Keep going. That's about all you can do. The hands and knees work is what is needed. Once you get down to 'the last layer' of the M&G, then you pull out the screening matching to finish it up.

And yes, the pads gum up VERY quickly with 35 years of acrylic material laid down.

The wood is almost certainly contaminated beyond repair (as in sand/refinish). But you can get it back to the original finish (which has been hidden for 3.5 decades).

The 'floor stripper' is required. The wood will handle it better than marble...but it's the same stuff. I've used Windex Original Formula (yep....silly but true) because it contains the 5% Ammonia you need to strip a floor.

You can PURCHASE the ammonia powder to make 5% ammonia mix...(do NOT use all purpose cleaner on marble NOR hardwood....ever!) or you can buy gallons of Windex Original and do the same thing. Which ever is easier/cheaper/you feel more comfortable with.

I would only use the windex on the hardwood. I'm not comfortable enough with marble (I'm hardwood/cork person) or stone to try this (I'm a bit of a chicken!).

With Hardwood you will need:

A. Hundreds of clean, white cotton cloth rags (old cotton sheets = ripped up = fine) with different coarseness (old towels = really rough)

B. Gallons of Windex Original (start with 1 gallon and move on from there)

C. Plastic scraper (which you probably already have)

Now that you have everything together, you will:

1. Soak a 1ft x 1ft patch (you will do bigger patches as you get better at it) with Windex

2. Allow to 'sit' for 60 - 90 seconds (not much longer than that)

3. Wipe up with aggressive coarse towels. You will notice this stuff will turn a bit hazy = reemulsifying. The scraper can be used to peel this stuff back in large strips.

4. Repeat until you are down to 'clean finish' (the clothes come back damp but NOT yellow or orange/brown)

5. Move to next patch and repeat.

Once the entire floor is cleaned up 'enough' you can then use the screening machine. I know that professionals have used the 'Maroon Pad' for screening these types of floors...but that's out of my depth of knowledge.

I'm hoping someone else will come on and help you out.

Thanks, SJ.

I have a short hallway with wood floor that I will probably carpet over because an idiot put the wood floor down. There are gaps and glue in the gaps so it needs to be covered with carpeting. It is a great place to practice stripping the wood. I used RB's mixture of Lysol all purpose cleaner, ammonia, and hot water to mop then used the Orbiter and the gentle white polishing pad on the floor with mists of water. It looks like it took off CV the polyurethane. No shine at all.

I have bought Zep's marble and stone cleaner for the marble and it works well. I am buying Zep's Wood floor cleaner tomorrow. It is just a cleaner, not like Mop n Glow or that Orange Glo junk.

For marble:

For wood floors, laminate floors, baseboards and wood cabinets:

Another Zep's product says it is for wood, laminate, vinyl, marble, granite...all floors. Not sure about this one. There is usually a single cleaner for everything.

I assume Rejuvenate and Bona products are just like Mop n Glow, so I will stay away from them.

I pulled out the Orbiter manual and it says the Oreck can sand the floors and remove most of the polyurethane. It says the Oreck sanding screens will remove enough polyurethane so another coat can be applied.

I imagine it has been 35 years since the original polyurethane was applied. It is probably worn off underneath the Mop n Glow. I know the floor is that old, but I am assuming the Mop n Glo was used when the original shine went away. Instead of doing it right, they used that crap.

More up and down tomorrow on my knees...if I can walk tomorrow!

Thanks. The hallway wood floor will be covered with carpet soon, so I tried the Oreck there. Since the wood floor is 30-35 years old, I assume the polyurethane is that old too. I used the Orbiter with a white scrub pad on it with the Lysol, ammonia, water mixture the manufacturer suggested, and I think the polyurethane and the Mop n Glo is gone. No shine at all.

I finally got all of the Mop n Glo off of the marble in one bathroom. I had to stop and do other things, so I am just now posting. I used the marble/stone beige pad and the white pad with the Oreck and it looks a lot better. A few tiles have a weird look to them, sort of splotchy looking, but I don't know what to do about them. Look to the right an inch or two where the white light shows. Can't get a good picture though.

Wood floor- I can't scrape anything off of the wood that I cleaned with Zap and ammonia with the Oreck. Maybe the Mop n Glo is gone?

The marble like to have a bit of residue left. It has a bit more work to it. Try the Windex fix at this point. You should be able to get the rest of it off with it.

Marble-

Try the Windex on the marble? I can try it on a piece that goes under the cabinet since they have not been installed yet.

Oak floor-

The water droplets absorbed into the wood in some places, but 10 minutes later, some of the water was still there. Most absorbed quickly, though.

I used the Windex on the wood floor in the exact same spot where I had used the Oreck and the ammonia/Zep mixture. Nothing came off on the white towel. Can't scrape off anything with a scraper or my fingernail.

I tried the Windex on a section that had not been cleaned with the Oreck, and the scraper got some of the MnG off, but after wiping it off, I still got more off with my fingernail. I kept going 3 more times, getting a layer at a time. It looks like the Oreck is doing a better job.

