Do Engineered Hardwood Floors Look Good without Refinishing

If your hardwood floor has seen better days, and you think it might need a consummate refinish, don't worry. With a little know-how (and a lot of elbow grease) this is a chore you lot tin can practice at home. If DIY is non for you, knowing the process it takes to bring your flooring back to life can assist yous determine which path to take -- whether refinishing or replacing -- and an understanding of what to expect along the way. This guide will walk you through every step of the process -- from determining if a hardwood floor refinishing is the best selection for you, to calculation the terminal coat of finishing product.

Is Your Floor Hardwood to the Core, or an Imposter?

The first pace to successfully refinishing your hardwood floors is determining what type of floor y'all take. This might seem simple, but in that location are many varieties of floor that masquerade as hardwood but are really partially or entirely fabricated up of other materials, and each ane requires a different refinishing technique.

The outset hardwood lookalike is laminate. Laminate Plank Flooring is made of synthetic materials, layered and embossed with a grain pattern, meant to mimic the look and texture of natural wood. It'due south typically pretty piece of cake to tell if your flooring is made of laminate, every bit it simply feels like a hard plastic. Unfortunately, information technology's nearly impossible to refinish laminate, but there are some methods of recoating that involve chemical abrasives. These methods are a long shot, yet, and are not recommended by the flooring experts at The Good Guys.

Engineered Wood floors are another alternative to solid hardwood, made of a thin layer (or veneer) of hardwood, bonded to a layer of cheaper material, typically plywood. It's definitely possible to refinish this flooring in one case or twice, but you must brand sure the layer of existent hardwood is thick enough to sand downward without reaching plywood.

When working with engineered hardwood, y'all typically crave about i/8" of veneer in lodge to refinish. You lot may be able to squeak by with a slightly thinner veneer, but you run the adventure of accidentally sanding through the veneer to betrayal plywood -- an irreparable mistake that volition require you to alive with an ugly exposed area on your floor or supercede it completely.

Finally, solid hardwood floors are made of a solid plank of wood and are therefore the best candidate for refinishing. Though even with this material yous nonetheless need to be sure that there's enough of the plank left to safely sand a bit away. In this example, you typically want at least iii/4" left to attempt a full resurface. The finish of your flooring tin can as well be a determining factor in its ability to withstand a refinishing. A solid hardwood flooring with machine- or hand-scraped stop would have more of its wear layer removed, making it more difficult to refinish. Smooth finished woods floors may be refinished up to 5 or even 6 times, though the daily traffic and habiliment and tear on hardwood floor in near homes would not crave this degree of maintenance.

How To Tell If Your Hardwood Floor Will Withstand a Refinish

A solid rule of thumb is that a typical solid hardwood flooring can exist refinished four or five times before information technology needs to exist replaced, so if you know your floor'due south history, yous may not need to measure out its remaining thickness.

Engineered hardwood floors can be a bit more than tricky, as cheaper options volition have minimal veneer that can't even stand up to one round of refinishing, simply if you lot have a receipt, box or model number, you lot may be able to wait up how thick the floors were, to begin with. If they had one/8" of veneer when new, they tin can typically exist resurfaced up to two times, and 3/16" options can be done three or even iv times earlier replacing would become the better option. When refinishing an engineered wood floor, it is not recommended to auto- or hand-scrape the terminate, due to their thinner wear layers.

How Thick Are Your Floorboards?

If y'all don't know your flooring'southward history, the easiest fashion to find how much material you take left is to expect for a floor grate or vent that y'all can remove to expose the floorboards. If you don't have any such openings, the next best pick is to remove a threshold from a doorway as there are typically gaps between rooms that volition expose the finish of a board or plank.

Finally, if you nonetheless can't tell, you can remove a slice of baseboard trim from the wall in the room that'due south meant to be refinished. The baseboards aren't typically removed during refinishing, and then there will be a bit of a raised area underneath if the floor had been resurfaced previously. This method is a bit risky though; the baseboards may have been replaced when the floor was previously refinished for artful reasons, and you still won't know the current thickness of the floor.

Should You Recoat or Refinish Your Floors?

Once yous know what blazon of flooring you have, it's a expert idea to evaluate if a total refinish or a more subdued screen and recoat is necessary. A recoat simply involves roughing up your floor with a gentle sanding screen. and applying a new protective covering. This is a lot easier and much more inexpensive than refinishing but but fixes problems in the surface-level protective roofing. On the other hand, a refinish will have care of moderate marring and discoloration but will require a lot more time, coin and effort.

