're about 90 years old (assuming they're original to our NYC apt building). Sailormann, the spots are gone now, but the finish is very dull. The poly can says "semigloss" but the appearance is absolutely no gloss. Maybe contractor mixed it with something to make it dry faster? (I've been researching this online a bit.) I'll talk to him tomorrow. I'm all for non-confrontation and have no plans to berate him (throw him out the window, maybe, but not berate him ;-)). He's been consistently untruthful with me so I'm not optimistic about figuring out what's wrong.

If you want to finish the basement you have to apply for the permit and meet all basic building, electrical, plumbing (if you have a bathroom) and fire code requirements for a habitable basement. If you just want paint the foundation walls, throw down some carpeting, etc you don't need anything. As the heating goes, you can tap into existing ducts (if you have a forced hot air system) that will give you some heat down there just make sure your furnace can handle additional heating space...or you can add electric baseboard heat and if you want to add some outlets or lights you will also need a permit to make sure it's done right... Just keep in mind using electric baseboard, you have to calculate the area and make sure you install the right size baseboard to handle the area or if baseboards undersized they will run constantly and you end up with a huge bill. That said, basements are usually comfortable in the winter and cool in the summer so most people who don't mind just having foundation walls painted don't usually add any heating down there. But you should have some sort of an air exchange, if you go by code you have to have a window opening area to be equal to 4% of the floor area that is the requirement or you have to provide mechanical ventilation system capable of providing 0.35 air exchanges per hour. Good luck

I use a dish drainer at my camp. No dishwasher. It was given to me by my daughter because she didn't like the color. Usually there is just me and hubby and we don't generate many dishes either. I prefer my dishes to air dry. The drainer I have has a longer lip part that drains the water into the sink. I seen some like that on Amazon made by Farberware. I do have to elevate the back part of my drainer. I use a 2 1/2 inch high long little wire basket from the dollar tree. Works fine.