5 Things You Need to Know Before You Can Refinish Your Hardwood Floors

One of the more popular jobs my Chicago hardwood flooring company gets called to do, besides installation, is refinish hardwood floors. Some floors are close to 100 years old and can be a major undertaking to restore.

While for sake of time and sanity, it makes sense to hire a company, should you decide to do the job yourself, here are some tips to know.

1. It is a lot of hard work. 

Indeed, a lot of work. Depending on the size of your house and how much flooring you plan on refinishing, it can range anywhere from five days to seven or eight. And they will be long days. On one of my first jobs, it was a refinishing job for a house that wanted to redo their four bedrooms, the hallway, large living room, and the kitchen; I thought this was going to be a three day job. No sir! It took six days.

2. Know what is covering your floors. 

Back to the house I just mentioned in my first job. It was old and a little run down. Someone just bought it at an auction. Each room had a special challenge. A few of the rooms had no finish left on the floor and the previous owner had painted over the floors with this ugly yellow paint. One of the bedrooms had carpet covering the floor, then a thick layer of blue paint, then the hardwood floor. Due to the differences in coverings on the floor, we had to adjust our sanding style.

3. Price out your equipment. 

You will want to get a drum sander and an edger. Both are must-haves. Shop around and find the best price.

4. Stir up the poly between each use, okay? 

Some novices will make this mistake and it can be frustrating. If you use polyurethane, know that it is shiny but you can add a powder to reduce the shine. However, this powder will settle to the bottom so you have to stir the poly to keep it all mixed up. If you do not do this, then you might find some spots in your floors that are very shiny amongst more matte looks.

5. Know when to be done. 

Know when enough is enough. When you are refinishing old floors, there are going to be uneven spots; if your floors are covered in paint, you might find that you can't sand off the paint without ruining the floor. If you can't get the uneven spot or paint to go away without ruining the floor, do not ruin the floor. Sometimes, those little paint cracks or dip in the wood can make your floor feel and look vintage and organic.

Of course, if you cannot get a large bit of paint off or the floor is just in too bad of shape to restore, you can always cover with laminate hardwood flooring.

If you are unsure of what to do or would rather hire a company, then contact Chicagoland Pro, a hardwood flooring company in Chicagoland.



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