The all-time way to know if your floor should exist recoated or refinished is to run a simple test. Detect two areas on your floor and tape off a square of nigh 6 by 6 inches The first should exist an expanse that represents the heaviest flaws you take in your flooring to run into if they're repairable with a recoat. The 2nd should be in an area that's regularly exposed to cleaning products, such as window cleaner overspray, oil-based cleaners, or other heavy detergents.

It's important to test an expanse that's exposed to household cleaners as over time the floor volition become imbued with those materials and a polyurethane end coat won't adhere to the floor properly. A couple such examples are the floor nether a low window or near a wood table that's polished oft.

Important Annotation : Only do this test if you're sure yous want to change your floor in some fashion. There's no going dorsum once you lot'd sanded downward the floor, so you'll have irregular rectangles on your flooring until you redo them completely.

Examination for Recoating Your Hardwood Floor

Once you lot've selected 2 areas and taped them off, get a 120-grit screen and thoroughly sand the area. Then clean information technology off with a brush or vacuum and damp cloth, and apply polyurethane (see later in this commodity for a comparison of oil- and h2o-based polyurethane options). Let it dry out, and try gently scraping it with a coin or other metal object. Don't utilise anything sharp or pointed or press terribly difficult, as you'll scratch through even a solid blanket. If you're satisfied with the terminate and it doesn't flake off when you lot gently scrape, become ahead with a recoat. If not, it's fourth dimension to offset refinishing.

Uh Oh! This Job Calls for A Complete Refinishing

Necessary Materials:

Molding Bar or Putty Knife
Hammer
Masking Tape
Plastic Sheeting
Pencil
Drum or Orbital Sander
Sand Newspaper (thirty-40, Rough Dust)
Sand Paper (fifty-lx, Medium Grit)
Sand Paper (80+, Fine Grit)
Wood Filler
Mineral Spirits (optional)
Floor Stain
Polyurethane Sealer

Stride 1: Prepare The Room For Sanding

Near 90% of your success with a hardwood flooring refinishing project will come down to training, so it's important to take it slow and with the proper intendance from the beginning. Offset past removing the shoe molding -- also called quarter-round -- around the entire perimeter. Practice this by gently inserting a molding bar betwixt the floor and trim, and gently prying it abroad. Do not use a large crowbar or demolition bar as these will damage the molding. If y'all don't have a molding bar, yous can endeavor using a putty knife, though it may non work every bit well if the trim is stubborn.

Also, remove whatever doors that will block wood thresholds, and become over the entire floor advisedly searching for nails or other objects protruding up from the floor that may tear or damage a sanding pad. If you find any nails sticking up, gently tap them dorsum in with a hammer and appropriately sized smash set. Make certain to proceed track of where the holes are, and if you discover any other imperfections keep rail of those also, so you tin can fill them in after your outset round of sanding.

When you lot're done, make sure to record off any floor registers so they won't get scratched if your equipment bumps into them. Finally, cover all openings except exterior windows with tape and plastic sheets--including electric outlets, doors, and vents.

Step two: Start Sanding

After y'all've prepped the room, it'south time to outset sanding. For this part of the job, you'll demand three ability tools: a large, walk-behind sander for the main surface area of the room, a hand-held random orbital sander for the edges, and a detail sander for the corners. Information technology's possible to exercise the corners by hand as well, just it will take significantly more than time and effort.

Should You lot Use a Drum or Orbital Sander?

Walk-behind sanders come in two varieties: drum and orbital. When deciding which one to apply, first consider your experience level. Drum sanders are very aggressive and tin exist difficult to command, and then they are typically not recommended for DIY beginners. An orbital sander won't be able to correct the well-nigh farthermost floor issues but tin can prepare most scratches and moderate wear without creating new problems. An orbital sander would be the best option for the vast bulk of beginners or intermediate-DIYers.

Notwithstanding, an orbital sander is a big, heavy machine, so if yous are renting one from your local hardware store, make sure to ask ane of the experts on staff for a demonstration when yous pick it upwards. It'southward often a good idea to practice at home before starting. Try information technology out with just the pads (no sandpaper) on a polish cement surface, or do a few passes in an camouflaged area of the room before starting on the chief areas.

Flooring Sanding Round i: Rough Sanding

Do the first laissez passer over the room using the walk-behind orbital with a rough sandpaper. 36-grit is typical, though you can use anything betwixt xxx and 40 dust. Brand sure to motion the orbital slowly, smoothly, and evenly, and don't stop in one surface area for more than than a 2nd or two. Go as shut to the edges of the room equally y'all can without aggressively bumping the baseboards.

