Properly cared for, your hardwood floors should last for quite a while. They may even last for as long as a century. But they aren’t going to stay looking great for a hundred years without a little maintenance. One maintenance task that hardwood floors are bound to require after years of wear and tear is refinishing. Today, we’ll teach you how professionals refinish hardwood floors.
Are your floors not shining like they used to? Here’s how professionals refinish hardwood.
Clear the Area
A clear and organized workspace is essential to just about any job, but even more so when it comes you have to refinish hardwood. Your best practice would be to remove all furniture from the room during the refinishing process. This includes carpeting and rugs.
Now is the time to check for any loose floorboards that might need securing. Clean up any loose debris with a vacuum. Does your room have molding along the floor? This is called shoe base molding. If present, you can pry it up with a pry bar.
Sanding
Before you can apply the wood stain or the finish, you’ll need to take some action to get rid of all the surface-level wear on top of your hardwood. The best way to do this would be sanding, which can eliminate all but the deepest of scratches.
For the bulk of the floor, a drum sander or a belt sander will work just fine. But in smaller spaces and around corners or edges, an orbital sander will give you the precision and control you need.
You should start off on a coarse setting and gradually progress to a finer one. The specific grit grade will depend on what kind of wood you’re using, so if you’re not sure, just give us a call. Starting out too fine is a big mistake, and isn’t cost-effective because you will end up ruining your finer paper. Do yourself a favor and follow a proper progression.
Clean Up the Dust
Having excess dust in the workspace isn’t just bad for your respiratory health; it will leave noticeable imperfections in the finish. Vacuuming may do a decent job at picking up the bulk of it, but there’s a decent chance you’ll need something heavier-duty.
When it comes to dust extraction, you can’t do better than Festool’s CLEANTEC-CT line of dust extractors. It can hook up to your tools to eliminate the clean-up. If you’re interested, stop by our showroom to check it out.
Staining and Finishing
Once these steps have been done, the rest of the refinishing process is self-explanatory. If you choose to stain your floors, apply it with your applicator pad along the grain. A clean microfiber cloth can pick up any excess. Allow it to dry completely.
Now, you can move onto finishing itself. If you choose an oil-based finish, three coats are recommended. If it’s water-based, four layers are your best bet. Apply in much the same way you did with the stain, and allow it to dry. Once it has dried, give each coat a light sanding—again, you can call us for a grit grade recommendation.
Once you’ve done all this, you can enjoy bright and shining hardwood floors for years to come.
Hardwood Flooring from Jason Brown Wood Floors
At Jason Brown Wood Floors, our commitment to quality installation is clear in all that we do, which is why our customers consistently rate us as one of the top contractors in the region. We have been awarded Baltimore Magazine’s Best of Baltimore Award 4 times and have been proudly serving the Baltimore Area for over 16 years. If you’re ready to speak with someone about your hardwood flooring project, we want to hear from you! Contact us at 410-668-9131 or send us a message here.
Jason Brown Wood Floors is also your convenient dealer of high-quality, professional grade power tools. We offer brands that tradespeople trust most for the job. Come check out our Bel Air showroom to browse the in-stock selection of products and tools by Festool, Freud, Diablo, Shaper, and Mirka.
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