For most homeowners,
refinishing a scratched and scuffed wood floor can
be a messy and time consuming job. With average
woodworking skills, the right equipment and a little
patience, you can obtain professional results for a
fraction of the cost professionals would charge.
Determine if the floor needs to be refinished by
first observing any peeling, cracking or bleaching.
If deep scratches, burns or stains have penetrated
the finish, you probably need to sand and refinish
the floor.
Make arrangements for the proper equipment at your
local equipment rental store. Even with the best
equipment, damage can occur if you are not very
careful.
The first step in restoring a hardwood floor is to
remove all the furnishings from the room. The fine
dust created from sanding the floor will cover
everything. Remove draperies and seal off cabinet
doors and cupboards with masking tape, newspaper or
plastic sheeting. Close the door to the room before
beginning sanding and open all windows.
Next, perform all needed repairs to the floor. Now
that all the furnishings have been removed, you can
see any badly split or warped boards that have to be
replaced.
Also, pull or remove any protruding nails, pull out
old carpet staples, nail down loose or squeaky
boards and finally, fill all nail holes or remaining
cracks with wood filler and let dry for the
recommended length of time.
Remove as much base molding from around the floor as
possible. This will give you better access to the
edges and will keep the moldings from being damaged
by the sanding equipment.
Rent two different sanders: a drum sander and a disc
sander, sometimes called an edger. You'll also need
a hand-held scraper, a portable electric finishing
sander and three grades of sandpaper: coarse, medium
and fine.
Start with the drum sander loaded with coarse
sandpaper. Before starting the machine, tip it back
so the drum is not in contact with the floor. After
it starts, move forward while lowering the drum
gradually until it touches the floor. Keep moving
while the machine is sanding even a short pause can
leave a gouge in the floor.
Start sanding at one end of the room and work toward
the other. You don't have to push the machine
forward, because when the drum hits the floor it
will move forward on its own. Keeping a firm grip on
the handle, sand the floor slowly and ease-up at the
end of each run. Overlap runs a few inches to make
certain you didn't miss any floor area along the
way. Go over the entire floor again with medium grit
sand paper and one more time with fine grit sand
paper.
For strip flooring, always sand with the grain. With
parquet flooring, the first pass should be at a 45
degree angle to the length of the room. The second
pass is at a 45 degree angle from the opposite
corner of the room in an "X" pattern. The final pass
should be along the length of the room.
After you have sanded the entire floor, switch to
the disc sander. Load the disc sander with coarse
paper and sand those areas that you couldn't reach
with the drum sander. However, even the disc sander
won't be able to reach into corners. Leave those
areas until all the sanding is done and then scrape
them smooth and even with the rest of the floor
using a hand scraper and sand paper.
After the floor has been sanded with coarse paper
using the disc sander, repeat the procedure using
medium and then fine paper.
Use a portable electric sander to remove any cross
grain sanding marks left from the disc sander. Use
the scraper and the sanders to touch up any
remaining areas. Finally, vacuum the floor to remove
dust and then wipe it down with a tack cloth.
Floor finishes can then be applied after the floor
is clear of any remaining dust. If you want a change
of color, you can use either water-based or
petroleum-based stains. Just pick a color you like,
then try it on an inconspicuous part of the floor to
see if the finished color meets with your approval.
The floor finishes that cover the stain fall into
two broad categories: penetrating finishes and
surface coatings. Penetrating finishes, such as tung
oil types or penetrating floor sealers, soak into
the pores of the wood and bond with the fibers to
seal, harden and protect the surface.
Penetrating sealer can be applied with a rag, brush,
squeegee or lamb's wool applicator. Once the first
coat is applied and dry, a light sanding is need
before the application of a second coat.
Polyurethane is the most popular of the surface
finishes. It can be applied with a lambs wool
applicator or a wide brush in two to three coats
with light sanding between each application.
Contact our Home Improvement Specialist today to help you with your home improvement needs.
