A Simple Way to Refinish Old Hardwood Floors

Old houses have their own unique charm; hardwood floors, pocket doors, and massive wood moldings can be a major part of what attracts buyers to an older property. As these "new old homeowners" begin uncovering their treasure from its layer of grime, they may realize they need to make a decision about the floors.



There may be happy discoveries, such as discovering just how much it would currently cost to get a real hardwood floor! In the flooring market today, buyers need to be careful that the "hardwood" floor they’re considering is solid wood and not a thin layer of wood over engineered material. (This thin layer of wood, or veneer, often cannot be refinished, so this type of flooring loses one of the great strengths of actual hardwood.) Of course, more and more of the "hardwood flooring" offered nowadays is a laminate designed to look like wood. Due to these developments, the real solid hardwood floors hidden in many old homes are becoming a rarer material—a gem.



However, there may be sad discoveries too, such as scrapes, scratches, gauges, and stains marring the wood. Due to the prevalence of shining hardwood floors in designer showrooms and television commercials, homeowners may find themselves a little shocked by the ragged appearance of their floor. Hardwood that has been neglected for a decade or two is often filthy, scratched to death in some spots, and worn to bare wood in others. The first impulse may be to reach for the phone directory, rent a power sander (or hire a professional) and sand the floor down until it looks new. While this is the best choice for some floors, there is an easier, less expensive option!



Sanding hardwood floors is a grueling, messy task. For do-it-yourselfers, the power sander can be frustrating and dangerous to operate; the operator needs to have mastered the art of applying well-balanced pressure with a heavy piece of self-propelled machinery. Resting a moment too long in one spot can easily create a depression in the wood. It takes a lot of study to understand the progression of techniques and sandpaper grits used in power sanding!



Power sanding a hardwood floor creates DUST. This dust will go everywhere; there is no escaping it. Professional services will do their best to reduce the volume of dust and prevent it from contaminating the home, but they aren’t going to stay on site and wash down windows. That’s not what they do.



The pocketbook is the deciding factor for many homeowners! Professional floor refinishers will charge several thousand dollars, depending on the size of the floor and the individual requirements of the job. However, it may be possible to avoid the power sanding, save a fortune, and keep the character of the old floor. While a perfect-looking new floor may be expected in a brand new house, this isn’t necessarily true for an older home. If the owner wants to preserve the look and originality of the floor, while improving its protection and restoring its appearance, this method may be the answer.



First, give the floor a light hand-sanding. Start with a coarser grit of sandpaper. The focus of this sanding should be on roughing up the texture of the old finish and giving it a "tooth" that can hold new clear coat. Remove the hard edges of any spots of chipped clear coat, and soften the appearance of stains, scratches, gauges, or other minor damage. Follow with a second sanding with finer grit sandpaper.

Next, diligently clean every square inch of the floor with lint-free cloth and isopropyl alcohol. Many places sell cubes of recycled t-shirt material for these purposes. After the wood is clean, brush on two coats of semi-gloss or glossy polyurethane. The floor will turn out gorgeous, shiny, and perfect in its imperfection.



Certainly, this isn’t the choice for everyone. If the floor has damaged floorboards that need replacing or if the homeowner wants to add or remove stain, power sanding will be necessary. One of the remarkable qualities of a real hardwood floor is that it has the ability to reinvent itself several times! There’s always a chance to start fresh.



Next time, we’ll discuss the ultimate accessory for a gorgeous hardwood floor. There’s no better way to warm up your space, increase the enjoyment of a living area, and protect the investment in a hardwood floor than with the addition of a custom area rug—the foundation of a room!



The Perfect Rug is a custom rugs and custom area rug company that specializes in rugs fully customizable to any size, shape or material.