How To Sand And Refinish Old Strip Flooring

Vacuum the floor clean of all sanding dust.

How to sand and refinish old strip flooring.

Situations differ but you may not be able to refinish your hardwood floor more than 10 times. Before you start sanding remove everything from the room and vacuum the floor. To decide the best solution that works for your home here are seven things to consider before renewing or refinishing old hardwood floors. But often that s.

Buffing the floor will remove tiny sanding marks and give a completely smooth finish. Use a 6 inch wide drywall knife and water based wood filler to patch all holes and cracks in the floor. Remove shoe moulding the wood trim where the wall meets the floor. Renew a wood floor in half the time and at half the expense of sanding.

To refinish a hardwood floor the first thing you need to do is sand off the old finish. When a wood floor loses its luster the usual solution is to sand it down to raw wood and completely refinish it. You also want to rent a handheld power edge sander for sanding tight against walls and in corners and doorways. You ll need to sand the entire floor not just one section.

The best way to refinish wood floors without sanding is to scuff the floor with a buffer and sanding screen then apply two coats of new finish. Using 180 grit sandpaper hand sand the perimeter of the room and any nooks that the buffer can t reach. You can also use a chemical to etch the existing finish then apply new finish. Sanding the floor will kick up a lot of dust so protect light fixtures and tape over electrical outlets.

Read on to see if screening will work for your floor. However the first method gives better results. Both units have a vacuum and dust. Using a pole sander is a bit more time consuming but also easier to use than a buffer and more affordable.

Use a detail sander fitted with 36 grit sandpaper to remove the old finish under places the large sander couldn t reach such as under the toekick and in corners. Don t use a sanding block for refinishing hardwood it might miss uneven spots in the floor. Rub with the grain 4 to 6 inches out from the baseboard working over each board until the finish dulls and a powder forms. Some people rent an industrial floor buffer for this step but a pole sander pictured is another great option.

That s because unlocking a sad floor s hidden beauty doesn t always involve messy sanding and staining particularly if yours aren t damaged.