Refinishing your hardwood flooring will guarantee they stand up to the check of time, defending them from any put on and tear your loved ones throws at them. In the event you’ve been placing this venture off as a result of price ticket, it’s best to know that redoing your flooring doesn’t must value you a fortune.
Sanding and refinishing your hardwood flooring as a DIY venture is a time funding, however it’s cheaper than paying an expert. Refinishing your flooring your self can value between $500 and $1,000 relying on sq. footage. You’ll be able to count on to pay an expert $3 to $4 per sq. foot to finish the identical venture.
“Our home is 1,200 sq. ft and it’s just about all hardwood…the quote we acquired was round $4,000 and we spent $600 doing the venture ourselves, so we ended up saving $3,400.”
Professional Tip: When refinishing your hardwood flooring, you could wish to contemplate staying some other place. This venture can take greater than three or 4 days. Throughout some phases of the venture, you will be unable to step on the ground for no less than 24 hours.
The right way to Inform if Your Hardwood Flooring Ought to Be Refinished
Earlier than you begin, decide what sort of flooring you may have and what state it’s in.
To find out what sort of wooden flooring you may have:
- Take away a flooring air vent and take a look at the ends of the flooring.
- In the event you see strong wooden no less than ¾ of an inch thick, you’re good to maneuver ahead.
- In the event you see particular person layers of skinny wooden, that is an engineered flooring. Refinishing engineered wooden will not be a DIY venture and it’s best to rent an expert.
To find out in case your flooring must be refinished:
- Place a couple of drops of water on the ground.
- If the water beads and doesn’t soak up inside a couple of minutes, your flooring are fantastic.
- If the water absorbs instantly or throughout the first minute, it’s time to refinish your flooring.
Supplies and Instruments Wanted for Refinishing Hardwood Flooring
Refinishing a flooring requires a number of instruments you most likely don’t have available. Go to your native ironmongery shop to hire the gear.
Tools to hire:
- Orbital sander or drum sander (an orbital is less complicated for a newbie to manage)
- Energy hand sander
When renting the gear, ask for an illustration and be sure you know precisely find out how to work the machine earlier than taking it out of the shop.
How to refinish hardwood floors, you will want the proper measurement of sandpaper and pads for every machine. What grit of sandpaper do you have to use to sand your hardwood flooring? You will have three totally different ranges of sandpaper to finish this venture.
You’ll use a special grit for each go over the ground. Relying on the state of your flooring, you want:
- 30 to 40 grit sandpaper in your first go.
- 50 to 60 grit sandpaper in your second go.
- 80 to 100 grit sandpaper in your third go.
Further Supplies Wanted for Refinishing Hardwood Flooring:
| To Put on: | Mud masks | Goggles |
| Earplugs | ||
| To Prep the Room: | Plastic sheeting | Painters tape |
| Hardwood flooring cleaner | Putty knife | |
| Cotton rags | Wooden filler | |
| Nail set | Store vacuum | |
| Mineral spirits | Sanding display screen, 120 grit | |
| To Apply End: | Polyurethane flooring end | Paintbrush |
| Lamb’s-wool applicator | Paint tray |
In case you are staining the ground additionally, you will want:
- Inside stain
- Paintbrushes
- Extra cotton rags
Prep Your Residence
Earlier than you’re able to refinish your hardwood flooring, you should empty the room and completely clear the flooring.
Observe these steps to organize your own home:
- Begin by clearing the room of furnishings, curtains and decorations.
- Take away doorways and shoe molding. Eradicating molding is non-compulsory, however it is going to assist stop harm. In the event you select to take away it, use tape to quantity the items and the coordinating wall so you already know the place every bit belongs.
- Examine the ground for any nails that aren’t flush with the ground. Use the nail set, a small metallic instrument used for driving nails under the floor of hardwood, to make sure no nail heads are sticking up. Nails not flush with the ground will tear the sandpaper and gradual your progress.
- Restore any present harm to the flooring, like holes or scratches, with wooden putty and a putty knife.
- Clear flooring with hardwood flooring cleaner.
- Cowl doorways, vents, home windows and surfaces with plastic sheeting and painters tape. It will stop mud from touring all through your home.
“I might additionally advocate eradicating all baseboards – this step isn’t crucial, however it makes the venture a lot simpler. We’ll be including new molding all through the house, so it completely made sense to trash the prevailing baseboards previous to the ground venture.”
Sarah Gibson | Designer & Blogger, Room for Tuesday
Now you’re prepared to start refinishing your hardwood flooring.
Sand and Refinish Your Hardwood Flooring
Put together your sander by attaching the coarsest grit of sandpaper. Place your sander to go along with the grain of the wooden. In case your flooring is warped, go diagonal with the grain, however by no means go utterly towards the wooden grain. When you’re prepared, observe these steps to sand your hardwood flooring.
Professional tip: Put on a face masks and goggles to guard your self from the mud and earplugs to guard your listening to.
