Wood flooring is warm, long-lasting, attracting to the eye and it adds value to your home. It also gives a sense of elegance to any room. More over, it is a very environmentally friendly building material. Nevertheless, your hardwood floors require maintenance, and there will come a time when you should consider refinishing hardwood floors. No matter how careful you are with your hardwoods, you will still have to refinish them at some point. If your floors take a beating, from pets for instance, you have to refinish more often.

Some floors only need to be refinished every three years, while some high-traffic floors may need more regular refinishing. Luckily, hardwood floor refinishing is not impossibly difficult. If you have ever finished a wood floor by yourself, then refinishing will seem easier. The wonderful thing about wood floors is that they can last forever with proper care and with a little of effort and patience, your floors will be fine as new again.

I will attempt to help you understand the some steps involved in refinishing of wood floors as the accepted methods used. Such that you will be able to make a more enlightened decision and have a better perceptive when this work performed in your home.

If you are wondering how you can tell that your floors need to be refinished, you ought to see if they need to be redone at all. There is a test that you can take. First, find a high-traffic area where the finish is likely to be most worn. Drop a drop or two of water on the floor and observe. If the water beads up, or not absorbed, then you can wipe it without a trace, the finish is still working and you do not need to refinish. But If the water is quickly absorbed by the flooring, it’s time to refinish.

Tools which are needed:

• vacuum cleaner
• five in one painter’s tool
• putty knife and scraper
• broom
• finish applicator and mixing bucket
• drywall bucket
• knee pads
• safety glasses, ear protection, dust masks
• drum sander
• orbital / palm sander
• sanding pads
• damp towels
• clear waterborne finish
• floor edger
• buffer
• lamb’s wool and natural bristle brush,
• or foam applicators, tack cloths

1. If you have ascertained that your flooring could use a face lift but is not in need of other repairs, you can start your project. Refinishing a floor, all you have to do is sand it and reapply the finishing product to protect and seal the wood.

To get started, take everything out of the room, cover up ventilates and other openings such as light fixtures and vents. To avoid spreading dust throughout the house hang plastic over the room’s doorways and put rags or towels under doors and over vents

2. Remove everything that is not nailed down and sweep up all debris on the floor thoroughly. Use diagonal pliers to draw out any leftover carpet staples and use a hammer and nail set to sink any exposed nails that could damage the abrasives or sanding machines.

Use a painter’s tool or putty knives to rub or scrape up old tape, varnish and similar materials before sanding. Be careful not to force out the wood. There will be a large amount of dust once you begin sanding and to sand a floor is a messy job.

3. Walk over the whole floor and seek out any squeaks, cracks, or other repairs that should be done before sanding, be sure it does not need any repairs. Problems to inspect for include warped or squeaking floor boards, badly stained wood, and other permanent damage. If any of these issues are present, you should repair them before refinishing the floor.

4. You’ should start to wear a dust mask and eye and ear protection.

5. Most sanders utilize a sheet of sanding paper that is attached to a piece of foam. Peel off the backing on the sandpaper and stick onto the foam, then place the foam in the machine. You can also use a drum sander fit with a course paper (20 to 36 grit). It is the tool to use for your initial sanding. Start in a low visibility area like under a sofa. Remember to work with the grain of the floor.

Though a random-orbit sander should not leave twirl marks, it’s still best to work with the grain. Begin the sander with the drum off the floor and slowly lower it onto the wood. To avoid accidental damage to the wood, keep the drum sander continuously in motion. If it stays in one place, too much wood is lost and your floor is crinkled. Move steadily and do not rush. Sand from wall to wall on one half to two-thirds of the room, making both a forward and a backward pass of each row.

The drum sander seems like an uncontrollable piece of equipment and scares off some people from refinishing their own wood floor. Besides being big and loud, the drum sander can squeeze the floor. It takes some getting used to, but with a little practice you are able to do it as long as you are careful.

6. Where the drum sander ca not reach such as wall edges, corners, use an edge sander, or a small sander which is used to remove old finish along the edges and in the corners. Tip the edger back and slowly lower it to the floor. Use a left to right curved motion to feather out the sanding.

7. Replace the sandpaper when it becomes gummed-up with finish.

8. Make certain to hold the sander level so it does not dig into the floor, and do not press too hard which will gum up the paper quickly. Change to a medium (50-60) grit. Go over the whole floor the same way. Afterward pass check again for cracks or holes using matching wood putty to fill them in. Also look for nail heads. Set these shiners and fill them in.

For the final sanding, utilize a fine (80-100 grit) abrasive and finish with a palm sander around the perimeter to feather sanding areas.

9. When the sanding is finished, vacuum the room entirely, including the walls and ceiling. Avoid using a damp rag because moisture will raise the grain of the exposed wood. Burnish the floor (going with the grain) using a fine abrasive screen (100-120 grit) to help tighten the wood grain before staining. Now you are prepared to stain the floor. There are numerous options to choose from when selecting your stain.

Water-based and oil-based stains are available, and these with a wide assortment of appearances. Choose whichever best fits with your particular floor, and be careful to follow all instructions. Pay much attention to how many coats you are to use, and how long it must be remained to dry out.