If you’re looking to save money on your home improvement project, perhaps you should consider refinishing your own hardwood floors rather than paying the high price tag a professional would charge. While it may not require quite the investment of money to refinish your own hardwood floors, it does require a significant investment of time. It is often possible to rent the equipment at a fraction of the cost that it would require in order to buy them and less than a professional would charge.

The first step in refinishing your hardwood floors is removing all furniture, rugs, and mats that are on the floor. It’s also a good idea to wear a dust mask as you are going to be stirring up quite the dust storm as you go about your business.

Refinishing hardwood floors is an excellent way to restore existing hardwood floors to their former glory. You can buy many books on refinishing hardwood floors and you may find some in your local library at no charge, you can also find a great wealth of information on the subject online. You will need a heavy-duty sander for the task of smoothing out any rough spots and removing the existing stain. You will want to move the sander on the floor in one direction that moves with the line of the hardwood rather than going across it. This is especially important to do if your hardwood floors have beveled edges or small grooves. You also need to take care that you aren’t applying more pressure in some spots than others as doing so will result in pits in your floor and more sanding in your future.

Once you’ve finished with your initial sanding you must sweep and vacuum the dust from your floor and lightly wash it. This part is often not given the proper care it deserves and is very important when refinishing hardwood floors. The reason it is so important is that the tiniest speck of dirt and dust will show up when you stain the floor. It is also important that you use only a damp mop for washing the floor rather than a wet mop. If there is too much water in the floor that has been sanded it will cause stains.

After drying the floor you will be ready for the next step in the refinishing process. You have many options for the color of your stain depending on the type of wood you have and your personal preference or you can choose to leave it a natural color. There’s also a relatively new protective coating for hardwood floors called polyurethane. You can choose high gloss or low luster depending on how shiny you prefer your floors. The more coats you put on, the glossier your finish will be. It is vital that you do not apply additional coats until the previous coat is completely dry.

While refinishing hardwood floors is time consuming, you do not have to move out of your home in order to accomplish it. The stains and protective coatings do not have harsh fumes so they are not dangerous to breathe. You do want to take care not to walk on your floor until it is completely dry. If you do not wait you will have wasted all that time and effort and have to either start over or try to hide the footprints.

Need hardwood floor refinishing tips? Do you know how to properly clean your hardwood floors? Visit http://www.refinishinghardwood.com for more details.

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Hardwood floors are an elegant part of any home, of any room in your home. They do require maintenance, however, and refinishing hardwood floors is part of that maintenance schedule. You can accomplish this yourself, as hardwood floor refinishing is not impossibly difficult. If you put a little patient effort into the task, your floors will shine like new.

There are two parts in the procedure for refinishing hardwood floors: sanding, which cleans away any old dirt and smooths the old wood in order to give it a fresh appearance; and staining, which is performed after the sanding, gives the old hardwood floor a smoother, glossier sheen.

Before you attempt refinishing your hardwood floor, you should always do this simple test to make sure that it is necessary. All you need to do is place a drop of water on your floor. If it absorbs rather quickly, you need to refinish, but if it doesn’t absorb, or it slow at absorbing, you do not need to refinish your hardwood floor at this time.

Before refinishing the floor, you should check that the floor does not need any repair work. All repair work should be completed before refinishing the floor. Examples of problems that require repair are badly stained wood, warped or squeaky floor boards, and other permanent damage.

If you have found that your flooring could use a face lift but isn’t in need of other repairs, you can start your project. To get started, take everything out of the room, cover up vents and other openings such as light fixtures and vents. There will be a large amount of dust once you begin sanding and to sand a floor is a messy job.

You will need a drum sander for your first sanding. The drum sander is a powerful tool and damaging the wood while sanding is easy to do. To avoid this, keep the sander moving, never letting it stay in one place for more than a few seconds. However, don’t rush. When encountering corners and other areas you cannot reach with the drum sander, use an edge sander.

After you finish sanding, clean up the dust and debris. Now, you’re ready to stain the floor. There are several kinds of stains available – water based and oil based stains with a variety of appearances. Choose the one that suits your floor best, and follow all instructions given. You should pay special attention to how many coats are needed and how long the stain takes to dry.

