refinishing hardwood floors

refinishing hardwood floors

refinishing hardwood floors

Archive for July, 2009

How do I know if I need to refinish or restoring hardwood floors?

Thursday, July 16th, 2009 at 1:07 am  
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Guy asked:

I am in the process of purchasing an older home built around 1950. There are hardwood floors under carpeting that I believe are original, but when looking at the home, I could only check a little of it (couldn’t pull someone else’s carpet up) so I don’t know lot about them.

My question is, how do I know if they have previously been finished? Also, how do I know if I need to do the full blown refinish of the floors with the large floor sanders or just need to refurbish the floors? I have read and heard from different people that doing the floors yourself is difficult – is this true?

And, the room I am thinking of doing is about 225 sq feet – approx how much would it cost for a professional to come out and do a room that size for either refinishing or refurbishing. And, would it be worth it for a professional to do it?

Thank you!

Reply:

Hi if you want to find hoe how much will cost you to refinish your wood floors here is a link to a calculator that will tell you everything that you want to know

http://www.floorsincalifornia.com/lamina…

If youwant to find our what type of finish doyou have i will recomend to check

http://www.floorsincalifornia.com check the resources pageTo find out if you need to refinish your wood floor syou can make this test your self

Finish Condition

Has the finish been worn off or is it just dirty? See if the finish is dull, chipped, scraped or gouged. To test if the finish has worn off, begin in a high-traffic area and pour one to two tablespoons of water onto the floor. If the water soaks in immediately and leaves a darkened spot, the finish is worn and water can damage the wood. If the water soaks in after a few minutes and darkens the wood only slightly, the finish is partially worn. If the water beads on top, the surface is properly sealed. Repeat this test in low- and medium-traffic areas.

good luck!

Linoleum Floor Refinish HELP PLEASE?

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 1:39 am  
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Dan asked:

Is it possible to refinish Linoleum floors?..We spilt paint thinner on some of the floor and it has taken some of the finish off. All we would like to do is anything that will just take the dull spots out or anything that will not involve having to replace the floor. Would “Mop-ANd-Glow” bring the shine back to the dull areas?..or any product that might?..PLEASE HELP

Reply:

We had a similar problem.

I went to Lowe’s and asked about it. They had me get 2 products made by Armstrong:

Once ‘n Done which is a no-rinse floor cleaner and
Shine Keeper which restores the gloss and shine

I used the cleaner followed by the shine and it put the glossy shine back on the floor.

It may be similar to Mop and Glow, but Lowe’s recommended that I use the Armstrong products instead. They are good for wax or non-wax type floors (even though the bottle states for no-wax). They printed off the MSDS sheet for me, too.

Good luck.

Hardwood Floor Refinishing

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 4:49 pm  
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Hardwood Floor Refinishing

For those who adore the hardwood floors in their homes, hardwood floor refinishing comes as a routine task so that the floors will be maintained properly to look new and sparkling. Hardwood floor refinishing can sometimes be a tedious task, which can consume lots of money and time. But this is the price you need to pay to maintain your hardwood floor. While you consider hardwood refinishing, you will be astonished to know that this is a task that you can do yourself without paying professionals high amounts of money to do it for you. But it would be worth to understand that you would need to have time to spend on your refinishing project to make sure that you end up with the effect you wanted to achieve.

Hardwood floor refinishing is definitely a time-consuming project, if you want to do it by yourself. However, it does require you to move out of the home until you complete this task. Also, the coatings for hardwood floor refinishing do not have any strong fumes that may be dangerous for anyone with respiratory problems. But the only thing you will have to remember is not to walk on the floor until the finish is dry. If you forget our advice and jump on to the fresh refinished floor, your completed task will have your footprints all over it, and believe me it would be in more ways than one. There are many books you can buy on refinishing hardwood floors and you can also get many useful resources when you search online.

Now when you have weighed all the possibilities, you can move on to refinishing the floor. For this project you will need some equipments like the heavy-duty sander that you can always rent from your local supplier. When you begin with the hardwood refinishing, you first have to move all the furniture and take up any rugs or mats that you have on the wood floors. If you have some sort of allergy with the dust, you need to wear a dust mask so that you won’t breathe in the dust coming out.

The most important equipment you will need for refinishing is the heavy- duty sander. When you use one, move gently back and forth over the wood floors. Move the sander in a straight line similar with the pattern of the hardwood boards. Try not to go across, if the hardwood has a beveled edge with small grooves. Also do not apply additional pressure in one place that in another. This will help you to avoid taking out the gouges from the floor. When the first finish is sanded off, you have to sweep or vacuum up the dust and give the floor a light washing. This will help you avoid the staining marks if dust is present on the floor. 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. But at the same time will more coats will result in added cost.