When you're done with the walk-behind, employ the hand-held sander for the edges, and the particular sander or your hands for the corners. You'll want to press as firmly as you lot tin can without stalling or slowing downward the motility of the sander. When yous're washed, vacuum the room to clean upward backlog dust earlier moving onto the next pass.

Right Any Flooring Imperfections

Now is the time to fill in any nails holes or gouges with a forest filler that matches your flooring. For a colour-accurate, DIY solution, you can take some of the sawdust from the first round of sanding and mix it with some white glue to fill up the holes. But mix the two ingredients together until they form a toothpaste-like consistency and utilise with a putty knife as you would whatever other woods filler.

Floor Sanding Round 2: Smoothen Out Rough Edges

Next, sand the floor with a medium-grit sandpaper, such equally 50 or 60 grit. During this second round, information technology can be difficult to come across where yous've already sanded as the colour of the flooring won't change, then it's a good idea to draw pencil lines across the room. Then, equally the pencil is erased past your sanding, you'll know where y'all've already been. Over again, follow upwards the big sander with border work and vacuum to set for the final laissez passer.

Flooring Sanding Round 3: Finish Sanding

For the concluding sanding, use at least lxxx grit sandpaper. You tin even practice two rounds if yous want the smoothest cease possible--once with 80 dust, and in one case with 100. Follow up on the edges, and again vacuum and clean upwards.

This time, take extra intendance to clean everything thoroughly, every bit the next footstep will exist to employ a finishing agent. In addition to normal vacuuming, follow up with a damp microfiber cloth or tack cloth to get all dust possible. You may fifty-fifty desire to finish with a rag dampened with mineral spirits. The exact method you use isn't as important as making sure there is absolutely no dust or dirt on the floor that could mar the last stop. It should go without saying though, that you shouldn't use any oil- or chemic-based cleaners on the flooring as they may affect the ability of the final layer to adhere to the woods.

Pace iii: Stain Your Floors

Once the floor is sanded, cleaned, and thoroughly stale, you lot're set to finish the flooring. This is where you tin stain the floor if desired, but properly staining hardwood floors is an fine art unto itself, so information technology is probably left for a divide article.

Footstep 4 (The Final Step): Seal Your Floors

Supreme Sealing: Is Water- or Oil-Based Polyurethane Best?

The other, more popular option is to just use polyurethane without any stains to seal hardwood floors while maintaining their natural dazzler and color. If this is the route you choose, you have ii options: oil-based and water-based polyurethane. Neither is superior to the other--information technology really only comes down to preference.

One of the biggest differences between the ii is the finish color, as oil-based polyurethane will imbue a yellow or amber color depending on the brand used, while water-based products will keep hazy and dry clear. Some people like the yellow floor finish and retrieve water-based products create a cold and uninviting wait, so it'southward really a matter of preference. Keep in mind though, that the yellow or amber shade volition deepen with time, so the shade you see at present is non identical to what you'll meet in 5 years.

In terms of application, each has pros and cons as well. Water-based products, for example, are thinner, so they will naturally go on more evenly and dry quickly. Notwithstanding, the fast dry time does make them a bit more difficult to get perfect. Oil-based products offering extended working times, only require a mask due to fumes and take up to 24 hours to dry between coats.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you use an oil-based production, make sure to dry any soiled rags separately, or store them in a can covered with water. The natural oxidation that occurs as oils evaporate from a pile of rags can cause a burn down under the right atmospheric condition! Finally, cost tin be a differentiator. In fact, water-based options can cost upward to three times as much equally oil-based alternatives.

No affair which of the two finishes you select, y'all'll demand a high-quality brush (made of natural fibers for oil-, or synthetic fibers for water-based polyurethane) for border work and wool applicator for the main area of the room. Make sure to rub the wool applicator downward with a lint roller or slice of tape before use to capture whatever loose fibers, then use shine even strokes to apply the polyurethane and avoid bubbling that could create flaws in the last cease.

Once you've applied the final coat of polyurethane, and let it dry, you simply demand to reinstall the trim and the room is ready for use. If you're using oil-based products, it'southward recommended to apply at to the lowest degree two coats, and at least iii for water-based options.

Refinishing Hardwood Floors: a Satisfying Detail That Can Transform a Room

As yous tin see, refinishing hardwood flooring tin can take fourth dimension and effort, just the steps are straightforward for most homes. With a long weekend, the right grooming, and a chip of elbow grease, y'all can transform a room and salve a chip of money past refinishing hardwood floors on your own. If you're interested in refinishing or recoating the hardwood floors in your home, just the thought of managing it all on your own is too much to acquit, drop united states of america a line and let The Good Guys go it done for y'all! Our squad of professional installers and hardwood refinishers will work diligently to ensure the finished floor gleams like new.

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