Hardwood floors sticky/tacky no matter what I do!
Barbara Cummings
3 years ago
I’m in day 3 of Googling and experimenting and still haven’t found a fix! HELP PLEASE! We moved into a rental last week with sticky hardwood floors (they feel tacky/unclean when you’re in socks, and when you’re barefoot, your feet make a “stick” noise if you stand in the same spot for 10 seconds). The floor looks like low-gloss, engineered red oak, according to Google (the landlord says they were put in two years ago but doesn’t know the finish/seal/type, anything).
We wetjetted the night we moved in with Swiffer’s hardwood cleaner (as we always did with our old hardwood floors) and the pads were BLACK with dirt. We had to do three rounds of cleaning before the pads were white. But the floors still felt tacky. A woodworking friend said maybe the cleaner left a residue, so try cleaning with just water. We did two rounds—still tacky. We figured maybe the previous tenants used something weird on them, so we used 1:4 vinegar water mixture with a few drops of gentle dish soap. Did a round with that and a microfiber towel. Still no change.
When you run your nails over the floors, they feel almost gummy, even though nothing actually comes up when you scratch with your nail or with the edge of a coin. Do we just give up? Our landlord is currently unresponsive for larger issues, so sticky floors won’t be his priority. Any idea what’s going on? (This photo shows you absolutely nothing helpful—you can’t see the “sticky,” but I felt like I should show visual representation regardless ha.)
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Barbara Cummings
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoRelated Discussions
Does season matter when installing hardwood floors?
Comments (3)Wood is hygroscopic...it will take up moisture and give it up repeatedly. As a result of this characteristic, some gapping will happen and some cupping on occasion unless the indoor temperature and humidity levels remain constant...not many homes maintain these levels. Do NOT acclimate your wood to the ambient temperature and humidity conditions of the outside air, especially if that is what you perceive as hot and humid...that will guarantee that you will have more gapping than is normal to expect. Get yourself a combination temperature and humidity instrument (about $25 at Radio Shack) and monitor temperature and humidity levels in the room where the wood will be installed. Professionals have moisture meters that read the level of both the wood and the subfloor that the wood is to be installed over and then they install when moisture readings are within 2% to 4% of each other. You don't have that instrument, so common sense will dictate. You want to acclimate the wood to the indoor environment that it will live in most of the time. If that is let's say 68 F and 50% humidity, then that is the conditions you what the wood to acclimate in. Turn on the HVAC system and adjust temperature and humidity levels to what you consider to be the 'typical' levels in your home. Acclimate for the time required...I acclimate wood for at least a week. Since you are DIYing, pay attention to how you 'rack' the floor...avoid obvious 'step' patterns and keep end seams at least 8" from each other to avoid that visual insult. Search the internet for some other professional opinions. Here is a link to NOFMA that can get you started. Here is a link that might be useful: NOFMA...See MoreWhat do you use on your hardwood floors?
Comments (33)We installed Brazilian Cherry 9 months ago, and I think the flooring company recommends Bona, but I use a spray bottle of water with vinegar, and clean all the floors on my hands and knees. Just a damp micro-fiber cloth, the same cloth dries it, so it's not very wet. I shake it out at the sink after a few swipes. It's a long process that only lasts a day or so, these cherry floors are a nightmare to keep clean, and I've turned into a floor cleaning FREAK!!!! Family calls me the Floor Police!! Can anyone else relate?? You must have socks on, because toe prints will show and scuff marks drive me crazy, crumbs...spills, and unwanted scratches galore!!! I prefer to use my Dyson for bare floors daily and sometimes I gather all the crumbs with a micro fiber mop before I wet clean. I'm really happy to see others are using vinegar, because sometimes I feel I should buy the Bona cleaner. Vinegar was our first choice with ceramic tile, and now I'm using it on wood, hoping its still a good choice. No build-up that I notice. Someone said it takes away the shine, I haven't noticed that either. I would NEVER use Murphys Oil due to build-up. Try vinegar and water..and ONLY MICRO-Fiber cloths, I buy mine from Sams....See MoreHardwood floor mistake-what would you do?
Comments (26)I did not mean to let this thread drop. I want to say again, thank you all so much for your support. Greendesigns, that is probably the nicest offer of help from a perfect stranger I've ever received. And if you ever do roadtrip near Portland, hit Heirloom Roses in St Paul Oregon. :) Update---I did insist they refinish the floors. The GC told me the flooring guy agreed to "take care of the floors" which when pushed I discovered they were going to "repair" (which they'd already claimed to have done) rather than "refinish." I expressed concern over this to GC. They did the repairs last week. The spots are still there. :( Many/most of the spots are greatly lessoned/gone, but the worst spots (the ones in front of the front door and an area in the dining room) are still visible. It was because of those two areas that I insisted upon getting the floors redone. Obviously, I'm not happy and the GC knows this. (I'm sure the floor guy is not happy either because he's now invested another day on this job.) GC told me Thursday that he needed to talk to the floor guy and see what our next step is and I've not heard back yet. I'm sure his next step will be to tell me to shove it. You all understand--this is so exhausting--this has already delayed us moving in for several weeks, we missed our deadline of being in the house before school started because we made the floors a priority. And they're still not fixed! I gave floor guy 2 opportunities to fix it... what would you all do at this point? I am now done-stick a fork in me. I will live with those ridiculous spots--that never should have been there, had he done a careful job in the first place--but I refuse to pay this guy as if he did a good job. He did not do a good job and has shown he is not able to fix it. Does this seem reasonable...I am thinking that I should pay floor guy for materials and installation, but not the line item for finishing? That gives me the option to get them refinished properly later (I know it's a hassle) but then I am not seething that I've paid for/accepted an unacceptable job. What do you think?...See MoreHelp! How much does "chemical free" "USA" matter for hardwood flooring
Comments (8)Here is what I have learned about hardwoods. Many woods do cause allergic reactions, mostly from the dust when cut. Certain woods can cause allergic reactions when handles green and a couple when dry. All those allergies are specific to the person. Some people are affected, many are not affected. Interior wood flooring needs to have a finish applied. For protection of the wood and for protection of people and allergies. All of the wood finishes of which I am aware are safe when dried/cured. The problems with finishes are those created when the finish is applied and those problems are caused by the material used to liquify the finish material. This is driving the change over from oil based finishes to water based types. Water based finished are much less toxic when applied/curing. A good example of this is shellac. While not a really long lasting or desirable floor finish, shellac was used as a finish for trim in houses for many years. The material used to liquify shellac is alcohol. Usually denatured, but vodka or whisky would also work. If denatured alcohol is used, the shellac mix is poisonous---because of the denatured alcohol. Once dry, the same shellac is edible. And, if mixed with vodka(or other drinkable alcohol) it could be consumed with only the hangover as an aftereffect(I would probably not like the taste, however!). Shellac is used as a finish on some candy. If those companies use a factory applied finish, it will be safe for pets/people---unless consumed....See MoreBarbara Cummings
3 years agoBarbara Cummings
3 years ago
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Anna (6B/7A in MD)