Removing Wax From Wood
QUESTION: We are living in a home built in 1934. The floors have always been cleaned and waxed using an electric polisher. However, wax buildup makes the floors look like they need to be cleaned. What solvent is safe to remove wax buildup?
ANSWER: Paint thinner--also known as mineral spirits--is sometimes used to remove wax buildup from floors. It’s flammable, so it must be used with care.
Open windows and doors to keep the area well ventilated when using it. Also, you should wear rubber gloves and a respirator equipped with filter cartridges for organic vapors.
Paint thinner, the respirator and gloves are all available at hardware stores, paint stores and home centers.
For more information about cleaning wood floors, contact the Oak Flooring Institute, P.O. Box 3009, Memphis, TN 38173-0009, and request a copy of the “Wood Floor Care Guide.” This brochure is free, but you must send a self-addressed No. 10 envelope with first-class postage.
Taking Care of That Squeak Floor Sound
Q: I would appreciate your suggestions on stopping squeaks in hardwood floors in second-floor bedrooms. These floors are not accessible from the bottom, unless you tear out ceilings in the kitchen, living room and dining room.
A: Hardwood floors squeak when someone walks over the floor strips and causes them to rub together or rub on a nail. Another source of the noise is the subfloor moving against the floor joists.
You can tell the difference. If the squeak is in one or two strips, it’s likely within the strips. If the floor squeaks when you walk over an area that is 1 or 2 feet wide, it’s probably subfloor movement.
Correcting a squeak caused by movement in the subfloor will require that you reattach the subfloor to the joists. This is best done by exposing the floor joists from below and screwing through the joist into the subfloor, but the resulting mess and repairs to the ceiling makes this unattractive in most situations.
An alternative is to fasten the subfloor to the joists from above. This requires that you drive 2 1/2-inch-long finish nails through the finish floor into the joist. Locating the joists is difficult without a stud finder, and not all of these devices can find a joist through hardwood flooring. One that is designed for this is Zircon’s StudSensor Pro 4.0, a $30 instrument sold in home centers and hardware stores. Contact Zircon, 1580 Dell Ave., Campbell, CA 95008.
Once you locate a joist, bore an angled pilot hole through the hardwood floor, subfloor and into the joist. Set the nail and putty over it.
When the squeak is caused by movement in the floor itself, the Oak Flooring Institute recommends that you squeeze some liquid wax, talcum powder or powdered graphite between adjacent floor strips where the noise occurs.
If that doesn’t work, try driving triangular glazing points between the strips. Angled-face nailing with finish nails may stop the squeak, but it’s not necessary to drive the nail into the joist.
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To submit a question, write Popular Mechanics, Reader Service Bureau, 224 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019. The most interesting questions will be answered in a future column.