I have a client that owns an apartment conplex building with long hallways of wood flooring. Sooner or later he will need that shined up. I maintenance his building and use pledge hardwood floor shiner every 2 weeks or so. I just apply it with one of those wiffers or whatever they are called. Anyhow I am thinking about making him a proposal to buff his floors with the challenger. The floors are a little dull looking. Anyone have any suggestions as to how to clean these floors and buff them shiny really nice with the challenger? If there is a certain process to do this I really would appreciate hearing about it. Is the challenger up to this type of work? If so, what pads to use to buff these floors? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much...............Sam
While it is certainly possible to clean these floors with your Challenger, I'm not sure what you mean by buffing them up. In days of old, a paste wax was often the sealant of choice for wood floors. It could be buffed into a nice shine until it wore away, at which time you simply applied more, buffed it up, etc. Polyurethanes, and the types of acrylic finishes that you have been applying, don't buff like paste wax. They are what they are. You certainly could first clean these floors (Challenger's Double Pads would be better than their thinner ones); then, with either a maroon pad, or a fine grit (around 150) sanding screen, you would next etch the very top finish of the floor; then apply a fresh coat of polyurethane. Water-based urethane will be dry enough for walking on within a couple of hours; an oil-based product will require overnight drying. 24 hours is best with oil. You have probably been simply covering up dirt in many layers as you have been applying your finish product up to now, so these floors would look their best with a complete sanding. Don't try to do this with a Challenger. It will take too long, and there is no way to capture the dust. Locate a wood floor refinishing professional who has invested in so-called "dustless sanding" equipment for this type of a job.
The laminator-type of floor coating products that I have looked at are not of the same quality as the polyurethanes
normally associated with wood floor refinishing, whether in the area of full sanding or recoating. Where a poly is intended to provide a durable finish for several years, laminator products normally state (in small print) that they are intended to last up to 6 or 12 months. There is a store-available product called Quick Shine that is comparable to the laminator products. (www.hollowayhouse.net)
