Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Removed Carpet to Redo Hardwoods

We pulled up the carpet in the house we just bought, and discovered beautiful hardwoods. We had planned to totally sand and refinish the wood, but it looks good so we'd prefer not to do that. We used TSP to clean the wood, and there is still a light pattern left from the carpet pad being pressed down for so many years.

Is there another way to get that off w/o damaging the wood? Will it show thru the polyurethane if we don't clean it off?

I am afraid we've already done something wrong in lightly sanding to get a rough surface to help the new finish adhere. The existing finish must have been very thin, because we sanded through the "high" parts of the wood. We then spot-stained and got a pretty good match that we're happy with. We want to put 2 coats of polyurethane down to protect the floors.

We are wondering if all we need to do at this point is coat with polyurethane?

We tested it in the closet and it seems to be adhering, but we have been having hot, humid weather lately and have to keep the windows open and the A/C off for ventilation purposes.

Should we wait for better weather so the finish doesn't bubble? And is there a brand of polyurethane that's better? Oil or water based?

Thanks in advance for any help/advice you can give!

there is still a light pattern left from the carpet pad being pressed down for so many years.
We're having the same problem. Any solution short of sanding and re-finishing?

Also, it seems that our wood floors have been covered by carpet since the home was built in the 50's. Whatever finish was used to seal the floor has worn away. Is there a way to clean the wood and re-seal it (urethane ? Wax?) without going through the whole sanding process? The wood itself is in good confition - there's no damage that needs to be sanded away. It's just old.

Thanks!

Old finish will need to be sanded off to get down to bare wood so new finish can be applied. Sanding will remove finish damaged by carpet pad. It will restore wood where finish has worn away.

Wax and oil and cleaners containing waxes or oils should not be used on polyurethane finish. You will contaminate the floor and create adhesion problems for new finish.

Temperature and humidity in homes with hardwood floors should be maintained constantly at occupancy levels. This means that HVAC system should be running and doors and windows closed.

There are many posts on this forum that discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of floor finishes. Water-based poly tends not to have the odor problems associated with oil-based.

Go to www.finishingwoodfloors.com for the National Oak Flooring Manufacturer Association's technical manual. You will find info about sanding, types of finishes, as well as maintenance information for your finish. You can also find helpful info on this website at http://doityourself.com/woodfloors/hwffinish.htm

Temperature and humidity will affect drying times of polyurethane. It is important that each coat be thoroughly dry before applying another coat.

After using Minwax over the carpet pad & it looked terrible, we hand sanded the floor & put on a coat of Varathane. Now it looks very nice (good product, self-leveling and not so shiny in the satin kind). But we've used another product on the rest of the floors called Roofers Helper which may have left a film, even after a follow-up w/hardwood floor cleaner, that won't allow the poly to adhere properly. The 2nd floor, which we had used the RH on, is sticky in places. Now what can we do?

And we've used the RH on the rest of the house & are afraid to proceed with the polyurethane.

Any advice would be MUCH appreciated - until these floors are finished we can't really move in to our house!