Re-doing hard wood floors.

[SCUMFROG]

I want to save some cash so I'm going to re-do my hard wood floors. They need to be sanded and resealed. Who has done this and what should I avoid doing..

[Bobby Bass]

How old are the floors?

[PierBridge]

Refinishing is hard work and some people opt to hire a professional. But most of the necessary equipment is available at rental centers and the steps are pretty straightforward.

HomeTime

[SCUMFROG]

The house was built in 1952.

Thanks for the link PB.

[MIKE IN lINO III]

I've done it a couple of times, it is a huge job.

Some things to think about or keep in mind.

Make sure you have the correct sand paper on the machine and keep it clean. If it get clogged, replace it. It will be very dusty, keep good ventilation and wear protective gear. Eye protection, hearing protection and ear plugs. Make sure you use tack cloth when you are done to clean the floor of any excess dust. Try not to sweat on the raw floor.

Good luck.

Mike

[Bobby Bass]

Floors are not that old then. I would remove the floor trim, use a drum sander to take off the old finish in the proper order of sandpaper, the rental will tell you what grades you need to use. If you can locate a circular sander with vacuum, Menards rents then use this after the drum sander. They do a nice job of cleaning up bare wood but clog very easily on anything with a finish. When you think you have it smooth, Sand some more. Go slow and with the grain. With the circular sander don't make wide sweeps from side to side like you would with a floor buffer you will leave big swirls in the rough wood.

If you are going to leave it bare then you need to put down a sanding sealer. If you are going to stain vacuum well, use tack clothes between coats. Plug any vents going into the room, remove any dogs or cats from the area. [pet hair gets everywhere and next to impossible to remove if it gets in the finish] Seal area from any foot traffic. Two coats of stain hand rubbed will give you good coverage. You can then follow with a quick dry poly, follow directions on can. You can buy applicators but I prefer a good china bristle brush. Depending on size of room count on a full day to sand and one more to stain and one to two more days for poly to dry. No rugs on floor for two weeks and try to stay off for three days yourself. It is a time consuming but rewarding job. Don't roll the finish on the floor you will get bubbles and they don't come out. Been there done that several times. It gets easier as you do it and gain experience. If you have a pro come in and do it he will save you a lot of time and might very well be worth it. ( old floors oak and maple tend to cup with age and you have to spend much more time in the sanding process. Have done 100 year old floors )

[SCUMFROG]

The finish is pretty much gone already, so I don't think I'll need to strip it. (you can feel and see the grain of the wood.) I don't think the floors where ever done.

[minneman]

Get a good pair of knee pads!

Get a good paint scraper that will fit well into corners and areas that the edger wont go and keep it sharp. go with the grain.

poly off doors and remove not only funiture but the stuff on the walls and drapes. you may want to remove the base board.

turn off your furnace if your still heating when you do this. dont run it till you get the first coat on and its dry. shut it off for each screening (done with floor buffer) between coats. you dont want any dust blowing out of the registers, fouling your finish. change the filter too protecting your furnace from fine dust.

If your renting look for a place that rents a belt style (if available) rather than a drum, the drum styles are older than your house and usualy are beat to death.

if your sure there isnt much finnish left on the floor, start with 36 grit then go to 60, then 100-120. if your going to stain you need a helper to either apply or wipe. you may want to sand even finer to 150. same with the edger. any scratch in the floor left by the sanding will be twice as noticeable after a stain is applied! go around the edges after your done with the edger with a random orbit sander to get all edger scratches out. also keep your clean no scuff shoes on, foot sweat can sometimes leave a foot print. If your clear coating you may get by sanding to 120 grit.

apply seal coat first then the finnish with an applicator roll(doesnt roll). pour out a blob in the corner your starting in (8" dia) and then a line of finnish about 2"wide to the wall on the other end of your run and snow plow the blob down the wall and back going with the grain. dont leave any excess. go about three passes and check your work! if your using a water based floor poly, always leave a wet edge while adding more product to the floor. put a foam brush in your back pocket for the places you cant effectivly get with the applicator.

use a buffer between coats with a 150 screen then vacume then tack, then tack again. you will need 2 coats of finnish.

To help you decide if your time is worth the $$$ you'll save...A good floor finnisher and crew should beable to start a 400 sq ft floor and get it to the seal coat by days end. and be done the next day with a water base finnish. oil based will add another day.

[eyefever]

You want to first get a good quality belt type sander. Sanders that have belts that screw on or tip type sanders will leave ripples or drum marks that are visible when you are done. If the floor is oak then you want to start with a 50 grit sand paper. All other wood types start with 60 grit. For the first pass go at an angle to the flooring ranging for 20 to 40 degrees to level the boards. Then you want to pull straight with the direction of the flooring using the same grit. Next you want to edge around the outside with one grit coarser than your belt sanding. This is because the belt sander is much more agressive than the edger. Make sure to get out start and stop marks at the walls. Next you vacuum the floor and examine for cut marks and fill any areas that need putty. Do not putty the gaps and make sure to clean any putty out that gets in because it will crack out in the summer and draws attention. Next you final sand with an 80 grit for oak, and 100 grit for all others. Final edge with 80 or finer grit sandpaper. If you are a novice I would take a trouble light and palm sander to get out the edger lines. This is also necessary if you intend on staining the floor. You also need to scrape the corners, taking care not to gouge the floor or leave chatter marks. Hand sand all corners after scraping because the scraper polishes the floor and it will take stain and sealer differently. Next you vacuum the floor and make sure there are no rocks on the floor. Next you buff the floor with the same grit you final belt sanded with for a natural floor, or one grit finer for stained floors. Make sure to use 2 scotch brite type backing pads for the buffer. Buffing is necessary to prevent "picture framing" which is caused by not blending the edging with the belt sanding. Next you vacuum and take a shop vac to clean everything. Vacuum with the direction of the flooring to not put in scratches. Next seal or stain the floor. If you use a water based sealer it should dry in 2-3 hours. Oil sealers and stains need at least 24 hours to dry to not risk finish not adhering. If you use a water based sealer buff it with 240 grit sandpaper. Go fast so you don't buff through to the bare wood. Hand buff around the outside. Next vacuum and tack wipe the floor, I use a shop broom with rags on it and hand wipe around the outside. Next you coat the floor with finish. If you stain the floor you coat the floor without buffing because it will remove the stain. I use 2 topcoats on sealed floors and 3 coats on stained floors. I would recommend a waterbased finish because they are harder, have less odor, and require less dry time. I would also recommend a satin finish to reduce glare and hide scratches. Varathane finish is easy to use and available at menards. It is not foamy, which can be a problem with finishing. Make sure you take your time to get the floor flat. A friend of mine refinished his floor by himself and I ended up doing it over again for him last weekend. Doing the job yourself can be very rewarding, just take your time to do a good job.

