refinishing hardwood floors

refinishing hardwood floors

refinishing hardwood floors

Archive for February, 2009

Refinish Hardwood Floor

Discusses some way to refinish hardwood floor. Describes the best way to refinish hardwood floor. This way. you do not have to worry about dust ruining the finish.

You have been considering refinishing your hardwood floors. but don’t know where to start. Here is a brief outline of what steps you need to take to clean. repair and refinish your beautiful old hardwood floors. without spending a fortune. These steps will give you a floor that will look like your floor looked when you first installed it.

Even though some say that you should sand your floors before you refinish. this is not necessarily the case. Over time. hardwook floors develop a certain look that actually makes them more attractive than newer floors. and sanding gets rid of that character. By sanding. you also remove some of the surface of the wood. so your hardwood floors would actually become a little thinner. If you sand before you refinish. you have to make sure to remove every particle of the sanding dust. since this dust can ruin the finish if it remains because you will have a light grit on the surface.

There is a better alternative to sanding a hardwood floor. one that is less expensive and easier to do. The character of the floor is maintained. the wood is not thinned down. and the surface is still protected. This is a preferable solution. The first thing you have to do is repair any gauges or cracks in the wood. It may be necessary to replace badly damaged pieces. If so. it is best to find wood that is of the same age. grade and type as your existing floor. Sand the repaired area lightly. and make sure you vacuum thoroughly. Once you have made repairs. you will clean the floor thoroughly with a mild solution of trisodium phosphate if the surface is especially dirty. If not. plain water will do. Do not wet the new wood in this process. Let the floor dry for a day or two and then use wax remover on all of the parts that have not been replaced or repaired. Let the floor sit for another few days. You will now need lacquer thinner. denatured alcohol and a ***** top container that is non-corrosive. Next. you need a good quality oil finish that matches the original color of the wood flooring. chemical proof finishing pads and pan. a floor polishing stick and. last but not least. a floor polishing machine fitted with steel wool pads. Mix the lacquer thinner with the denatured alcohol in a half to half mixture in the corrosive proof container and pour it into the corrosive proof pan. Doing one small part of the floor Cialis at time. treat the floor with the solution and then stain it with the oil. Let it dry thoroughly for two to three days. You can know seal the floor with a polyurethane finish. This is the best choice for good protection. especially if you apply three coats. At the end of this process. you will end up with a hardwood floor that looks like the one you originally had.

Need advise on finishing hardwood floor?

Manuel asked:

floor is sanded ready to finish. been convinced by drugstore others using shellac instead of stain is way to go . shellac though not more durable then stain &poly. its very forgiving easily fixed and has a deeper finish color. can i apply a tung oil first though, to bring up &out the grain look.? also what type grade sand paper is used to rough sand between 2 or 3 coats i,m planning. its possible i will stain &poly. if someone can give me any convincing reasons. i appreciate any thoughts on this matter. room to be finished , a den used only lightly by myself.

Reply:

I have been working with wood for 47 years and have a wood working shop in my basement, use shellac on a lot of things but, not on a floor, especially one that I’m going to walk on. Shellac is for looking at, as far as I’m concerned. I don’t know what others think, I’ve never used it on floors, not with what’s on the market today and, a new product just came out that I’m anxious to try.

Your floor is sanded down, good, make sure, go over it with your clean, dry hands. Carefully. As one said, you can over-stain. I wouldn’t get a stain exactly the color I want but, maybe the color lighter, then I could go one more if needed. I’m chicken in these areas.

Why would you finish a floor with a shellac with the intention of redoing it later, you’d think you’d want to do it once and finish it, get it ?

What type of wood is it, how old is it, what’s the condition, have you filled it. etc, etc.? lot’s of questions. Let’s say they’ve all been asked.

Then stain the floor and wipe it dry, let it dry and wipe it again. Ace has a wonderful water based Poly that I’ve used many times, it’s $44.00 a gallon and one gallon will go the 200 sq. do not use a sponge, use a good brush. It leaves a good sheen and has lasted two years on the last job and looks like it will go another two at least. They have kids.

I have never used Tung Oil before or after staining, it was never necessary. If you need to, 220 sand paper after one coat of stain but nothing after poly, you’ll ruin it. Good luck.

The new stuff is also at Ace, it’s a two part resin and it’s $98.00 a gallon. Is a cermic high shine. Seen on garage floors, can put glitter in it.

How to refinish wood flooring?

Leslie asked:

I woul like to keep the wood floring at home but needs to be refinish.

Reply:

scrape the top layer using sander or emmery sheets and remove dirt and foriegn materials in the floor after which use vaccume to ensure even fine dust is taken out then either spray or brush silicone from dowcorning or ge it where can i buy prescription drugs without a prescription will be good