How To Test For Lead Finish On Hardwood Floor

How to test for lead.

How to test for lead finish on hardwood floor.

But as long as the damage is shallow in the coating and not in the wood itself you can renew the hardwood floor by adding a new coat of polyurethane right over the old finish. If the finish dissolves congratulations you ve got a waxed floor. It may be worth your while to test the finish for lead before you begin. Grease based residue like wax or oil soap.

Some hardwood floors installed 1977 or before contained lead in the finishing layer. Test for wax by rubbing an out of the way floorboard with the edge of a coin and looking for telltale wax buildup on the. Test 2 is it shellac. Then figure what alternative methods besides sanding you should use to restore this floor.

Lead was sometimes added to old varnishes so sanding old hardwood floors can be dangerous. Hardwood floor refinishing can help you get rid of those unsightly scratches and marks. If your floor was previously lacquered and you apply an oil finish for example the incompatibility of the finishes may lead to problems like delamination or discoloration. I get a lot of inquiries about how to remove the old back adhesive used before the 1960 s to glue down many tile floors over a nice old hardwood or softwood floors.

Ask for lead test results from the company and do a simple 3m. Having lead in the floors was very regional and installer specific. Even if you screen it aggressively first you are likely to experience crawling the dreaded fish eye or just widespread peeling after the finish is applied. Hardwood floor finishes have varying levels of ease durability even glossiness.

But in the mid 1960 s new urethane products were introduced. The easiest way to test a floor finish is to run your hand along the surface of the floor. Shudder there are two types of products you need to test for to determine if you need to chemically strip the floor before recoating. Ceramic tiles have a high incidence of lead in the glaze.

The mono serra solid hardwood is finished with a polyurethane aluminum oxide uv cured finish which is the most durable finish for hardwood. X research source oiled floors tend to wear faster in heavily trafficked ares and are more easily stained than lacquered floors. We cannot afford real wood floors and are installing whatever we buy. Some areas of north america never had any lead used in the finish at all.

Old hardwood floor finishes were often varnish and possibly shellac. Recently it was time to sand some floors as the wear level was low. This how to refinish wood floors article will show you how to do just that. If nothing happens move on to the next test.

This time apply a small amount of denatured alcohol to the finish and do the same process.