Refinishing Wood Floors - The Basics 

Are your hardwood floors getting to the point of needing to be refinished? If it hasn't reached that point for you yet, it will. When that time comes, here are some points to keep in mind to make refinishing wood floors much easier.

Before you begin any kind of hardwood floor sanding, take a moment to see if the damage is actually through the polyurethane coating and into the wood. In some cases, you may find that the damage has not penetrated through, making the refinishing process much simpler, and easier.

In that case you can do "screening", which is a process that is done to only remove the polyurethane finish and not get into the wood.

Professional Refinishing

If you do not want to go it on your own, you can have it professionally done. What is the cost? Hardwood floor refinishing will generally run $2.00-$5.00 a square foot in most cases. It's certainly an expense, but you won't need to worry about sanding, applying finish and all the mess in between.

Getting Started

If you'll be refinishing the hardwood yourself there are some things to do beforehand.

• Check to be sure all nails are countersunk. Hitting a nail in the sanding process is disaster.
  
  
• Remove all wax.
  
  
• Sand the floor in stages with the first stage being done with medium grade sandpaper. Follow that up with fine sandpaper

Refinishing

Once you have made sure you have the floor clean and all nails pounded in, you can begin sanding. Be sure to cover all surrounding furniture to prevent dust from settling in. It will get messy!

This is also the time to repair all cracks, scratches or other hardwood floor damage.

Applying Finish

This is the most critical step in the entire process. Before buying any type of finish, be sure you read the flooring manufacturers guidelines for your particular floor.

Regardless of product, I always recommend you apply three coats to the floor. Two is good, but three is best and will last for years to come.

A water-based urethane is very common and dries the fastest of any urethane. Oil modified urethanes will take 8-10 hours to dry compared to the 3 hours of water-based urethanes.

Penetrating stains are also quite common in refinishing wood floors, but are better left to the professionals in most cases. They need to be applied evenly and the fumes can be tough to take at times.

It goes without saying that you want to be sure to allow adequate drying time before walking on the surface. Hardwood refinishing can be done by anyone and done to look nice. The key is preparing the floor and following all manufacturer recommendations.