Get Spectacular Results When You Follow These Best Practices
Wood floor refinishing is one of the easiest ways to make your home look newer and fresher, without doing any true construction projects, like tearing out walls or totally renovating the kitchen.
But just because it doesn’t require any demo doesn’t mean it’s an easy task.
In fact, people make the mistake of thinking that hardwood floor refinishing is simple and take on a DIY project without knowledge or professional guidance to ensure success. Don’t fall into this trap. Keep reading to discover common mistakes and how to avoid them when it comes to refinishing wood floors.
1. Using the Wrong Wood Floor Refinishing Sanders
Some people assume they can use a handheld sander and various sandpapers from a big box hardware store to strip the old finish from their floors. And although it is certainly possible, it’s not recommended. Why? It will take days of back-breaking work, on your hands and knees, to pull this off.
Further, because the hand sander is so small, it will be much harder to apply even force across your floor and could result in oversanding in some areas. This can leave behind noticeable shallow areas of flooring.
Aside from sanding equipment, refinishing takes a lengthy list of tools, stains, and sealants; if you buy or use the wrong kind, you might not get the results you want. These tools are also expensive, especially if you’ll never use them again.
2. Not Knowing How to Use a Belt Sander or Drum Sander
The type of sander used for refinishing hardwood floors – called belt sanders or drum sanders – requires you to walk behind them, like a lawn mower. If you’ve never used one of these heavy and powerful machines before, you may not get the results you were hoping for.
You have to be able to control these machines, keeping your movements smooth and with the wood grain. Deviating or losing control could damage the surface of your floor. You also risk not sanding enough or sanding too much.
3. Letting the Dust Fly
Sanding wooden floors down in preparation to stain and seal them creates a lot of dust that will distribute throughout your home.
Too much dust can not only affect the indoor air quality of your home, but it could result in floors that don’t look as flawless as you expected when you’re done refinishing. Dust can settle into your stain and sealant, creating an uneven finish. This will be particularly noticeable if you choose a high-gloss sealant.
But too much dust also means quite a lot of clean-up. Are you prepared to deep-clean your entire house? Wood dust can get into your HVAC system, behind closed doors, and inside your kitchen cabinets!
4. Improper Finish Coat Application
Applying too few or too many finish coats can be a costly mistake. As a result, your floors won’t dry properly, will look uneven, or will need to be resanded to correct the error.
Not waiting long enough for the finish to dry and cure is also a common mistake. Water-based finishes take two to eight hours to dry, while oil-based finishes can take up to 24 hours.
However, it takes much longer for the finish to cure and completely harden. This is the point when the floor’s finish is the most durable. The average cure time for urethane finishes is seven to 28 days, or 7 to fourteen days for water-based finishes.
5. Not Performing Repairs Before Hardwood Floor Refinishing
Replacing damaged planks, filling in chips, fixing cracks, and other repairs should always be completed before staining and sealing the floor. If you forget this step or if you opt to skip it, your wood floors are still damaged – just shinier!
Worse, if you’ve applied multiple layers of sealant, you’ve preserved the texture of deep scrapes and splinters. Uneven flooring can catch on socks or pose a tripping hazard.
Get the Results You Want With Professional Wood Floor Refinishing
To avoid these five pitfalls of DIY wood floor refinishing, it’s best to hire a professional to do the job right the first time. JRK Flooring is a local company in Kansas City. Our pride in craftsmanship is reflected in our 4.9-average rating on Google reviews.
If you’re opting to DIY to save money, JRK Flooring can still help you. We’ll beat any local competitor’s estimate, and we can finance the project to put professional refinishing within reach.
Send us a message online to request a free, no-obligation estimate.
