When it comes to sanding and refinishing your hardwood floors, it’s all about timing! While it is true that the appearance of hardwood flooring improves with age, the aesthetic appeal will not last as long as you think. There will come a time when simply cleaning the floor is no longer effective – such as when deep scratches penetrate the coating or certain areas become warped or permanently stained. This is when you need to consider refinishing your flooring instead.
There is Still Hope for Your Floors
You can successfully sand the average hardwood floor up to eight times throughout its life, especially if it has the standard 3/4 inch thickness. This is good to know since the average hardwood floor lasts at least ten years before it starts to reveal deep scratches, discoloring, dullness and other significant signs of wear and tear. Therefore, even if the current condition of your hardwood flooring appears to be unappealing, there is still hope for you to rejuvenate and restore its original beauty.
What Hardwood Floor Refinishing Involves
Your hardwood floors can be refinished first by using a drum sander to eliminate all deep stains and scratches in addition to leveling areas that are not even. The species’ grain will be successfully restored by the sanding, which will restore the overall look and visual appeal that you have always loved about your hardwood floors. You can then use an industrial grade vacuum cleaner to clear away the particles, dust and debris that accumulated while you were sanding.
Staining Hardwood Floors
Finding the perfect stain color for your floors that compliments the other wood tones and design details in your home can maximize the added value the hardwood floors bring to your house. You should consider the following: the species of wood you have will make a difference in your stain choices. Lighter, more natural stain colors will generally show the wood’s whorls and knots, and can really open up a room that is small and doesn’t get a lot of light. Darker stains are great for camouflaging the wood’s natural imperfections, but will show more scratches, dust and pet hair.
Once you have narrowed it down to a few shades, your flooring professional will use a plank of your wood flooring to create a few samples with varying finishes. This way you will really get a good idea of how each color will look in your home, and you’ll have peace of mind when you pick your favorite.
The Final Stage of Sealing your Floors
The dirt and debris has all been removed. You are enjoying the beauty of your newly sanded hardwood floors. However, you are not finished yet with the refinishing process. The final stage consists of using a polyurethane sealers in order to increase the floor’s resistance to constant traffic. Whether it is an oil-based or water-based type solely depends on your personal preference. A water-based sealer is the perfect choice if you would love to keep a clear coating. One of the main advantages of water-based polyurethane is how quickly it dries. Because of that you can apply two coats in three hours and walk on the floor in your socks after few more hours. If you want your hardwood floors to turn a light amber color with age, use the oil-based sealer. Oil-based on the other hand dries longer, which means you can’t walk on the finished area for 12 to 18 hours after coating and it also emits noxious fumes.
Once you have completed these steps carefully and cautiously, you will be able to sit back and enjoy the beauty and brilliance of your newly refinished hardwood floors.
TipTop Flooring provides hardwood flooring installation, floor refinishing and floor repair services for all types of flooring such as hardwood flooring, engineered flooring, bamboo flooring and laminate flooring. We are a locally owned and operated flooring company that takes pride in our work. We offer a no hassle guarantee on all services in order to ensure happy, satisfied customers that provide local word of mouth referrals you can count on.
To request your free no obligation estimate please contact us at 416-433-2323.