How to refinish hardwood floors?

Answer 1

Hardwood floors are all the rage in modern home design. They warm a room and can make any space look rich and inviting. Over the years, however, hardwood floors can suffer damage such as scratching and fading that can leave the floor looking dirty and old. When this happens, you will need to refinish your flooring to return its original polish and luster.

Before refinishing your floors, you need to find out what kind of wood you have and if it can be refinished. Real hardwood floors come in two distinct varieties. The first kind of flooring is solid hardwood flooring. These floors are made of solid planks of wood which can be refinished many times throughout the year. The other kind of hardwood flooring is called engineered hardwood. Engineered flooring only has a thin layer of wood at the top so it cannot be refinished as often.

Once you’ve determined that you can refinish the flooring, you will need to make sure that all the nail heads are even with the surface of the floor. After that is done, rent a floor sander from a local hardware store and purchase different grits of sand paper that will fit the sander. For sanding a hardwood floor, you will need to buy 36, 60, 80, and 100 grit sandpaper. 36 grit paper is the coarsest and will be used first, while you will finish with 100 grit sandpaper. Start sanding your floors with the 36 grit paper going from one end of the room to the other, making sure not to skip any areas. Once you have gone over the flooring with the coarsest sandpaper, go over it again with the next finest grit. Continue this process until you have gone through 100 grit.

After you have finished sanding the floor, vacuum the area thoroughly and use a damp rag to capture all of the dust. Make sure you clean the surface well or the dust will show through the stain. After the surface has been cleaned, apply wood stain with a rag, going with the grain and starting in one corner of the room and working outward from there. Apply a second coat once the first one has dried.

Finally, you will need to coat your floor with a polyurethane sealer that will help to protect the newly refinished surface. Again, apply the sealer going with the grain of the wood. Once the sealer has dried, you floor should look as good as the day you first installed it.

Answer 2

Remodeling my living room never felt so good. I'm looking for a redwood stain for the finishing of my hardwood floors, is there a website for that?