Once you have learned how to refinish hardwood floors, you will never need to hire a professional. The process of refinishing hardwood floors is time consuming, but it is worthwhile when your dull and dingy floor is gleaming and shiny. When the stain is dry, congratulations! You have just refinished your floor yourself. Let your beautiful new floor assure you that it was well worth the effort.

Visit us for more information on types of hardwood floors, refinishing wood floors, and how to install bamboo hardwood floors.

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Some people will tell you that sanding is the best thing to do while refinishing hardwood floors. However, that is not so. The fact is that your hardwood floor has a particular character that it has developed through decades, and sanding destroys most of it. Some of the wood is also removed, and the floor becomes thinner as a result. And all the dust that sanding creates will prevent you from applying a new finish smoothly. So is there another way of refinishing hardwood floors? Yes, there is. And a better one at that. This alternative is inexpensive too, apart from being much easier to handle. The floor’s protection is renewed, its character is preserved, and you retain all the wood. Now what could be better?

Start refinishing hardwood floors by making necessary repairs. Add new wood if required. Try to match the grade, species, and the age of the new flooring to the existing one. If you feel it’s needed, sand the repair area lightly. Vacuum the room before you go on to the next step.

The Process Of Chemically Refinishing A Hardwood Floor

Use a mild Trisodium Phosphate solution or plain water to wash the old floor, taking good care not to wet any part of the new wood. Leave the floor to dry for a day. Next, use a wax remover on the old portions, and leave it for another couple of days.

Here’s a list of all the things you need in refinishing hardwood floors. Visit a paint shop to get all of these – lacquer thinner; denatured alcohol; and a corrosion- resistant, screw-top container that will hold both of these. You also need a quality oil finish that matches the current color or is very similar to it; some chemical resistant refinishing pads; a floor polishing stick; a chemical resistant pan; and a floor polishing machine with steel wool pads to fit it.

Make a half-and-half mixture of the lacquer thinner and denatured alcohol in the large can, pour some of it into a glass dish, and start working the floor in parts, staining the new wood to blend them in with the old floor. Leave the floor like that for two or three days. The last step in refinishing hardwood floors is sealing the floor. Polyurethane is the most popular choice of sealant. Applying three coats is the best way to go. So by the end of it, you have a hardwood floor as good as new.

A.Caxton contributes adding articles to http://www.home-decorating-reviews.com . A magazine on home decorating and how to choose from hundreds of decorating ideas and tips. More information on how to install hardwood floors

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What does hardwood floor refinishing have to do with your oriental rugs?
Read on – you may be surprised at what may be “lurking” under those rugs on your floor – and you’ll get some tips for fixing this hidden situation that you’ve probably never seen before.
Here is the main problem – wood floors are made of an organic substance and are in a constant state of change – ageing or “curing”, you could say. And they age or cure quite differently in the areas where they constantly have a rug on top of them.
Why do they cure differently under the rug? Because under the rug they just are not getting light and air on the surface, like the rest of the floor does. So, why is this a problem?
Well, the place where the rug sits on the wood floor will, over time, turn DARKER than the rest of the floor, so you are stuck with this two-tone-looking floor unless you decide to keep a rug of the same size (or larger) on it to cover up the color difference.
This color difference happens a lot faster in a couple of instances:
1.When the rug is placed back on top of the floor too soon after the hardwood floor refinishing or recoating process. The finish needs a week to cure before putting the rug back down. So, this problem is easy to avoid – just wait a week after getting your hardwood floor refinished to put your rug back down.
2.When the edge of the rug is in direct sunlight a good bit of the day: this makes the contrast between rug and no-rug quite pronounced because part of the floor is getting a lot of light and part of it is not- this is a place on your floor to really watch out for and pay attention to.
3.The worst color differences are made when a RUBBER mat (or any plastic/petroleum-based sort of mat material) is used under the rug. These mats make it so the wood floor does not get to breathe at all. A wood floor needs to breathe. Those texturized, plasticized mats eventually stick to and even EAT INTO the floor to some extent, leaving their patterns in the wood finish, sometimes quite deeply. Quite often there is this waffle pattern embedded into the finish, and possibly into the hardwood floor itself. So, do not use the rubber pads – use felt pads. The rubber pads may be more nonskid, but you’re going to have a problem if they stay down on top of your wood floor.
It is sad to see these problems on an otherwise-wonderful wood floor.
I created a hardwood floor refinishing restoration system that is dustless with no harsh sanding and it works great on lots of floors, but with this rug-induced-color-difference thing there is no way to fix it, short of sanding it all back down to bare wood and starting over again.
So, how do you have oriental rugs on your wood floors and not get the two-toned effect?
Here are some recommendations for you:
1. Consider taking up the oriental rugs for the summertime each year – the floors will be able to breathe underneath and the intense summer sun streaming in will not be as likely to make color differences at the edge of the rug that way ,too.
2. Get felt pads for your rugs.
3. “Migrate” your rugs a bit – move them a foot or two out of their usual position and leave them that way for a few months, then move them back – this should help lessen the color-lines effect on your floors. Another way to achieve this same effect would be to put a smaller or larger rug in the room for a while, then put the original rug back into place after a few months, and rotate rugs that way – hey, it will be fun – instant redecorating!
At the very least, I am hoping that by reading this article you will now be curious and motivated enough to pull your rugs back at the edges a bit to see what is going on with your floors, then take the steps outlined above to help get things on the right track for your wood floors.
Nobody wants to sand their wood floors down if it is at all avoidable, so pull back your rugs a bit today and get started on some strategies to get this problem minimized, reduced, or even keep it from happening to your hardwood floors.

