Whether you have come across an old wood floor below your carpet or simply require to do refinishing of your hardwood flooring, it is possible to restore the appearance or redeem the beauty of the floor like when it was new.
Do not hurry to get a varnish or sander at the spur of the moment. One floor may need a different color and cure than the next. Select a finish that matches the wood and the suitable finish removal method and products. You can do some preparation before your do refinishing yourself or if you hire wood floor refinishing companies.
Assessing Condition Of Your Floors
Prior to taking any action, you must determine the condition of your wood flooring as well as the finish. You must be aware of the thickness and age of original floor boards, how many times the floor has been subject to sanding and previously applied finishing products. It will help you decide the mode by which the floor should be stripped and finished. Also, take note of problem areas which may need some prior preparation work before you do refinishing of wood floors.
Refinishing the floor is hard work and time consuming. So consider hiring a professional to do the job. But you can do well by doing some preparatory work:
Consider whether anything is stuck to the floor like adhesives or remnants of old flooring. Avoid attacking using sand paper. Do manual removal of old floor covering and use special chemical strippers to get rid of adhesives.
Do you find any nails protruding from the wood boards? Does the wood floor have any cracks? It is good to replace missing boards and to hire a professional to do the job. Cracks can be filled with some wood putty. You can detect nails by running your hand over the floor. The smallest of protrusions can cause problems. You can countersink nails a bit with nail punch and hammer.
Can you detect stains and even dents and scratches? Wood putty may solve some issues but a worse condition may need replacements of the concerned wood board. Deep stains may need through sanding but some traces may remain. Oxalic acid may be tried but while removing stains, it may bleach the wood. To prevent this damage a good finish may be required. Generally it doesn’t work well to cover a stain with new finish as stained areas respond differently than original wood surface.
Consider whether you prefer a drum or orbital sander. The drum sander may be harsh on the floor while orbital sander may be gentler but takes more time. Stock up with extra sand paper, more than your estimation.
Sanding
Sandpaper can be measured by numbers from 20’s (gritty and coarse) to 100’s (much finer). Begin sanding with 20’s or 30’s paper and finish off with 100’s.
Staining
Stick to single coat of stain. In case you try two or three coats, some of the spots may penetrate much more inside floor compared to others. Other problems with making use of two or three coats of stain are that you are required to use a stain that is oil based, which takes a long time for drying. One must also take care to don rubber gloves lest it damages your nails.
Applying Polyurethane
It is tough to use Poly as it will spring bubbles over any dust or hair, hidden in the floor. Don’t replace furniture till Poly is completely cured. Poly based on water takes around 3 days and poly based on oil takes a week.
If you find the job of refinishing wood floors too arduous, consider hiring wood floor refinishing contractors.
