refinishing hardwood floors

refinishing hardwood floors

refinishing hardwood floors

Archive for February, 2009

The How-To’s Of Hardwood Refinishing

Many of the old houses employ hardwood flooring. The use of hardwood for floors was popularized in the circa 1960s. Today, there is a resurgence of hardwood floors because people find these floors to be very relaxing to the eye. Hardwood floors are very attractive because of their natural look.

For people who purchased an old house with withered hardwood flooring, they would probably want to look into refinishing the flooring. Carpets cannot hide the hideous truth forever, and at some point, these homeowners need to refinish the flooring. A bad hardwood floor can literally ruin the whole theme of the house therefore lowering its value.

Hardwood refinishing is a great idea. Yes, it is a great idea indeed and that is why professional refinishers of hardwood floors charge exorbitant fees to their clients. These clients can’t do anything but to succumb to the demands of the contractors because they don’t have the know-how of proper hardwood refinishing.

Given the proper know-how and techniques for hardwood refinishing, homeowners can be liberated from the financial burden of paying professional contractors to hardwood refinishing. If one is able-bodied and can follow simple instructions, then there would be no reason at all why he can’t refinish the flooring himself.

Let’s take a look at the pertinent steps that one needs to do to be able to successfully refinish his hardwood flooring.

1) Do the preparatory stuff

Before engaging into sanding the floor or being too excited and buying all the necessary equipment and tools for the refinishing process, one needs to lay down the foundations and do the preparatory steps in the process.

First, one needs to decide what look he would want to give his hardwood floor. There should be a design and color scheme plan that should be laid out before one starts to sand. Knowing what one really wants is as important as doing the process properly. This is to ensure that he knows what he would want to do so that he knows how he can achieve his desired look.

After the plans have been laid out, make sure that all the furniture and other things in the room are taken out and stored properly.

2) Take out the nails

Sanding is perhaps one of the most important steps in the whole process of refinishing a hardwood floor, but don’t get too excited yet. Before sanding, make sure that all the nails in the hardwood. The nails need to be taken out because they will eventually damage the sand paper or the sanding discs and perhaps one’s hands if they are not taken out. The holes that are left by the nails should be filled with wood fillers that are of the same color as that of the wood.

3) Sand, sand, sand!

If the area of the flooring is not too big, then one can actually sand the floor manually (by hand). But if one deems that there is a need to use an electric sander, then he has two options: one is to buy a new one, the other is to rent. One can buy a pretty decent hardwood floor sander for under 100 US dollars. This can be seen as a good investment, but it really depends on how frequently it will be used. One can also choose to rent a sander from the local home depot or borrow from his neighbor.

One should sand the floor at least 3 times. The first should be made with a heavier grit and the grit level goes down each time. This will ensure that the wax and the coating will be removed thoroughly.

4) Stain the floor

Try to get the correct color that you would want to apply to your hardwood floor and test it in a small wood plank that is similar to the wood that is used in the flooring. Make buy prescription drugs online without prescription sure that the stain is applied equally to the floor.

5) Refinish

Refinish with a polyurethane finish. Make sure that the container is stirred and not shaken to prevent bubbles from forming. Apply the solution equally throughout the flooring and wait for it to dry. It usually takes about 3 hours for the solution to dry.

Hardwood refinishing is not an impossible task. One only needs the right materials and the right implementation of his plans to be able to successfully refinish such floors.

Refinishing Hardwood Flooring is something that you can do yourself without paying professionals high amounts of money to do it for you. However, you do need to have time to spend on your refinishing Cialis Online project to make sure that you end up with the effect you want to achieve. Many places that rent equipment have the heavy-duty sander that you need for the refinishing job. To start to refinish hardwood floors, you first have to move all the furniture and take up any rugs or mats that you have on the wood floors. You also need to wear a dust mask so that you won’t breathe in the dust when refinishing hardwood floors.

