Q. Is there an easy way to remove this layer of black stuff on my hardwood floor?
How do I remove all this icky adhesive from my floor?
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A call to Pete’s Help Hotline fixed this plaid hardwood floor
Where do you get your wood floor advice? And how do you know you are renting a quality sander? A DIYer named Tim trusted his local general rental store to guide him, but they told him to cut against the grain when he didn’t need to, and they rented him a defective...
Did your finish melt and clog up the sandpaper?
Even floors that look perfectly normal can be hiding a finish that will melt and clog up sandpaper. If your sandpaper clogged with hardwood floor finish, it isn’t a problem; it’s a solution! If this happens to you, drop to a coarser grit, which holds more melty finish...
A very bossy article about using woodfiller on hardwood floors
Where do you get your wood floor advice? And how do you know you are renting a quality sander? A DIYer named Tim trusted his local general rental store to guide him. He bought a $25 consult session on Pete’s Hardwood Floors Help Hotline and we talked him through how to fix his ‘plaid’ floor from their defective sander. Lesson learned.
Radiator edgers are your friends
We can’t tell how many people just tell us they are going to hand-scrape the finish from under their radiators. Keep in mind that here in the Twin Cities, we see 1920s era radiators that can be eight feet long!
What is the smallest thing that can cause the greatest damage to your finished floor?
Now we’ve hooked your interest. What is this small, lethal thing that’s going to kill your floor?
“But the guy in the hardware store said…”
We had a customer with a very challenging floor. What should have been a one-day sand took three days of excruciating work. But the customer was a trooper and didn't cut any corners; he followed our advice and he managed to truly save that floor. Here's what happened....
“Can I just recoat this floor?”
This rare shellac alligator pattern is a historic relic. In the earliest part of the last century, shellac was readily available and commonly used on floors, but it was always coated with a layer of paste wax. But shellac isn’t a great wood protector and maintaining...
Taking Care of Flooring Equipment
Here is Pete's Top 6 List of the things we wish customers would not do to machines, and how to avoid doing them. The lion's share of staff time in the store is spent taking care of the equipment we rent. On any given day we get 20-30 machines returned. All thirty of...
Rubio Monocoat Bourbon: the Other Neutral
Rubio Monocoat Bourbon: Better than Pure? When our customers call us for help choosing Rubio Monocoat colors, our default is almost always Pure. On most wood species, Pure is the easiest to apply, the easiest to maintain, and gives the warmest, most natural look. But...