Refinishing Hardwood Floor The Easy Way

Refinishing hardwood floor takes time, effort, patience, and the right tools and techniques, but if you want to have really good hardwood floor finishes, then you've got to give all what this task requires. If your hardwood floor is starting to look dull and worn, then you may need to refinish it to get that shinier look again. Refinishing hardwood floor can be a messy project but it is well worth your time, effort, and investment.Especially for exotic hardwood floors, the result may not be what you are expecting if you refinish it without sanding. Thus, before any other steps, you need to sand the floor first. Remove all furniture and rugs from the room before sanding hardwood floors. Check if there are any nails on the floor. If there are, then pound those nails down the surface and pull all tracks and carpet staples because these could rip the sand paper and ruin the sheet. You could either buy or rent a floor sander from the local equipment shop. You can also use traditional drum sanders; however, this equipment is heavy and takes some time before you get used to it. Consider newer orbital sanders for floor refinishing but make sure that the equipment is easy to control. You should also get different grits of sand paper. It is better if you can have 36, 60, 80, and 100 grits. Clip the heaviest grit into the sander and run the equipment over the floor following the wood grain's direction. Pull or push the sander in even and straight strokes. Do not sand across the wood grain. Keep the machine moving while it is turned on because if you gouge even for a little time, you may need to use the sander again with longer strokes to even out the gouged part. Take off the heaviest grit of sand paper from the sander when you've completely sanded the whole floor. Clip a lighter grit of sand paper and start sanding lines and scratches in the floor as many times as possible to remove those flaws. Do this until all the grits of sand paper have been used. When you see that the old finish is completely sanded, you may now proceed to staining the floor. Make sure that the floor is already free from all sawdust. Before staining, do not forget to open the windows of the room you are working in for proper ventilation. Use a rag to apply some stain to the floor's corner to check if that is really the stain color that you want. Wait for the stain to dry up. If it is really the color that you want, then you may continue.Apply the first stain coating to the rest of the flooring. You can use a brush for darker and heavier coats but if you want lighter coats, you can just use a rag. Apply the stain with even and long strokes, going with the wood grain. Wait until the first coating dries up. If needed, apply a second coating or just touch up those light spots. Make sure the floor is already dry before applying the finish. After staining the floor, it's time to apply the finish. Stir the polyurethane finish and shake the mixture until air bubbles are created. Use a roller or a brush to apply the polyurethane, using even and smooth strokes with the wood grain to avoid marks. Allow the wood flooring finish to dry up. It may take 3 hours or more depending on the wood floor finish brand you used. Add the second coating and wait until it completely dries up and your task of refinishing hardwood floor is complete! Refinishing hardwood floor can really be hard but there are a lot of tips to make the task easier. Just do a search for them on the Internet, and before you know it you will be getting something shiny and beautiful down on the floor!