Older wood floors can be restored to their former glory when you find out how to refinishing hardwood flooring. There are many books you can buy on the subject of refinishing hardwood floors and you can also get valuable information when you search online. You do need to have a heavy- duty sander that you move gently back and forth over the wood floors. It is best to move in a straight line with the pattern of the hardwood boards instead of going across, especially if the hardwood has a bevelled edge with small grooves. You also have to be mindful not to apply more pressure in one place that in another because you could take gouges out of the floor.

Once you have the initial finish sanded off, you have to sweep or vacuum up the dust and give the floor a light washing. This is an important part of refinishing hardwood floors because the least little bit of dust and dirt will show up when you apply the stain and finish. In the information you have about how to refinish wood floors, you will find out that you should only use a damp mop to wash up the floor. Excess water, especially on the sanded hardwood, will cause stains in the floor.

When you dry the floor, then you are ready for the next stage of refinishing hardwood flooring. You can choose to stain the wood floor in different colors suited to the type of wood. You may want to leave the wood in its natural color, but when you read about how to refinish hardwood floors, you will also learn about the need for a protective coating. The polyurethane coating adds protection to the floor. You can choose a coating that will give you a gleaming floor or one that has a low lustre. When refinishing wood floors, it is essential that the first coat is dry before you apply another coat. The more coats you put on, the shinier your floors will be.

Refinishing wood floors is a time-consuming project. However, it does not mean that you have to move out of the home until you complete the refinishing. The coatings for refinishing hardwood flooring do not have any strong fumes that may be dangerous for anyone with respiratory problems. The only thing you have to remember is not to walk on the floor until the finish is dry. If you do, your refinishing project will have your footprints all over it – in more ways than one.

When Should I Refinish Hardwood Flooring?

When Should I Refinish Hardwood Flooring?

Condition of the underlying wood and the finish that protects it. Are there signs of neglect to erase, or do you see a well-tended surface that needs just a light clean and polish to maintain it?

If the answer is no, then consider refinishing you floor.

Keeping your newly installed hardwood floor clean is not as easy as you might have heard some “pros” say. First of all, if you want to be professional about it, you’ll have bought some chemical cleaning solutions, which are pretty expensive and probably caused quite a hole in your pocket.

Using vinegar is a much cheaper alternative to clean hardwood floors is indeed possible and it can be quite effective too. In the short run, it’s probably the most efficient of options, because it’s cheap and it works. But in the long run, when you clean hardwood floors with vinegar, you slowly damage the floor’s finish, and just like all these refinish hardwood flooring becomes essential to the continued use of that flooring.

Do vacuum your floor frequently as sweeping cannot always clean up your floor thoroughly. For example, in the gaps between planks, the dust and dirt that has gathered up can only be picked up by a vacuum, not a brush.

Don’t leave water or any other water-based solution to dry up on the floor. This will cause it to expand and degrade over time.

I have heard a lot of people comment that hardwood floors are the best. This may be true, that is, for most residences. This is due to their durability, which has been tested by time. There are a lot of homes which are inlaid with hardwood flooring for a long time already. However, they have been able to maintain the fabulous look of the floor. Even if you need to have it refinished once in a while, hardwood will always be leading the competition between flooring products.

There is nothing like the look of a freshly drugs without a prescription installed hardwood floor, and while wood floors can last forever, you\’ll still need to refinish them from time to time. Most floors can be refinished every 3-4 years, pet owners and those with high traffic floors may want to consider taking on the project on a more frequent basis. Fortunately, its just a matter of sanding and applying a finishing product to bring your floors back to life.

Hardwood floors can be a beautiful asset to your home. They lend a sense of elegance to any room. Just like anything else, however, your hardwood floors require maintenance, and there will come a time when you should consider refinishing hardwood floors. Luckily, refinish hardwood flooring is not impossibly difficult. With a bit of effort and patience, your floors will be good as new again.

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