How to Refinish Hardwood Floors

Refinishing hardwood floors is an excellent way to make a space feel brand new, whether you're remodeling an old house or simply searching for a method to liven up your current home. You might only need to polish the surface and apply a fresh coat of varnish if there are only a few tiny dings, scratches, and dull spots. However, even if your floors require a total makeover, refinishing hardwood is a highly simple and satisfying DIY project that can help you save a lot of money.

Equipment

• Pry bar
• Hammer
• Eye, hearing, and breathing protection
• Upright drum sander
• Edge sander
• Paint scraper
• Under-radiator sander
• Shop vacuum
• Broom
• Paintbrush and roller
• Brad nailer

Materials

• Plastic sheeting
• Painter's tape
• Clean cloths
• Sanding belts for an upright sander in 40- or 60-grit
• Edge sander sanding pads in 40- or 60-grit
• Wood putty
• Fine-grit sandpaper
• Tack cloths
• Wood stain (optional)
• Topcoat finish (sealer, polyurethane, or varnish)

Remove trim moldings

The base shoe moldings, or perhaps the entire baseboards, should be removed before you start sanding the floor because this will make the task simpler and produce the best results. As a result, the edge sander will be able to go quite near to the walls.

Be careful not to crack the moldings when prying them off. Some homeowners take advantage of this chance to install brand-new moldings, which will enhance the appearance of the newly finished floor.

Cover ducts and doorways

Cover vent ducts and doors with plastic sheeting taped down with painter's tape. As a result, your home won't be filled with sanding dust.

Clean the floor

Clean the floor's surface completely. To completely eliminate all possible dust or dirt, it should be swept or vacuumed. To remove loose particles, a light-damp mopping technique, preferably performed by hand with a cloth rag, may be helpful.

Make any necessary repairs

Look for any sticking nails on the floor and drive them in with a hammer and nail set. When you start sanding, protruding nails will soon destroy sanding belts or pads. Before you start sanding, damaged or missing floorboards should be replaced or repaired.

Sand the floor

On an upright drum sander, install a sanding belt with a 40- or 60-grit size. Sand the entire floor while wearing safety gear (eye, hearing, and breathing), going parallel to the direction of the boards rather than across the wood grain. Sand in a long sequence of passes, with a 2 to 4-inch gap between each pass. Avoid touching the baseboards with the tool as you go as near the walls as you can.

It's important to note how you start and stop the sander. When you switch on the machine, make sure the drum is elevated off the ground. Then, when you start to move with a lengthy forward stroke, lower it back to the ground. Before you put the sander down once you get to the far wall, raise the drum. Failure to use this method may cause dips and serious floor damage.

Sand the corners and edges of the floor

Sand the room's corners and edges using the edge sander and 40-grit sandpaper. You might need to use a paint scraper in corners to get rid of the final traces of the finish.

Examine the floor

After using power equipment to finish sanding the floor, you can use medium-grade sandpaper to finish any remaining areas. This might help in removing any issues that may have developed along the procedure. If gouges are present, they can be filled using wood putty, which can then be sanded with fine-grit sandpaper and thoroughly cleaned with a tack cloth after drying for at least 24 hours.

Clean the floor

The vast majority of the dust produced during the refinishing process will be collected by the vacuum attachments included on most power sanders. However, it's still important to properly sweep or vacuum the space before moving on. After that, clean the walls and floors with a clean cloth.

Stain the wood

Stain the floor using an applicator pad mounted on a pole, beginning in the corner farthest from the door and working in small areas. Using a paintbrush, make cuts along the walls. To avoid lap marks, keep a wet edge and move quickly but carefully. Use the cloths to remove the extra stain.

Follow the manufacturer's instructions for drying the stain. Apply extra coats if the stain isn't dark enough to achieve the desired finish or to cover stains.

Apply a topcoat

Although any topcoat layer is frequently referred to as varnish in a generic sense, there are several options to take into consideration:

A simple sealer is a thin, protective liquid that is applied to hardwood, permeating the material's pores and forming a transparent surface coating on top of it. It gives the least protection and could need to be renewed every six to twelve months depending on traffic use, but it also lets the wood's natural color and texture show out.

The most popular topcoat finish for hardwood floors nowadays is polyurethane. Polyurethane is a transparent, almost plastic-like substance that can be applied with a regular paintbrush and comes in a range of sheens, from matte to glossy. The aim is to cover the wood with a transparent, shielding coating that will protect it from scratches and stains.

Traditional varnish is comparable to polyurethane, but it darkens the wood more dramatically and significantly. This substance's benefit is that it is thinner, making spot repairs easier to perform in the case of future damage.

Replace the moldings

The base shoe or other moldings along the walls must be installed as a final step to hide the edge of the freshly finished flooring. These moldings are simple to secure in place with a Brad nailer.

• Baseboards should be removed when refinishing hardwood floors, but you can keep them in place and shield them from the sander by covering them with foam and taping it in place.
• Between sanding with various grit grades, sweep and vacuum the flooring to remove dust and debris.
• Depending on where the flooring is, you may be able to stay in your home while having them refinished. In order to avoid the fumes, you can choose to leave your home for two days after the floors are finished if they are in the main living area.
• To avoid damaging the freshly refinished floor, place felt pads under the foot of your furniture as you move items back into position.

Approximately $500 per 275 square feet is what you should budget if you decide to DIY your hardwood floors. Between $1,000 and $2,400 is the typical price range. Renting sanding equipment and buying sanding pads, wood stains, brushes, and finishes are all included in the overall price.

If properly cared for, a refinished hardwood floor can last up to ten years. Otherwise, after roughly seven years, you might need to refinish a solid hardwood floor.

Final Word

Resurfacing or refinishing hardwood floors is an excellent way to update the appearance of a room without going through the trouble and expense of removing the existing flooring and installing new flooring. Hardwood floor refinishing requires some work, but it's worthwhile. Hardwood flooring provides a timeless appearance that fits any style and increases the value of your property.