I am going to try the Oreck with the Windex only and see how it does compared to the Zap/ammonia mixture. I hate using ammonia.

Thanks for the help with the Windex.

Hall wood floor- idiots installed it. Different lengths, gaps, glue filling gaps....

A section was removed??? The staggering changed to 12".

Is that an old floor or was it just installed - the wood in the above photo?

Glue in the gaps. Not all gaps.

All old floor. Previous owners had carpeted it, but we removed the carpet to see why the floor was giving when we stepped on it in one certain spot.

All of my posts are disappearing, so it may take me a while to find this. My "notifications" only show 1 post...this one that was responded to today. All others have disappeared. Even 1 week old posts.

OK...so the 'gaps' are probably just shrinkage. Someone tried to fill the gaps with a filler that didn't really do very well. Personally I usually tell people to leave the shrinkage gaps. The filler, as you can see, can look god-awful. The only way to get rid of that look is to do a full sand and refinish.

It sounds like your 'water beading test' indicates you have VERY thin poly in some spots. That's where the water soaks in very quickly and leaves a little damp spot on the floor for an hour or so. That's an indication these floors need to be refinished. Because of the old contaminants, you probably won't be able to get a buff and coat on there....but it is *possible to get a full sand/refinish out of them.

Normally old posts are not 'lost' they just fall down the list of 'active' posts. Anytime someone answers a different post, it jumps to the front of the line. That pushes everything else down into the 300's or 400's. Even 1 week of activity can push a post down by 100 spots...or more. If you want more attention to a post that isn't getting any action, go ahead and add a 'bump' to it so that it pops to the top. That way we can all see it...and hopefully someone will respond.

Usually, I can find my posts in "notifications", but this was the only post showing today.

Or I can looking My Activity or search for Peke, but only really old posts are showing. Or I can click on Posts I have Started. Somethng is going on.

I just assumed the floor had polyurethane on it, but the guy that built my cabinets also did other work here. He may have installed the floor. He used lacquer on the cabinets. He does not like using polyurethane. Who knows what was used 35 plus and years ago.

It is cleaning up nicely with the green Oreck pad. Will need to get another layer off tomorrow. Mostly, the residue is in the cracks where 2 boards meet.

You are possibly pulling off 'lacquer' and exposing wood. That is why you are seeing water absorb into the wood. This needs a full sand/refinish.

So is lacquer better or worse than polyurethane? I know the guy used lacquer on my cabinets. When we had to refinish one of the old bathroom cabinets he told us what he used. Benjamin Moore said only 2 states carry it, Oklahoma and Texas. That tells me it should NOT be used. It is banned in other states.

It sounds like I am ready to sand? I can quit trying to get the glossy parts off where the cracks are. (Where the 2 planks meet.) They will just sand off?

I moved the TV cabinet away from the wall. That wall used to have a built in entertainment center with doors and drawers, but my TV was wider, so we removed the entertainment center. We found the original flooring had not been lacquered or polyurethane where the old cabinets had been. We can see that the wood turned more yellow and darker in the rest of the room.

The room is huge and includes the kitchen. 42' x 28' plus 12' x 4' hallway. I am sanding around the perimeter first except for the hall and kitchen area. Then I will move the aquarium, couches, and TV cabinet back in place against the walls. They are all sitting on soft sliders so they will not scratch the floor. Then I can sand the rest of the floor. I have no place to move the furniture so it will have to be done in sections.

Once the sanding is finished and the floor is clean, I don't know if I can finish the floor in sections. Can that be done? Thanks.

If you finish it in sections it will look as if you finished it in sections, or not good for the most part. As I understand it you need to keep a wet edge at all times until finished with that coat.

That is what I figured. It couldn't be easy.

We either have to leave our furniture out on the driveway over night and hope no one takes it, or we will have to have it put in a storage building.

How long does it take to dry before we can put furniture back on the floor? I don't know what they used 30+ years ago. Could be polyurethane or could be lacquer.

If we keep it a natural color, would it take less time? I am sure staining the floor then adding a clear coat would take longer.

How much of the old clear coat do I need to remove?

The faint vertical line on the right side is where we removed the old cabinets. On the left side is where I have not sanded yet.

Do the two sides need to be sanded until we can't see that vertical line?

Do I need to keep sanding? I am using 80 grit, right now.

Thanks.

"How much of the old clear coat do I need to remove?"

Every. Last. Bit.

"Do the two sides need to be sanded until we can't see that vertical line?"

Unless you want to see that line in the new finish.

"Do I need to keep sanding? I am using 80 grit, right now."

From what I know as the very least you need to go to 120 probably 180.

I have 120 and 180. I was just trying to get most of the unknown clear coat off before I used the larger numbers. It is looking better and better.

I am worried about the boards that were under the cabinets. They are lighter in color than the rest of the room. I assume that the line will definitely show when the new clear coat has been applied. Thanks.