Refinishing hardwood floors is an excellent approach to giving a room a brand-new appearance, whether undertaking a home renovation or simply seeking to jazz up your current residence. Conduct a flood damage assessment. You can restore the varnish’s sheen and remove minor blemishes and flaws with a dull finish or perform a Buffing motion. However, refinishing hardwood is a do-it-yourself project that can be quite cost-effective and tedious, even if your floors require a complete overhaul.
How Hard Is It To Refinish Wood Floors?
The cost per square foot to refinish floors with a professional range is between $3 and $4. An estimate of $8,000 may be required for a 2,000-square-foot dwelling. A 2,000-square-foot residence can be furnished and finished for approximately $700 in less than four days. Are you prepared to begin the undertaking? Stick to these methods to achieve a professional-quality finish when refinishing hardwood floors.
Materials And Tools
- Belt floor sander or drum (rent from a home improvement store)
- Edger sander (rent a home improvement store)
- Small prybar
- Pliers with needle noses
- Tape for painters.
- Sheeting of plastic
- wood filler – either a complete trowel filler or a wood patch
- Knife for spackle
- Respiratory protection and protective eyewear
- To accommodate each sander, 40, 60, 80, and 120-grit sandpaper
- Pole for Sanding
- Sanding screen with a 120-grit
- Vacuum stop
- Cloth tacks
- Alcohol denatured
- Oil-based pigment
- Optionally available stain applicator papers
- Foam roller, smooth
- Urethane polymer
- Pads of 2 fine steel wool
- Rags
Instruction
Here are the step to follow for refinishing the wood floors:
1. Prep The Room
You must remove garbage, window treatments, and furnishings. To avoid dust entering ducts and electrical work, tape vent covers and electrical receptacles with painter’s tape.
Secure doors with plastic sheeting if you are refinishing simply one room. Remove base molding with care using a pry bar. With the exception of the remaining baseboards, the tiny quarter-round can be eliminated.
Tip: As you remove the molding parts, number them with a pencil to ensure you are accurately replacing them.
To extract fasteners or staples, employ needle-nosed pliers. Using nails, secure any loose planks.
2. Patch And Repair
Repair any significant holes or fissures in the flooring using a spackle knife and wood filler. Use a thinner wood filler, a trowel filler that distributes and covers large areas, when dealing with severely damaged floors. Utilize a sizable putty spatula to apply this.
Apply wood repair filler to individual areas if the damage to your feet is minimal. Discontinue the use of the fill. It would be best to eliminate dust and residue from the floor by wiping it down with a damp cloth. Before sanding, allow it to cure completely.
3. Sand The Floor
Buying a drum sander from a home repair retailer is required for this stage. Utilizing a drum sander improperly can result in impairment of your floors and can be challenging to control.
When you rent the apparatus, request a brief guide and explanation. Develop your comfort level by sanding techniques on a sizable sheet of plywood. Proceed at a gradual pace while the motor is operating. While in motion, employ the sander; deactivate it before slowing down. Utilize eye protection and a respirator cover.
Employ the forty-grit sandpaper to begin sanding. Except for leaving a rough surface, this extremely coarse paper will effectively eliminate scuffs, dents, and old finishes. Use three to four-foot sections while following the wood’s grain.
Maintain a gradual, consistent motion across the floor; halting can result in irreversible surface damage. Stack squares together by one board. You can sand about 20 square feet with each piece of sandpaper.
Replace the sandpaper when it appears weathered, and inspect it frequently. Furthermore, routinely empty the dust container attached to the sander. Maintaining its capacity below half will enhance its performance.
Due to the size and weight of the drum sander, you will require an alternative sander to finish the room’s perimeters. Sand down to the wall using the same grain sandpaper on the edge sander. Until the color of the floor is entirely homogeneous, sand with 40-grit sandpaper.
Proceed by utilizing 60-grit, 80-grit, and 120-grit paper on both the drum sander and the edge sander to complete the process over again. All repaired fissures or gaps will be flush with the floor’s surface with each passing round of sanding.
