Some help for the clueless

[Chu Noobs]

Hi we have just bought a house that has had all the carpet ripped up and was wondering if we could get some help.


We are going to have the floors sanded and polished throughout the house, including the kitchen and dining. The kitchen cupboards are old and we intend on remodelling the kitchen later. Our delima is that we need to polish the floors now, however when the kitchen is remodelled, it will expose unpolished floorboards that were under the original cupboards.
Is it possible to only sand and polish the newly exposed boards without touching the polished boards already in the kitchen and dining? Or will we need to sand back the entire dining and kitchen?

Thanks

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

IMHO, it's possible if you use a good Danish Oil or similar instead of a PolyUrethane for a finish, as DO can be touched up by simply recoating while most PolyU's need the old section to be sanded right back.

Be very, very careful picking your DO though - as it has become a trend to add a dash of Tung Oil to a PolyU and call it Danish Oil or a "Tung Oil Finish" on the can, even though it isn't... it's still just a PolyU.

Odds are good that you'll be able to pick a demarcation line where the old benches used to stand - from stuff being spilled or dribbling down the front of the cabinets and staining the floorboards along the toe-kicks. It may not be obvious, but even water can darken floorboards if spilled/splashed in the same spot often enough (eg. around the sink.) and most finishes will enhance these stains along with the timber colour.

If you don't mind a bit of "added character," it's no problem but if you're expecting perfection, well... good luck! Do-able, but a lot of hard work (and some luck. )

PS: The above is just my opinion. Others may disagree, esp. about the DO vs PolyU but I guess that depends on what brands they've used and their experiences. I certainly don't claim I've tried every brand on the market... and have no intention to!

[Chu Noobs]

Thanks for the help. Much apreciated!