Steps to Sand Your Hardwood Flooring:
- Start transferring the machine ahead as you flip it on. In the event you keep in a single place for too lengthy, you’ll harm the ground.
- Transfer at a gentle, even tempo and let the machine do the work as you observe the grain throughout the room. Don’t push the sander.
- If you get to the opposite aspect of the room, transfer over and pull again barely overlapping the subsequent go a couple of inches with the earlier one, about one floorboard’s width. You don’t want to show the machine round as it may possibly transfer in each instructions with the identical impact.
- Test the sandpaper steadily to ensure it isn’t worn out. Change it because it does put on out, utilizing the identical grit of sandpaper till you’ve coated the entire room as soon as. Additionally, if the sander has a mud accumulating bag, empty it typically so it doesn’t add weight to the machine.
- Cowl the entire room, getting inside a couple of inches of the partitions and corners. After finishing one journey round the entire room, flip off the machine earlier than you cease transferring.
- Apply the identical grit of sandpaper to the hand sander. Use it to complete the sides of the room. Transfer in a semicircular movement, overlapping the finished space to assist it mix in.
- Use the vacuum to scrub the ground earlier than starting the second spherical of sanding.
- Repeat all steps twice extra, altering the grit of the sandpaper every time. Use the 50 to 60-grit for the second go and the 80 to 100-grit for the third go.
After these steps, the ground ought to appear to be clean, untreated wooden. If the ground nonetheless feels tough or traces from the sander are nonetheless seen, buff it utilizing the sanding display screen. This could take away any seen fantastic scratches left by the sander.
After the entire flooring feels clean, clear the room once more. This time use the vacuum and a moist mop to make sure no mud is left behind.
Use a clear cotton rag to wipe the ground with mineral spirits to take away any hint of chemical compounds from the wooden. Then, depart it to dry.
Stain Your Hardwood Flooring to Change the Colour
Staining is an non-compulsory step. In the event you’re on the lookout for a stylish darkish flooring, stain is the way in which to go. If you wish to persist with the pure shade of the wooden, skip this step and transfer on to the polyurethane end. Staining your flooring will add no less than one entire day to your venture time.
After deciding on a shade, attempt it out on a bit of scrap wooden to make sure you prefer it. Then, observe the directions on the can.
Ideas for Staining Your Hardwood Flooring:
- Apply stain with a paintbrush or fabric, going with the grain of the wooden.
- Take away any extra stain with a rag earlier than transferring on.
- Stir your stain each 10 to fifteen minutes.
- Let dry between coats and apply as many coats as wanted to realize ultimate shade.
“We began within the nook of every room and labored our manner towards the door. After a bit is full, it’s tremendous essential to wipe and soak up all extra stain with a clear software pad! I wiped the ground 5 planks at a time. Don’t be fooled by the curler applicator on the house enchancment retailer. We tried utilizing it for one room and it didn’t go properly. You’ll be able to management the staining course of a lot simpler when accomplished by hand! It’s neater, extra even, and takes much less time to dry.”
Sarah Gibson | Designer & Blogger, Room for Tuesday
Apply Ending Coats to Hardwood Flooring
That is the ultimate and most essential step when refinishing your hardwood flooring. This coating seals your flooring and protects them from future harm. In the event you stained your flooring, wait till the stain is totally dry. Subsequent, clear the flooring completely with a vacuum. Any dust, mud or hair on the ground will turn out to be trapped underneath the ending coat.
Polyurethane is available in each water and oil-based sorts. Oil-based will add a heat golden glow to your flooring, however dries slower than the water-based choice. Water-based polyurethane will maintain the pure shade of the wooden and in addition dry sooner. You need to make sure the room is well-ventilated earlier than making use of both one. Put on your facemask throughout this step as properly.
Earlier than beginning, take away any additional fuzz from the lamb’s-wool applicator. Run the vacuum over it after which use painters tape to do away with each final piece.
Steps for Making use of End to Hardwood Flooring
- Start by utilizing a paintbrush on the perimeter of the room. Cowl about 12 inches of the ground from the wall towards the middle of the room. Work within the course of the wooden grain.
- Maintain your brush moist and attempt to keep away from bubbles and drips.
- As soon as the perimeter is full, use the lamb’s-wool applicator to do the remainder of the room.
- Keep in mind to work your manner in direction of the exit, whereas nonetheless making use of with the grain. As soon as you start to use the polyurethane, you will be unable to step on the ground.
- You’ll want to apply no less than two coats, extra in extremely trafficked areas. Wait 24 hours earlier than finishing further coats. Relying on temperature and humidity, you could want to attend longer.
Some manufacturers of polyurethane would require sanding between coats, however others received’t. Seek the advice of the container for directions. In the event you do sand between coats, be sure you clear completely to do away with all of the mud.
When you’ve accomplished the specified variety of coats, merely anticipate them to dry and then you definitely’re accomplished! You’ll be able to start strolling in your refinished hardwood flooring 24 hours after including the ultimate coat. Wait every week (or so long as doable) earlier than transferring furnishings again into the room to forestall scratching