Refinishing Your Hardwood Floor Yourself

If you can no longer bring the sparkling touch to your loved hardwood floor even after endless washing and polishing it may be the time to consider its refinishing.

While refinishing your hardwood floor is not as hard as you might think the key to its success is preparation. Although hardwood floor refinishing is relatively easy job it can be quite dusty and messy.

If you are not quite sure about your refinishing skills contact us and we will gladly help. If you are a skilled handyman then read on.

Preparing For Hardwood Floor Refinishing

To prepare your house or an apartment for refinishing you should consider the following: remove curtains and blinds, seal off all adjoining openings with plastic, and close doors, then seal them with rolled-up damp towels. These simple precautions will make cleaning up a lot easier the refinishing is done.

Essential Repairs

To achieve the best results, all the repairs that are needed to be done on your hardwood floor should be dealt with before you begin the refinishing. Make sure to inspect the entire floor area - check carefully for cracks, protruding nails and squeaky boards.

Squeaky boards can be fixed by driving a nail, at an angle, into the joist below. This will draw the boards down tightly onto the joist while angling the nail will prevent the board from riding up again.

Boards that are badly split will need to be replaced. Firstly, drill into the broken section, and then cut out with a jigsaw. Ideally, the floor-board should be removed and rejoined at the center of the joist to provide the necessary solid support. To insert a replacement board you will need to remove the underside of the tongue, and then pre-drill the board ends to avoid splitting and creating more filling work.

Sanding and Final Preparation

The next step in your preparation for hardwood floor refinishing is to remove the existing finish. However, the idea is not to remove all of it, but rather to cut back only the top layer and produce a clean, scratch-free surface.

For a large floor area, renting a rotary orbital sander makes the job much easier. However, the edges of the floor (adjacent to the skirting boards) are best done with an orbital sander which is much easier to control.

For tight and little corners (such as around the base of architraves) a mouse sander is the most effective tool. When you are done with sanding all the dust must be removed completely. Do this by vacuuming and then washing down the entire surface with mineral turpentine.

Lastly, Applying the Finish

Before applying the new finish it is a good idea to check that it is compatible with the existing one. Determining what finish you have is not always easy. If you applied the original finish yourself it is OK, but if you don’t know what’s there at the moment you will need to do a small test.

Most floors are finished with an oil-based polyurethane finish. If the new finish is not compatible you will immediately see a bubbling and blistering reaction.

To apply the new finish use a lambs wool mop. With each stroke slightly overlapped you will avoid a "tram-line" effect. Keep coverage as consistent as possible and avoid letting the applicator dry out at the end of each pass.

Keep the room and the flooring area well ventilated during the application and drying process. Read on the manufacturer’s recommended re-coating times, sand lightly and then apply your second and third coats while following the same procedure.

We Can Help

If all went well then you have successfully completed your hardwood floor refinishing. Now, just take extra care not to scratch the flooring when moving your furniture back in.

And of course, if this job seems too complicated to you or if you are not so sure about your skills we will gladly help. To refinish your hardwood flooring feel free to contact us at any time.

In a case that you no longer want a hardwood flooring for whatever reason you should consider the benefits of laminate flooring.

» Tips, Suggestions & Articles Archive «