By sanding your floors yourself, you could potentially save hundreds or even thousands of dollars—so long as you do it right. Here's what you need to know before you get started. First, you need to understand the condition your floor is in. What kind of wood is it?
Is sanding your floors a DIY job or would I be better off getting a professional to do it? It's totally DIY-able, but be warned, it's really, really hard work. The sanders are really heavy and I just wouldn't have been able to lift the machine out of the car and into the house on my own.
If you have experience refinishing floors or your wood is still in very good condition, you can attempt to refinish hardwood floors yourself. Be aware, though, that it will likely take you longer than it would a crew of professionals. In most cases, you're better off hiring experienced floor contractors to do the job.
You need to sand your floorboards until they look brand new, even if you're staining the boards (unless they're going to be black or painted). It's what will make the difference between your finished floor looking amazing and professional or average and amateurish.
The more pressure you apply when sanding the floor with the handheld belt sander, the faster you will be able to do the job. Remember that the handheld belt sander should be moved from side to side, forward to backwards, and in circular motions.
DON'T: sand against the grain, UNLESS you feel skilled enough to sand diagonally or across the grain. DO: start with 20 grit paper and work your way up to 120 grit paper. DON'T: Go too high in grit or it can cause you to over sand your floors leaving them unable to absorb stain or poly adequately.
Pull up all the heating grates and any old carpet tacks before you sand. You can leave the baseboards in place unless you're planning to replace them. You need a pristinely clean floor before sanding, so sweep it and then dust mop it to get up all debris and dust.
If your hardwood floors are in need of refinishing, you have two main choices: Do it yourself, or hire and pay someone else to do it for you. By sanding your floors yourself, you could potentially save hundreds or even thousands of dollars—so long as you do it right.
However, when it comes to larger surface areas such as flooring, hand sanders can make your task much tougher. Even though it's possible to use a hand sander to remove varnish from wooden flooring, you will typically not be able to achieve the same quality as you would using a floor sander.
If the scratches don't go all the way through to the wood, you can scuff-sand your floors with a buffer and apply a fresh coat or two of finish. The hardwood floor refinishing process is easier and less expensive than sanding down to bare wood and takes less time. In a few hours, your floors will look as good as new.
Applying a Revitalizer. Applying a revitalizer gloss is the simplest and cheapest way to refinish hardwood floors. This approach works best on floors that only have surface-level scratches and other minor wear and tear issues. You can get the job done without the need for equipment rentals or hard-to-find materials.
The process for sanding a floor by hand would be, as a general rule, to start on a 40 grit sandpaper and work your way up to 100 or 120 grit paper to leave a fine finish. It is important to keep any sander moving so it does not dig into or burn the floor.
After you are done refinishing your hardwood floors, you must wait before walking or putting furniture onto the flooring. You should wait at least 24 hours before walking on the floors with no shoes on. If you have a dog, try to keep them off the floors for at least 24 hours, too.
Type of Finishing coat
The length of time it takes to refinish a room is determined by the size of the room and the color and finish you select. Sanding 1,500 square feet of the floor takes around a day.
Sanding jobs can be completed in either three or four passes with different abrasive grits, depending on the condition of the floor being refinished. For old floors, the first pass is to remove the old finish and level the floor. This will be the heaviest sanding and will make heavy scratch marks.
If there are deep imperfections, sanding is the way to go. The wood planks also need to be re-stained and re-sealed. The end result is lovely, but it's a lot of work to go through that may not be necessary. Buffing may only address the polyurethane layer, but generally, the wood is protected by this layer.
The basic rule of thumb is that you need to have your floors sanded back every 10 to 15 years but it really depends on the look of the floors themselves. If they still look immaculate, leave them be!
Modern high-speed rotary type sanders can eject large amounts of dust into the air and can also send slivers of wood flying. This can be a serious hazard resulting in injury to those doing the work and others in the area. Exercise extreme caution and always put safety first when sanding hardwood floors.
Sanding creates clouds of particles that are harmful when breathed in large quantities. You should always wear a mask, even for short projects.
This can easily disturb you, your family, or your pets. The best solution to this problem is to be out of the house as much as possible when the sanding occurs or to distribute hearing protection. Pets should be placed in an area distant from where the sanding is occurring and monitored to make sure they stay calm.
'Recoating is a great way to restore the look of your hardwood without a full sand down. It's the process of adding a new topcoat of finish to an existing wood floor finish,' explains Brett Miller, vice president, Technical Standards, Training, and Certification at the National Wood Flooring Association.
Wood dust becomes a potential health problem when wood particles from processes such as sanding and cutting become airborne. Breathing these particles may cause allergic respiratory symptoms, mucosal and non-allergic respiratory symptoms, and cancer.
Your floor needs to be sanded in stages with progressively finer abrasives for the best finish. Starting with grit 40, then grit 60 and finally grit 100 is tipically a good procedure for most wood floors. The goal with the first coarse abrasive is to remove the old surface coating and to flatten the surface.