How to refinish hardwood floors

Refinishing a hardwood floor is the best way to restore its original beauty and richness. It is hard work to refinish a hardwood floor and although it is a time consuming process, the steps are fairly simple and you can rent the necessary equipment from a rental store. When it comes to refinishing a hardwood floor, you can enjoy the satisfaction of doing it yourself rather than hiring a professional.

You will need the following equipment:

• drum sander
• edger
• sandpaper in coarse, medium and fine grits
• buffer
• wide brooms
• shop vacuum
• putty knife and scraper
• floor wax or polyurethane finish
• wood stain
• brushes, foam or lamb’s wool applicator
• rags
• ear protection, dust masks, safety goggles

To begin, remove everything from the room, sweep the floor clean and check it thoroughly for any carpet staples or exposed nails. Remove carpet staples with pliers and sink nails with a nailset. Walk across the entire floor to check for squeaks, cracks or any other repairs that need to be undertaken before sanding. Sanding hardwood floors is a noisy and dusty job. Ensure you take adequate precautions by wearing ear protection, safety goggles and a dust mask. To prevent dust from leaving the room, place rags or towels under doors and over vents, and hang plastic or damp sheets over doorways.

When you refinish hardwood floors, remove as little of the surface as is absolutely necessary and sand in the direction of the grain. Load the drum sander with a coarse grit sandpaper to remove the finish. Place the machine along the right hand wall with about 2/3 of the length of the floor in front of you. With the drum raised off the floor, start the motor then walk slowly forward at an even pace and ease the drum to the floor. As you near the wall at the end of the pass, gradually raise the drum off the floor. Never let the drum touch the floor when it is not moving. Practice this first with the machine switched off.

Cover the same path you made on the forward cut by pulling the machine backward and easing the drum to the floor as you begin the backward pass. When you reach your original starting point, raise the drum from the floor. Move the machine approximately 3-4 inches to the left and repeat the forward and backward passes, continuing moving to the left after completing each set of passes. When 2/3 of the room has been sanded, turn the machine in the opposite direction and sand the remaining 1/3 in the same manner. Make sure that these sanding passes overlap the first passes by 2-3 feet, so the two areas are blended together. After completing the first cut with the drum sander, use the edger to sand along the baseboards, up to corners, in closets, and any other areas the drum sander did not reach.

Next, repeat the drum sanding using a medium grit sandpaper. Fill any nail holes, blemishes or cracks, then do the final sanding cut with a fine grit sandpaper. Use the buffer with a fine grit sandpaper to improve the blending of the edged and drum sanded areas.

When drum sanding and edging are completed, hand scrape and then hand sand corners around perimeter edges, doors, and other cased openings. Finally, sweep and vacuum the floor and wipe up all of the dust.

Finishing should be done immediately after sanding is completed. For a natural finish, apply a penetrating seal. Otherwise apply your chosen stain using long, even strokes, going with the grain. Ensure the area is well ventilated. Apply the seal/stain according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Once the stain/penetrating sealer has dried completely, apply the finish with a brush or foam/lamb’s wool applicator, using smooth, even strokes. To protect the finish and add the final touch of beauty, apply a coat of good wax and buff to a satin sheen.

Resources:
http://tamalpaishardwoodfloors.com
http://www.nofma.org