Hardwood floor refinishing is like a facelift; it makes your home look renewed and beautiful. While the cost of refinishing a floor compared to replacing it is usually cheaper, wood floors are unique in that they can be improved by highlighting their natural variations. The character of hardwood floors is a part of the wood’s history. No manufactured product can match it.
Hardwood floor refinishing is a complex process and there are a few main things you need to understand before embarking on the project.
1. Cleaning
- If you want to restore dirty hardwood floors that have lost their luster, a good deep cleaning is the first step. Your next challenge will be keeping your floor in tip-top shape by sweeping and vacuuming regularly, mopping with concentrated cleaners as often as needed—and perhaps even sanding down rough spots.
- If you’ve tried everything else and your wood floor still seems dull, it can often be revitalized using special products.
- Some hardwood floors need so much work that it’s not worth trying to fix them.
2. Preparing
- Anything that is left inside will become encrusted with dust and debris.
- Make sure there is minimal air movement between the painting area and other rooms in your house.
- Make sure all vents, doorways, and electrical outlets that may need to have something placed on them or plugged into them are cleared.
- Before refinishing, thoroughly sweep and mop the floor to remove dirt and debris.
3. Sanding and refinishing can’t make up for gaps.
- Refinishing hardwood floors can extend their life many years beyond what might otherwise be expected.
- If floors aren’t sanded first, the stain won’t penetrate past the surface and polyurethane won’t adhere.
- If a floor is damaged, you might have to use a more aggressive sanding tool in order to smooth out the surface.
- Gaps between boards that you notice before the job begins will still be there after it is finished. Some gaps may improve with refinishing, but usually not enough to make a noticeable difference.
- It is also important to know that wood floors may be stained or painted prior to installation, and it’s not possible for you to see what color your floor will actually become until after the finished product has been treated. Still, this should not deter you from getting a hardwood floor—the grain and knots in each board lend texture and interest even if they aren’t visible once polyurethane has been applied.
- After sanding the floors, we will allow dust from the sand to settle on them and vacuum it out before drying microfiber cloths over their surface.
If you want to know more before deciding, contact professionals; they will provide information that should satisfy any person.