[Sandmannd]

I've done my house and to others over the last couple of years. To me, it was one of the easiest home improvements ever!!! I went to Oakdale renter and got their floor sander. I was scared of the drum sanders and they can dig deep if you're not careful. I got what amounts to be a large orbital sander. You start with heavy sand paper and work your way up to just a screen. I put on just a coat of finish (didn't stain the wood), let it dry then go over it again with the screen. Put on another coat and let that dry. You can be good after that, since we have 2 dogs we put on two more coats. It's going on it's third summer and holding up great.

[fivebucks]

We had the pros do our house but our floors are 80 year old maple. The previous owner did some by themselves and did a very poor job. When the pros came in they said we had enough wood left for one more sanding before it got too thin. Keep the thickness in mind if you tackle this yourself. I sanded the reclaimed douglas fir for the cabin and I was pleased with the results. GO SLOW. I was glad I had someone do our house, it was well spent money.

[SCUMFROG]

Ok, this might sound dumb but how do I tell what kind of wood it is? It's a light color, and has a good looking grain to it..

The thickness is really good, I know that.

[scaup]

With out seeing the floors it is tough to say. In the older craftsman style houses they used a lot of maple. I dont know about a house built in the 50's if there is alot of grain than I would guess it is oak. I have redone about 8 floors and the direction given by others is right on. The only thing I would add is to be picky about your top coat and sanding sealer. They are not all created equal. I have found that out the hard way. If you would like the name of the product I started using about three years ago shoot me an email. [email protected]

[polarsusd81]

I am thinking about redoing the floors in my house in the future. It looks like the previous owner tried to redo them, but like everything else in the house, they did a really horrible job, bubbles, streaks, blotches, etc. I am pretty sure I can do it myself, but there is one thing I am worried about. The boards have expanded and contracted enough over the years that they have kinda settled, and there are some places between boards where they have seperated a bit. Some aren't too bad, maybe 1/64", but others it is pretty harsh, upto 1/16". How do I go about repairing those spots with the seperation, or does the finish settle into these cracks and seal it up? That is my biggest concern.

Thanks,

Tom

[fivebucks]

We've got expansion gaps in our floor in many places. The pros who did our floor said there is nothing that can be done short of redoing the whole floor. They said if you fill in with some filler it will work its way out over time. The previous owners filled in some gaps and within a year or so it was coming out. We just have to vacume the floor to get the dirt up from the cracks.

[minneman]

Tom, check your humidity, if its lower than 30% bumping it up to near 40% will help close some of the gaps. if the floor is real old and there is finish between cracks you may have to live with it. keeping the humidity at a constant 35-40% is key from date of install.

[eyefever]

Another thing to keep in mind when redoing floors yourself is size. Smaller jobs are not worth doing because you will likely save little to nothing compared to having a professional do it. The company I work for has a base starting price of $3.50 per sq. ft. to refinish and I think we are the highest price in the area. If your floor is only 100 sq. ft. then you will probably spend more money on renting equipment and supplies than it would cost to have a pro do it.

[polarsusd81]

Thanks Minne. You are probably right, the house is really dry. I try to run a humidifier during the winter months but it doesn't seem to do much good. This summer I plan to instal an aprilaire whole house humidifier, hopefully that will aleviate some of the problem from next year. But like I said the previous owners had the house for 40 years and didn't do much upkeep, and what they did was very half hearted. I just keep redoing things one at a time, trying to get it to my liking.

Tom

[hookset]

scumfrog, I work for a hardwood flooring wholesaler, give me a call and i can get you tons of info and a deal on product(finish)

joe(612__669__4775)

[SCUMFROG]

hookset

I will do that when we are ready to do the floor. I still have my celings to paint so I don't want to do the floors just yet..

[eyefever]

Now Joe, I don't think the boss would like that

[raven1]

i have been redoing hardwood floors for 17 years and still doing them pros will cost you 2.50 s/f not bad price if youask me the most it will cost you to rent is the cost of replacement of your hardwood floors if you dont do it right rental beware just take your time if you think you can get it done in two days rent it for week they dont make there money on renting they make there money on the sand paper if you would like more info just get back to me i will be happy to help out just take your time

[SCUMFROG]

raven1

Would you consider doing my floors?

[Bigsmitty]

Scumfrog, Hire a pro like Raven or someone. I've seen so many people ruin there floor trying to do it themselves. Just my 2 cents

[raven1]

where are you from ? and how soon how ? whats the s/f of job