I recently started redoing my hardwood floors. They are white oak. The
floors have had carpet on them for approx 30 years and were stuck down
with a lot of glue. I have tried some things but was wondering what
was the best thing to use and also the proper technique to finish them
once i get this glue off?

Hello sbalk-ga

Thank-you for your question.

There are a number of different solvents you can try to remove old
glue residue from floorboards.  The main ones I would try are:

* Rubbing Alcohol
* Denatured Alcohol
* Mineral Spirits
* Goof-Off
* Automotive Brake Cleaner
* WD-40
* Acetone
* Lacquer Thinner
* Carburetor Cleaner

Bruce W. Maki, Editor of HammerZone.com has also provided an excellent
answer at this source:
http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/letters/flooring/glue_remove.htm

He also describes the above solvents and their usage here:
http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/tips/maint/cleaning/solvents.htm

The technique for finishing the floorboards is a multi-step one and
one that is both time consuming and still labor intensive (even though
you use power tools!).

Rather than duplicate the techniques here I will point you to a number
of excellent online tutorials that can guide you better through the
process (with the aid of diagrams and photographs - something that is
difficult for us to do here at Google Answers).

http://www.easy2.com/cm/easy/diy_ht_index.asp?page_id=35694049
http://www.grandrental.com/tip_detail.asp?id=31&sec_id=Homeowner
http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/article023.htm
http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/flooring/hardwood/sanding/drum.htm

Other useful pages:
http://doityourself.com/woodfloors/patchdamagwoodfloors.htm
http://www.woodenflooringsales.com/woodfloorsanding/restoration.php
http://doityourself.com/woodfloors/restorefloorshine.htm

My main tips in doing this would be to take your time doing the
preparation steps, no matter how far you think you've hit those nails
down one nearly always pops back up to rip the sandpaper in the
sander!  Also the use of a smaller sander is essential to really get
into those corners and to get a good finish.

If you require any further assistance on this subject please ask for
clarification and I will do my best to respond swiftly.

I really appreciate your help on this. I just wanted i was headed in
the right direction. Thanks so much again.

We refinished our floors last year. Fortunately they have never had
carpet on them. The house is quite old, circa 1919. All the floors are
oak. I don't know if they are white oak. The floors had last been
refinished in 1984 and had been stained at that time. We rented an
orbital floor sander and used three grades of sanding paper. I don't
recall the exact numbers, but I think they were, in order of use, 15#,
30# and 60#. Each 12' x 12' room took about 2 hours to sand. (Be sure
to use the proper breathing, ear and eye protection.) The amount of
dust generated is amazing. You will want to close the door, air vents
and seal the door with tape. Opening a window to the outside is an
excellent idea. After removing all of the dust we cleaned the floor
with mineral spirit using a clean cloth. We decided not to stain the
wood and just sealed the floor with a polyurethane varnish. The look
is beautiful.

One final word of wisdom, buy some knee pads.

Good luck.