what is the best way to strip hardware floors

April 07, 2022 Post a Comment

Q: My oak floors are covered in scratches. Do I accept to sand down to blank wood to go rid of them?

—Susan Bankhead, Meridian, Idaho

A: The Editors of This Old Business firm answer: Not necessarily. If the scratches don't go all the way through to the woods, you can scuff-sand your floors with a buffer and utilize a fresh coat or two of finish. The hardwood floor refinishing procedure is easier and less expensive than sanding down to bare wood and takes less time. In a few hours, your floors will look as practiced as new.

The job requires using a buffer, which you tin can hire at a home center, and a vacuum to suck upward grit. Buffing hardwood floors tin can be catchy, so if you've never used a buffer earlier, do in the middle of the room until you become a feel for how to maneuver it.

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

Pro Tip to Forbid Discoloration: Sometimes the tannins from your forest floor react to water-based polyurethane, causing discoloration. To avert this, utilize a base of operations coat earlier applying your h2o-based poly. Shine the base of operations coat out evenly effectually the edges with a paint brush. (Don't castor also fast or you lot may create bubbles, which will show in the finish.) Smooth out the balance of the floor with a synthetic floor cease applicator and give your base coat about 2 hours to dry.

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

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

If you plan on DIY-ing your hardwood floors, expect to pay a little less than $500 per 275 sq. feet. The average range tends to be between $1,000 to $2,400.

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

Is information technology cheaper to refinish or supersede hardwood floors?

Yous can almost always bet that refinishing is cheaper than replacing hardwood floors. With the latter, y'all'd be paying non just for the new wood just besides for the labor of ripping out the former wood and toting information technology away.

What Are The Steps To Refinishing Hardwood Floors?

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

i. Make clean the Flooring with a Hardwood Floor Cleaner

Person Using Microfiber Flat Mop On Hardwood Floor

Remove all the furniture, and spray the floor with a hardwood floor cleaner or your own mix of ten parts water to one role white vinegar.
Gently wipe the floor with a terry-cloth mop or a towel wrapped effectually a mop head.
Shut the windows and doors to keep dust contained in the room y'all're sanding.

two. Prep the Perimeter

Man Hand-Sanding Perimeter Of Hardwood Floor With SandPaper

Using 180-grit sandpaper, hand-sand the perimeter of the room and whatsoever nooks that the buffer can't reach.
Rub with the grain four to 6 inches out from the baseboard, working over each board until the finish dulls and a pulverization forms.

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

3. Scuff-sand the Flooring Finishing

Stick a maroon buffing pad to the buffer, and put on a grit mask.
Move the buffer from side to side across the floor in the management of the grain, overlapping each class by 6 inches.
The old finish turns to powder as yous go, so information technology'due south piece of cake to run across the areas you've covered.
Keep the buffer moving at all times, but stop every v minutes or and so and vacuum the pad.

4. Vacuum and Tack

Man Dry-Tacking The Floor With Microfiber Cloth

Leave the room for 10 to fifteen minutes to allow the powder settle.
Put a clean filter in the vacuum, and sweep the flooring using a felt-bottomed zipper.
Work in line with the flooring strips, then sweep beyond them to get any pulverization that settled betwixt the boards.
Finally, dry-tack the floor with a microfiber cloth pushed with the grain.

v. Cut in Along the Edges

Paint Brush Applying Finish Around Corners Of Hardwood Floor

Encompass 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 finish into a small plastic container.
Brush a iii-inch-broad stripe abreast the baseboards at a point uttermost from your exit door.
You'll have lap marks if the edge of the stripe starts to dry, so stop later 10 minutes and go to the side by side step.

6. Roll Out the Poly

Man Using Paint Roller With Extension To Apply Polyurethane On Hardwood Floor

Pour out a 1-inch-broad stripe of terminate in line with the grain—only every bit much as y'all tin spread in 10 minutes.
Using a long-handled roller with a ¼-inch nap cover, roll out the finish with the grain, then beyond information technology.
Overlap each laissez passer and work quickly to keep a moisture border.
After 10 minutes, brush more finish along the edge, then pour and coil again for 10 minutes. Keep until the floor is covered.
Wait 3 hours before recoating and a week earlier putting back furniture.

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