Hardwood floors: they’re classic, durable, and add character to a home. But years of foot traffic, spills, and moving furniture can take their toll. This is where hardwood floor refinishing in Charlotte North Carolina comes in.
Hardwood floor refinishing can revitalize your home, but how do you know if you need it?
Should You Refinish Your Hardwood Floors?
Sometimes, cleaning is all your floors need. Other times, they need more care especially from professionals like Good House Floorcare. Test your floors: drip some water on them. Does it bead up? You might be good with cleaning and polishing. If the water soaks in, hardwood refinishing is a better choice. Caring for wood flooring proactively, especially with floor repair as needed, improves their lifespan. This is crucial for rental properties, and makes wood floors refinishing a great investment.
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Hardwood Floor Refinishing: A Step-by-Step Guide
This walkthrough combines DIY tips with expert advice.
Prep Like a Pro
- First, empty the room: furniture, rugs, and curtains.
- Tape over vents and electrical boxes to prevent dust.
- Seal doorways with plastic sheeting.
- Protect walls with plastic too.
- Taking these steps is crucial to your floors installation or floors refinishing process.
Remove Baseboards Carefully
- Gently pry off baseboards using a pry bar.
- Number each piece for easier reassembly.
- Remove leftover nails with pliers.
Repair and Patch
- Fill holes and cracks with wood filler.
- Use a trowel filler and large putty knife for bigger damage.
- Small imperfections can be fixed with standard wood patch.
- Allow the filler to dry and wipe it with a damp rag.
- For smooth restoration, use 80- and 100-grit sandpaper for tough patches.
- Use wood putty to fill holes evenly before the refinishing wood process.
Sanding: The Main Event
- This is how you restore your floor’s shine: Rent a drum sander for the main floor.
- An edge sander is needed for tricky spots.
- Wear a respirator: sanding creates dust.
- Start with coarse-grit sandpaper on the drum sander, overlapping each stroke.
- Each section of sandpaper covers about 200 sq ft.
- Move from low-grade to fine-grit paper for floor restoration.
- Sand with the wood grain, starting with coarse-grit (36- to 40-grit for heavily damaged floors).
- If your floors have mild scratches, begin with 60-grit for resurfacing.
- Make multiple sanding passes with the heavy machinery.
- If you are dealing with a dull finish from years of use, use 80-grit for any deep scratches and move towards 120 as your floor finish becomes more uniform and restored.
- Floor sanding will restore the smooth surface, whether it be from just deep scratches, or a heavily damaged entire floor.
- Finish with fine grit (100 to 120) using a floor buffer and screening sand for a smooth finish.
- This blends patched spots and achieves a professional look.
- Practice on plywood first.
- Stopping mid-sand can leave permanent marks.
- There are specialized rentals for these jobs, too.
Staining (Optional)
If you want a new color, now is the time to stain. Use a foam applicator, following the wood grain, and wipe away excess stain.
Choosing an oil-based interior wood stain that would complement your flooring type will be just the right step. For a variety of high-quality stain colors, consider Rubio Monocoat oil finish.
The Final Seal: Polyurethane
For fast drying, use water-based polyurethane.
Three coats of oil-based finish are the standard for professional services.
However, four coats of water-based polyurethane offer better spill protection and dry faster with less odor.
If you’re just recoating with water, do it before the polyurethane.
Reattach Baseboards and Admire
Finally, reattach the baseboards. Use felt pads on furniture feet.
Considering Engineered Hardwood?
- If you’re getting new floors, compare engineered hardwood to solid hardwood.
- Prefinished engineered hardwood simplifies hardwood floor refinishing later.
- Ensure your subflooring is in good condition—it makes a difference.
- Solid hardwood floors can sometimes buckle with extreme heat, ruining refinishing work.
FAQs about Hardwood Floor Refinishing
Is refinishing hardwood floors a worthwhile investment?
Yes.
Refinishing breathes new life into floors, boosting home value and appearance.
It’s cheaper than floor replacement, especially with minor wear.
A free in-home estimate from a local flooring contractor like Good House Floorcare is an excellent starting point for budgeting your project.
Is refinishing hardwood floors a costly process?
It’s an investment, but cheaper than replacing the entire floor.
Refinishing wood averages around $1,879 nationally, and the cost refinishing might be around 10% less with an undamaged subfloor that requires minimal sanding.
The actual costs vary due to square footage, the floor finish selected, and contractor rates.
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Is refinishing hardwood floors a doable DIY project?
Yes, if you’re comfortable with a sander and safety precautions.
However, it’s time-consuming and requires specialized equipment rentals.
Professionals from Good House Floorcare handle these tools regularly.
A free estimate for floor refinishing services can help make the decision to DIY or not.
What is the difference between resurfacing and refinishing hardwood floors?
Refinishing is a complete makeover: sanding to bare wood, restaining (if desired), and sealing with polyurethane.
Refinishing is a larger project overall, even just due to all of the debris that you have to clean and remove.
Resurfacing, or recoating, is for floors with minor imperfections.
It involves light sanding and a fresh coat of finish.
Sometimes, a screen and recoat suffice for faded polyurethane.
Your Floor, Our Expertise
Hardwood floor refinishing transforms plain and tired floors to outstanding and glorious home pieces.
Choosing to do refinishing versus installing an entire floor really is based on cost, quality time to refinish or re-install an entire new floor, along with the types of floors already installed, or going to be.
Consider hiring professionals from Good House Floor Care to remove scratches from hardwood floors and give you beautiful floors and the best results.
