Sanding a hardwood floor

Sanding a hardwood floor can be done in home. Create your own beautiful, natural effect with a polished hardwood floor.

Is that old carpet getting you down? Is it faded, stain embedded or just plain old fashioned? Well, how about pulling it up? You may just find that beneath it you have the makings of a first rate polished hardwood floor. Such a surface can add a real sense of charm to your home – but only if it’s done right. Here’s how:

(1) After carefully removing the carpet, sweep up all of the remaining dirt and other debris from the floor. Set all protruding nails into the floor so they are flush.

(2) Hire a sanding machine, ideally a disk type one. Fit it with coarse sandpaper and do an initial sweep of the floor to remove the roughness.

(3) Repeat sanding with the coarse paper and then do a third sanding with fine sand paper. Obviously the more sanding done with a fine sand paper, the better the final finish will be.

(4) After about the third pass, buff the floor with steel wool using a steel wool buffing machine.

(5) Use an edger to get at corners and edges after each pass by with the sanding machine. If you don’t have an edge sander, you will have to sand these areas by hand.

(6) Give the floor a careful check to ensure that all blemishes, nicks and scratches have been removed.

(7) Make sure that the floor is perfectly clean. You are now ready to apply your stain. Choose an oil based pigment stain and apply it with a brush. Use a painter’s tack rag to pick up any debris you spot in your path. Make sure that you are applying the stain only to bare, clean wood. Try to do the job with an indoor temperature of around 70 degrees.

(8) After the first coat has thoroughly dried, buff the floor with steel wool and then apply your final coat.

Apart from using a stain you may, of course, choose to apply either a varnish, a polyurethane or a penetrating sealer to your floor. If varnishing proceed as above but apply a coating of floor wax on the finished product. Finish off with a machine buffer. If using polyurethane make sure you work along the grain of the wood. Buff with steel wool between coats. To apply a penetrating sealer use a mop. Wipe up any excess with a cloth. Buff with No.2 Steel Wool after the first application and then apply a second coating.

Take your time with this project. Be especially careful not to allow any dust or dirt to contaminate the finishing process. And for the best results don’t leave it too long between the sanding and finishing stages of the job. This will prevent changes in moisture conditions from affecting the grain.