[Closed] DIY-er-ists: Stripping paint off a wooden floor? How do I do it?

If you're trying to sel it, just get a cheap carpet fitted. Trying to get paint off a floor will be hard work.

Paint stipper plus a lot of elbow grease will get rid of it.

But if your selling the house, I would pony up for some underlay, tracking and a carpet and just throw a cheap beige carpet at the room and get the house sold and let others have the hassle.

For a few hundred quid, you'd probably realise that in return on the final offer on the house, versus knocking a good few pounds off offers for seeing that 'gopping' purple.

Stripping it will be a big job and will probably uncover more work that needs doing. Either paint it a more neutral colour, maybe brown or white, and throw a cheap rug over it or get a fitted beige carpet.

Hmmmm.. interesting ideas here. Was looking for the quickest and cheapest option, which carpet doesn't appear to be (well at least cheapest, anyway). But will bear these thoughts in mind.

The room may also have a damp problem. The existing badly 'fitted' 'carpet' - roughly thrown down in the room by the last tenants - apparently has gone black in places with mold, according to the estate agents who are trying to sell the place.

Not sure it's such a great idea shelling out for a new carpet, which will likely go black again, as the house is completely unoccupied now.

I'm really selling this to you lot now, aren't I? Only 30 mins cycle ride from Nant yr Arian though.. sweet. 😆

If the house is unoccupied, condensation type mould shouldn't be an issue, at least not in the timescale and season we're going into.

Was looking for the quickest and cheapest option, which carpet doesn't appear to be (well at least cheapest, anyway)

Floor & edging sander.
Knock ALL the nails into the boards.
First run go across the boards with a heavy grade sanding belt.Then follow the boards with lighter grades. Hoover up copious amounts of dust from every where.
White spirit boards - varnish - wire wool boards - hoover again - varnish and repeat until it looks pretty.
Three coats of varnish - two days work with no problems imo.

Or
Paint it white. 3 coats. 😀

Personally, I'd spray it with brake cleaner and set fire to it.

Stripping it will cause a mountain of dust all over the house (unless you seal the room very very well).

If you don't want to shell out for carpet (how big is the room as you can get roll ends at very good prices?)...

Painting white is the best idea.

Floor and edge sander hire will not be cheap. A cheap carpet will be compatible I'm price and no work

Okay. Painting. Carpeting. Or setting fire.

I like these options! Should leave more time for MTBing at Nant on Friday... 😀

I guess carpetting might be a goer. Must contact those devilish Carpet Right spawn again.

The damp issue is probably more than condensation. This is West Wales. It's like living in a freezing cold rainforest, but with no trees. The master bedroom has got damp coming in through a wall - that's halfway up the side of the house - and faces the prevailing deluge coming in off the Irish Sea.

First house. Stupid decision. Currently losing tens of thousands of hard-saved savings on it. I would literally been better off entirely spending the deposit on several top-end mountain bikes back in 2012, rather than a house in West Wales. Dumb.

Are you sure the black carpet is mould? Rare (but not impossible) to have mould on the 1st floor.

If there are gaps between the skirting board / floor board (v likely if it's an old house) the carpets can go black at the edges as the droughts bring dust / soot / etc onto the carpets.

I'll have to see when I get there later tonight, but from recollection there is serious a damp patch under the double glazed window in the bedroom upstairs. Paint falls of the wall. Paint it back. It falls off. Probably not too good for the carpet either.

My guess is that the plastic windows in a 100 year old house are preventing prodigious amounts of Welsh damp from rising happily. It sucks basically.

paint a neutral colour and get a cheap rug or 2 from ikea

I would get a ladder and check the gutter above the window as well as the render and sealant around it.
Chances are ,water is penetrating from one or more of those.
Bummer. 🙁

Thanks guys.. Top tips all round! 😀

You could lift the floorboards and turn them over. They won't be painted on the other side and you'll have exactly the right amount.

You could lift the floorboards and turn them over. They won't be painted on the other side and you'll have exactly the right amount.

They won't be in a saleable condition, so would still need sanding, painting or carpeting though.

Pay someone to sand it.

We paid £600 to sand and varnish (extra hard high traffic/commercial stuff) the parquet in our living room, dining room and study (about 35-40sqm). And that's paying London prices (all be it, January and they were short on work).

Not much dust (sander was hooked upto a big industrial vacuum cleaner).

Only thing we had to do was touch up the skirting afterwards.

Just show any viewings around whilst naked. They won't even notice the floor.