Wood Floor Refinishing Tips

Do you have old wood floors in your home that are scratched or the finish is worn out? You can in many cases make those old floors magnificent again! This is often a repair that can be done by a handy non-professional. You may want to consider hiring a professional, however, if your wood needs more than basic refinishing. Are there areas that need major repair? Termite damage or bleach stains? It is possible to hire an expert to fix just those problems and then refinish your wood floor yourself.

The first of our wood floor refinishing tips is to make sure you have everything you need before you begin the job. Nothing kills the feeling of accomplishment on a home repair like having to stop six times to run to the home center for something. Here's a basic list of what you'll need:

1. A large, wide push broom (for the main floor)
2. A regular upright straw broom (for corners)
3. A shop vacuum
4. Several dust masks
5. Plastic sheeting to block doorways and keep sawdust out of other rooms/areas
6. Ten to fifteen rags
7. Paint thinner, small can
8. Workman's gloves
9. A floor sander and edger if necessary (Orbital sander preferred, drum sanders are hard to control)
10. Sandpaper that fits the rental sander (Grits 36, 60, 80, and 100). Ask if they take back unused sandpaper!
11. Wood Stain
12. Brushes
13. Rollers with handle that's long enough to prevent bending over
14. A finish of either floor wax (less refinishing/more upkeep) or polyurethane (most popular)

Ask an employee at the place where you are renting the sanders how much sandpaper, stain, and finish you'll need. You will, of course, have to know how many square feet of wood floor you are refinishing and approximately how much wood you'll be removing. If they can't answer your question, you may want to consider doing business with someone else. You may need expert advice half way through the job!

Once you have all of the supplies that will be needed, the next step is to clear everything out of the room or area where you'll be refinishing your wood floor. Remember that there will be sawdust in the air so you might even want to remove pictures, mirrors, and other items from the walls. It typically pays to cover the openings to adjacent rooms with plastic sheeting in order to confine the dust to the area where you'll be working.

Now you're ready for our actual wood floor refinishing tips! You will certainly want to get the floor ready for sanding by removing any carpeting, removing carpet tacks and strips, and making sure that anything sticking out of the floor (like nails or staples) are either pulled out or pounded down below the point where you intend to sand. Otherwise, you will rip up the expensive sandpaper!

Insert the coarsest grit of sandpaper onto your orbital sander. The lower the grit number is, the more coarse the sandpaper. So if you bought grits–—36, 60, 80, 100 as recommended above, you start with #36. Always move the sander in the same direction as the grain in the wood. Never sand against the grain when refinishing a wood floor. Pushing and pulling tends to work better than swinging the sander from side to side. Keep the sander moving. If you concentrate too long in one area, your floor may end out concave in areas. If you do accidentally put a gouge in your wood floor, use long strokes of the sander until it eventually evens out. And don't forget to use those filter masks! Your lungs are worth more than a new floor!

Once any big nicks or gouges have been removed and your wood floor looks reasonably even, vacuum up all of the sawdust and change to the next size sandpaper (#60). This time will require much less sanding. You are simply making the floor a bit smoother rather than removing imperfections in the floor.

Then vacuum again and change to #80 sandpaper ... vacuum and change to #100 sandpaper ... and the sanding of the main floor is complete!

If the orbital sander you rented didn't refinish the floor's surface all of the way to the edge of the floor, you now have to follow the identical sanding procedure with your edge sander. Start with #36, vacuum, change to #6, vacuum, etc. The final vacuuming is very important as you want a perfectly clean surface before you apply a stain or a clear finish. You should also use a rag after vacuuming that is first soaked with water, wrung as dry as possible, and then soaked with paint thinner and wrung until wet but not dripping.

Before you begin actually applying a finish to your wood floor, there are two additional things to consider. Floor finishes create hazardous fumes so you need to open window and doors if necessary to get adequate ventilation. You also have to consider whether you want to stain your floor or you want to maintain a more natural look. In both cases you will still have to apply a finish coat.

If you decide to stain your wood floor, first try a small area in an unseen corner of a closet or in the most unseen location possible. Stain dries to its final hue in less than 15 minutes so you'll be sure that you like the finished product. Once your happy with the stain finish, use a brush to apply a first coat if you want a darker finish or with a rag if you want a lighter finish. If you use a brush you should still go over it with a rag to just smooth everything out and avoid dark and light spots. Whether using a rag or brush, be sure to apply the stain in long strokes with the grain. Never apply stain or final finishes against the grain!

You may have to apply a second coat of stain to achieve the look you want for your wood floor. Sometimes you only need to touch up the lighter spots. Of course, you should let the first coat dry completely before applying the second coat.

Whether your wood floor refinishing included applying a stain or you just want a natural look, you still have to apply a finish coat of floor wax or clear polyurethane. Be sure to stir, not shake, the polyurethane as shaking it will create bubbles that will dry in place on your floor! Again, only apply your finish "with" the grain. If you feel that the floor needs a second coat, wait at least 3 hours before applying it and be gentle walking on the floor. Polyurethane dries very slowly so you will have to wait at least 10 hours and as long as 72 hours before allowing normal "traffic" on the floor or moving rugs and furniture back into the room or area after the final coat.

Refinishing your wood floor is a lot of work but if you have a decent foundation with no wood rot or other major problems, wood floor refinishing is a relatively cheap way to add a beautiful detail to your home that is easy to maintain!

Thank you for visiting our "Wood Floor Refinishing Tips" page!