Let's look:
Before: Note dust-colored carpet. Please also note this duct-tape-lover's method of rolling said carpet to put in the garbage. It's so neat and tidy, isn't it?
Now here we are with uncovered floors. Rough, but we got rid of 30 years of dust, so that's worth something, right? After a few suggestions from the internet and friends online, I opted to treat the dark stains with OxyClean Pet Stain Enzyme Remover (the cheaper of the available enzyme cleaners: $5 on sale at PetSmart). I applied the remover, generously soaking the area, then covered with saran wrap (as directed by one of billions of internet tutorials I found). I then re-attacked the area with the remover and discovered something was turning white. So I did what any reasonable person would do: I grabbed a putty knife and scraped the nastiness off of the floor. I don't think it was wax: I'm fairly certain it was some sort of adhesive. Whatever it was, it's gone now. There were still slight stains after I went through the enzyme treatment, so I treated with hydrogen peroxide ($1) and left it to sit for about an hour before reapplying the peroxide. I allowed everything to dry for about 4 hours, then I covered it with a coat of Orange Glo Floor Refinisher ($15). This is a thin, self-levelling polyurethane product that, I'll be honest, is miraculous. It's infomercial awesome.
Voila:
(If you turn this photo 90 degrees, you'll be looking at the same areas you see in the photo above it - what appears in the upper left of the 2nd photo is the upper right of this photo. What used to be a dark black stain now appears to be. . . somewhat disclored wood floor.)
I keep talking to Tim about it, not because I'm proud of myself, but because I'm just so amazed. Stunned, even.
Thank you friends for the recommendation. And thank you Floor Dr. Google, for coming through.
No comments:
Post a Comment