How Hardwood Floor Refinishing Works

Hardwood floor refinishing is one of the best ways to protect your flooring for the long term. Each day, people walk across it. They bring in gravel and debris from the outdoors. This scratches the surface. Your pet's nails create small, almost undetectable scratches in the flooring. The wear and tear can really cause dullness and over time can lead to exposure of the wood. When this happens, the flooring can damage, stain or even wear away. To preserve it, consider how you will refinish the floors in your home.

Steps You'll Need to Protect the Floor

There are numerous steps to the process of protecting these floors. Your specific type of wood or conditions of the current surface will play a role in whether or not you need to do this work. In most situations, the following steps are critical to protecting the flooring from additional damage.

- During the initial preparation, it is necessary to ensure all areas of the room are cleaned out and protected from the sanding process. You will want to ensure nothing hard is on the surface either.

- Sanding requires a fine sandpaper to go over every inch of the top layer of the wood. Using a professional sander is usually necessary. This process removes any layer of damaged wood as well as any finish on the surface. By sanding it, you will get a fine, smooth surface.

- The next step is buffing it. This process removes any scratches from the surface. It also helps to ensure the adherence of the finish to the wood. You will need to buff between each application of the finish coats.

- The application of polyurethane is next. This process adds a layer of protection to the surface of the wood. Multiple types are available, but the best options are those that are most durable.

- Finally, the staining occurs. This is when you can add any type of color to the surface. You do not have to do this, but doing so allows for a more consistent look in most cases.

Hardwood floor refinishing is a task best left to the experts. If you have not done this before and plan to do so now, be sure you practice on hidden areas of the floor first. The goal is often to create a great looking, protected surface to the floor. This is difficult to do without trained hands, though.

A professional service offering hardwood floor refinishing can help ensure your floors look great from the start. They will also work with you to ensure the floors have the right protectant on them so that scuffs and pets do not damage the underlying wood. Doing this is critical to protecting your home's valuable assets.