Before proceeding, sweep and vacuum the bottom of the grime. You can achieve the desired professional-grade finish by employing fine-grit paper.
4. Buff The Floor
You can achieve a flawless finish by buffing the surface, eliminating minuscule sanding marks. Others prefer to use the pole sander depicted here as an alternative to renting an industrial floor buffer for this step.
Although it requires slightly more time, a pole sander is more affordable and user-friendly than a buffer. Move back and forth with the grain of each board as you burnish the floor using a 120-grit sanding screen.
5. Prep For Sealer Or Stain
Ensure that the floor and room are entirely spotless at this juncture. A finish will be compromised by sediment, hair, and other minute particles. You can avoid dust accumulation on the floor during the curing process of a finish by wiping the walls.
Remove any remaining debris with an adhesive tack cloth after thoroughly vacuuming the floor with a shop vacuum equipped with a brush head.
Apply the stain to the timber in an even manner by utilizing a method known as “water popping.” Combine denatured alcohol and water in a solution proportional to one part each.
Utilize a pump sprayer to coat the floor with the solution thoroughly. Employ a rag or mop to disseminate the solution uniformly across the floor. The result is that the wood pores become more receptive to the stain. Thirty minutes should pass while the floor dries.
6. Apply The Stain (Optional)
Now, you can apply stain or sealer to the exposed floor. To alter the wood’s color, an application of paint is recommended. Select the color of your choosing from the oil-based stains.
Don a respirator cover and ensure that the area is adequately ventilated. Stains and other finishing products emit hazardous vapors. Employ a staining sponge or lambswool applicator. Making incisions around the floor’s margins will be optional, as you eliminate the molding in the initial stage.
Wipe any excess liquid by dipping a sponge or cloth into the stain. To avoid stepping on the newly stained area, proceed from the far corner of the room to the door. Three to four feet sections should be dyed in the same orientation as the grain.
Maintain a clean floor free of stain accumulation. Preceding the subsequent area, remove any residual stain from the floor. Prevent the margins from becoming dry. With your sponge, merge the lines where each section intersects with particular emphasis.
Allow the floor to dry entirely (typically for a minimum of 24 hours) after each section has been stained. Achieving the intended hue might necessitate the application of an additional coat using the identical technique.
7. Escape The Floor
Apply a sealant to the floor once the stain has dried or if you choose not to use color. In addition to waterproofing, ding, and abrasion protection, sealing enhances the wood’s aesthetic appeal by imparting luster and shine.
Polyurethane sealer is likely the most well-known wooden sealant available in water- and oil-based formulations. It provides exceptional protection against water and scratches and requires little maintenance because polyurethane is applied on top of the hardwood.
It is available in glossier and matteder varieties. When working with oil-based polyurethane, ensure that the area is adequately ventilated and that you are donning a respirator mask.
Assemble the floor devoid of hair and grime using the tack cloth and vacuum. Afterward, utilize a smooth sponge applicator to apply the polyurethane. The room’s perimeter may require the application of a paintbrush. Using the wood’s grain, proceed in tiny sections.
Several coatings are necessary for polyurethane. Sand the floor in between coats, after which the product should have dried completely. Using a #2 fine steel wool pad, this can be achieved manually or with a buffering machine. Generally, additional coatings provide more excellent protection.
Proceed from the far corner toward the door to avoid becoming “trapped” in the chamber. Before walking on the floor, allow the sealant to cure for 24 hours altogether.
Additionally, avoid replacing rugs or furniture for a minimum of 72 hours. Proper drying time will ensure that floors are both aesthetically pleasing and long-lasting.
While also being a rewarding endeavor, refinishing wood floors can be difficult. Timing and attention to detail are required when sanding, staining, and sealing. The effort and time needed to restore immaculate floors are well worth it. The task can be effectively executed and maintained with the help of expert guidance or comprehensive investigation.
Thank you for reading……