Matthew Shelton has worked on floors for over 30 years and is the creator of WornWoodMagic,
an exclusive process of refinishing hardwood floors back to beauty with no sanding
and absolutely no dust. Come check out the case studies, before/after pictures
and more good hardwood floor refinishing tips at: http://www.WornWoodMagic.com

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When you are considering a home remodel or upgrade, flooring is one of the major considerations. For homes with aged hardwood floors, it can be a challenge financially and physically to find the best solution to the problem scratches, dents and water damage have caused to your flooring over the years.

Replace the Flooring

Your first option is to completely remove and then replace the aged flooring. Hardwood is expensive in comparison to other flooring options, but there is simply no substitute when it comes to aesthetics. If you love the look of hardwood, but you can’t salvage the flooring you already have, remove it and replace it all with a new variety or just replace the most heavily damaged sections to be more budget conscious.

Refinish the Wood

Refinishing might be the ideal solution to wood flooring that has only surface damage such as nicks and scrapes from heavy use and time. Rotted wood or wood that has been warped due to water damage can not be refinished, but if you can simply remove the top layer of the wood and reseal it, your floors will appear brand new again.

Cover the Wood with Carpet

If you’re trying to find the most cost effective solution for a new option in the room or home, it is simple to lay carpet over the hardwood flooring so long as the wood is not damaged to a point where it is unleveled or unsafe. Scarred wooden planks disappear under beautiful new rooms of carpet and the price is far less in most cases that refinishing the wood. If you do elect to cover your wooden flooring with carpet, be sure not to glue the carpet pad to the boards – this might be something you or a future owner would regret down the road when you decide to remove the carpet and use the hardwood again.

Invest in Large Area Rugs

Rather than install all new carpet, cover the bulk of the aged floor using area rugs. You can buy designer rugs that suit the style of your room and cover large portions of damaged flooring or you can have a room-sized rug custom-made from a carpet retailer. Select a carpet and the retailer can have the edges bound to make a rug of almost any size. Simply unroll the rug in the room and only the edges of the wood will show. This gives the impression of a wooden floor without the wear and tear being visible and spoiling the effect.

Distress the Whole Floor

Rather than agonize about one section of flooring that has been scratched, make the whole floor match that single section. Distressed hardwood flooring is extremely popular is it doesn’t show any wear and tear over the years as new damage is simply integrated into existing, intentional damage. Consult a flooring expert to determine the best way to distress the hardwood yourself and you’ll save considerable amounts over other flooring options.

If you are looking to [http://www.hardwoodflooringco.com/buy-hardwood-flooring.html]buy a hardwood floor be sure to check out the [http://www.hardwoodflooringco.com]hardwood flooring guide for useful information and advice on selecting, buying and caring for wooden floors at HardwoodFlooringCo.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ralph_Hardington http://EzineArticles.com/?Five-Ways-to-Improve-Aged-Hardwood-Flooring&id=1867437

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