This may be the single stupidest thread you have read but I figured that if anyone has an idea of how to rescue this mess, it might be one of you. Needless to say, it is not the end of the world and all that is needed is a good sander but I would rather not.
I am an artist, not a wood worker.
That being said this is what has happened:
My home is an old craftsman and the floors are warped beat up hardwood. I noted that the spatters of paint on them did not come up easily and read about floor painting on the internet. I cleaned the floors and painted designs on them in latex acrylic paints. I then went to my hardware store and explained what I had done and asked what the best clear coat would be to complete the job. I was told to use minwax spar urethane. This, the nice man explained, would be very hard as he had experience using it all over everything in a cabin he owned. So I did just that...came home and gave everything a nice shiny clear coat and went to bed. Now I have used urethane as a clear coat on furniture and it hardens up quite nicely. Not the case on these floors. When I got up I noted that the floors had developed some staining and the finish seemed soft. I looked up urethane on the internet and was surprised to find that it is not appropriate for floors. I called my hardware store and asked why I was advised to use a product that is not appropriate and also asked what to put on top of this to give me a nice hard clear coat. The hardware store owner said he needed to call Minwax and would get back to me. When he did not get back to me, I called them myself and was informed that there was NOTHING that could be done for my problem. Nothing. The man basically said that urethane is a soft substance and will be gouged by a heel or chair leg easily. So I called the hardware store back and asked the owner what I was supposed to do. He seemed very nervous but finally told me, after talking to the minwax rep himself, that I was to lightly sand the surface and then apply a polyurethane coating. This I have done. To be quite honest with you... it is just as soft as the urethane coating and my fingernail can easily pull it and the latex paint beneath it up. I realize now that I probably did not prepare the wood floors sufficiently prior to starting this task. Assuming that it would work based on the spatter I could not remove was not super bright I admit.
So now I have beautifully painted floors but the surface easily comes up with a scrape of a light weight chair.
I am of course hoping that one of you might possibly come up with some amazingly hard product that will create a wonderful hard surface to protect my painting. Nowhere else on the internet does such information exist to be quite honest.
I know that you will probably tell me that what is needed is a good sander and a lot of elbow grease. Remove the stuff and ...add what?
If any of you have any suggestions after you have laughed at my foibles, I would be most grateful.
Thanks in advance!
Karen
I am an artist, not a wood worker.
That being said this is what has happened:
My home is an old craftsman and the floors are warped beat up hardwood. I noted that the spatters of paint on them did not come up easily and read about floor painting on the internet. I cleaned the floors and painted designs on them in latex acrylic paints. I then went to my hardware store and explained what I had done and asked what the best clear coat would be to complete the job. I was told to use minwax spar urethane. This, the nice man explained, would be very hard as he had experience using it all over everything in a cabin he owned. So I did just that...came home and gave everything a nice shiny clear coat and went to bed. Now I have used urethane as a clear coat on furniture and it hardens up quite nicely. Not the case on these floors. When I got up I noted that the floors had developed some staining and the finish seemed soft. I looked up urethane on the internet and was surprised to find that it is not appropriate for floors. I called my hardware store and asked why I was advised to use a product that is not appropriate and also asked what to put on top of this to give me a nice hard clear coat. The hardware store owner said he needed to call Minwax and would get back to me. When he did not get back to me, I called them myself and was informed that there was NOTHING that could be done for my problem. Nothing. The man basically said that urethane is a soft substance and will be gouged by a heel or chair leg easily. So I called the hardware store back and asked the owner what I was supposed to do. He seemed very nervous but finally told me, after talking to the minwax rep himself, that I was to lightly sand the surface and then apply a polyurethane coating. This I have done. To be quite honest with you... it is just as soft as the urethane coating and my fingernail can easily pull it and the latex paint beneath it up. I realize now that I probably did not prepare the wood floors sufficiently prior to starting this task. Assuming that it would work based on the spatter I could not remove was not super bright I admit.
So now I have beautifully painted floors but the surface easily comes up with a scrape of a light weight chair.
I am of course hoping that one of you might possibly come up with some amazingly hard product that will create a wonderful hard surface to protect my painting. Nowhere else on the internet does such information exist to be quite honest.
I know that you will probably tell me that what is needed is a good sander and a lot of elbow grease. Remove the stuff and ...add what?
If any of you have any suggestions after you have laughed at my foibles, I would be most grateful.
Thanks in advance!
Karen