Is It Hard To Repair Hardwood Floors Prior To Refinishing?

Q: My oak floors are covered in scratches. Do I have to sand down to bare wood to get rid of them?

—Susan Bankhead, Peak, Idaho

A: The Editors of This Old House reply: Not necessarily. If the scratches don't go all the way through to the wood, you lot tin scuff-sand your floors with a buffer and employ a fresh coat or two of finish. The hardwood floor refinishing process is easier and less expensive than sanding down to bare wood and takes less time. In a few hours, your floors volition look every bit good every bit new.

The job requires using a buffer, which you can rent at a dwelling center, and a vacuum to suck up dust. Buffing hardwood floors can be tricky, so if you've never used a buffer before, practice in the heart of the room until you get a feel for how to maneuver it.

Once the finish is roughed upward, we put on a water-based polyurethane, which tin be recoated in 3 hours. Oil-based polys are cheaper, but each coat takes about 8 hours to dry. With either cease, we recommend a fresh glaze every ii years or whenever the floor looks worn. Stick to that routine and your floors will never wear out.

Pro Tip to Forestall Discoloration: Sometimes the tannins from your wood floor react to water-based polyurethane, causing discoloration. To avoid this, use a base glaze before applying your water-based poly. Smooth the base of operations glaze out evenly around the edges with a pigment brush. (Don't brush as well fast or yous may create bubbles, which volition prove in the finish.) Smooth out the rest of the flooring with a constructed floor finish applicator and give your base of operations coat virtually 2 hours to dry.

Here are some boosted common questions we've come across:

How much does information technology cost to sand and refinish hardwood floors yourself?

If you programme on DIY-ing your hardwood floors, expect to pay a little less than $500 per 275 sq. feet. The average range tends to exist between $ane,000 to $ii,400.

The total price includes renting sanding equipment along with purchasing sanding pads, wood stain, brushes and finish.

Is it cheaper to refinish or replace hardwood floors?

You tin almost always bet that refinishing is cheaper than replacing hardwood floors. With the latter, you lot'd be paying not only for the new woods but as well for the labor of ripping out the sometime forest and toting it away.

What Are The Steps To Refinishing Hardwood Floors?

Read these 6 steps for refinishing the wood floors in your home:

1. Clean the Floor with a Hardwood Floor Cleaner

Photo by Reena Bammi

• Remove all the furniture, and spray the flooring with a hardwood floor cleaner or your own mix of 10 parts water to 1 part white vinegar.
• Gently wipe the floor with a terry-cloth mop or a towel wrapped effectually a mop head.
• Close the windows and doors to go on dust contained in the room you're sanding.

two. Prep the Perimeter

Photograph by Reena Bammi

• Using 180-grit sandpaper, paw-sand the perimeter of the room and whatever nooks that the buffer can't reach.
• Rub with the grain four to vi inches out from the baseboard, working over each board until the finish dulls and a powder forms.

Pro Tip: Don't use a sanding cake for refinishing hardwood—information technology might miss uneven spots in the floor.

3. Scuff-sand the Flooring Finishing

Photograph past Reena Bammi

• Stick a maroon buffing pad to the buffer, and put on a dust mask.
• Motion the buffer from side to side across the floor in the direction of the grain, overlapping each form by vi inches.
• The former finish turns to powder as you become, so it'due south easy to come across the areas you lot've covered.
• Keep the buffer moving at all times, but stop every v minutes or and so and vacuum the pad.

iv. Vacuum and Tack

Photo by Reena Bammi

• Exit the room for 10 to 15 minutes to permit the powder settle.
• Put a make clean filter in the vacuum, and sweep the flooring using a felt-bottomed attachment.
• Work in line with the flooring strips, and so sweep across them to get any powder that settled betwixt the boards.
• Finally, dry-tack the floor with a microfiber textile pushed with the grain.

5. Cutting in Forth the Edges

Photograph by Reena Bammi

• Cover your shoes with booties and your olfactory organ and mouth with a respirator that has organic vapor canisters.
• Strain the end through a cone filter into a clean plastic watering can, minus a sprinkler head, so pour some strained cease into a small-scale plastic container.
• Castor a iii-inch-broad stripe beside the baseboards at a point farthest from your exit door.
• You'll have lap marks if the edge of the stripe starts to dry, so stop after 10 minutes and go to the next stride.

6. Roll Out the Poly

Photo past Reena Bammi

• Pour out a one-inch-broad stripe of terminate in line with the grain—only as much as y'all can spread in 10 minutes.
• Using a long-handled roller with a ¼-inch nap comprehend, curl out the cease with the grain, and then across it.
• Overlap each pass and piece of work quickly to keep a wet border.
• Afterwards 10 minutes, brush more finish along the edge, then cascade and roll again for ten minutes. Continue until the floor is covered.
• Expect 3 hours before recoating and a week before putting back furniture.

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Source: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/flooring/21016483/how-to-refinish-wood-floors-without-sanding

Posted by: guidrysaidence.blogspot.com

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