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How Do I Refinish My Hardwood Floors?

When it comes to completely refinishing your hardwood floors, sanding them bare is the most important step - one that will probably be too much for you or I to handle so - it's best to do the prep work and let the professionals come in to sand the floor. Then you can apply the finish.

1. Seal off the area. Drum and edge sanders have dust pickup bags, but they miss the fine dust. Tape plastic drop cloths over the doors and heating registers. If you have floor registers, remove the grilles and stuff the registers with newspaper. Remove the floor molding. Remove the small floor molding, called shoe molding, with a pry bar. Don't pull on the shoe molding, or you will break it.

2. Place the pry bar as close to the nails as possible. Drive any stuck nails through the shoe molding into the wall with a nail set.

3. Sweep and inspect. Sweep the floor clean, then get down on your hands and knees to look for any nail heads, carpet staples, or other metal objects that can tear the sandpaper or damage the sander drum. Pull all staples and reset any nail heads with a nail set.

4. Nail loose boards tight. Use finishing nails to face-nail all loose boards tight. Drive the nails in at an angle, to prevent splitting the floorboard. Set the nail heads deep.

Here's what we do after the floor man leaves:

1. Apply penetrating sealer. Prevent your new floor from absorbing excess moisture by applying a penetrating sealer soon after sanding. Don't use a lacquer sealer; the fumes are explosive and they dry so fast that you will get lap marks. Choose a slow-drying sealer to avoid these marks. Penetrating sealers come in natural and many attractive shades.

2. Check that the sealer is compatible with any surface finish (varnish or polyurethane) you plan to use. All finishes give off fumes and some are flammable, so open the windows for plenty of ventilation. Close off the cold-air return if there is one in the room, to prevent the fumes from being spread through the house by the heating or air-conditioning system. Apply the penetrating sealer with a pad applicator, roller, or old brush. Spread the sealer on about a quarter of the floor at a time.

3. Use a floor buffer. For best results, use a floor buffer with steel wool pads to work the sealer into the floor. Change pads when they spit out sealer. If you don't have a buffer, use steel wool pads to wipe up the excess sealer. Work the steel wool in a circular motion, changing pads when they are full of sealer. Wipe up the excess with a clean rag. Move to the next section of floor and repeat the process. After the sealer is buffed up, you can walk on the floor, but keep heavy traffic off until the sealer hardens over- night. When the sealer is dry, wax or surface-coat with polyurethane or varnish.

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