Sanding hardwood floors is not always easy. In fact, some hardwood floor owners prefer to hire a professional to do the sanding for them.
Waxing and buffing the floor does not provide as good shine when the hardwood floor is sand instead. Regardless if your hardwood floors were just recently installed in your house, or has been there for years, they could regain back their original beauty and richness of the wood when you refinish them.
Sanding your hardwood floors can be time consuming and may be a bit expensive should you decide to hire a professional to do the job. If you can spare the time, you may also opt to do it yourself. Anyways, all of the necessary equipments are available at almost all rental home depot centers. Also, the steps you would have to do are straightforward so you shouldn't find sanding very difficult.
However, before you start to set out on the task yourself, you may want to consult a professional to estimate the total costs of the project. It might be shock to learn that it could cost a thousand dollars just to have one room refinished. If you find the difference not wide enough, then you can just contract a professional to do the sanding.
Because of the high costs of sanding all of the floors of the house, some even decide to just cover old hardwood floors with carpets. But that would be such a waste, to put beautiful hardwood floors out of sight, right? That's why most people just go through doing the messy sanding jobs themselves to cut on costs.
Sanding can also be scary for some. Who wouldn't be afraid to ruin their hardwood floors, especially if they were quite expensive? If you're not careful enough, you can easily damage your floor with the sander.
If you don't have a sander, you can rent one from your nearest hardware supply store. You'll be needing a drum sander or a belt sander, depending on your hardwood floor type. If you're not sure about the type of sandpaper you need to use, you could always ask the hardware store salesman for advice. Of course, you may have to get yourselves some dust masks so you could still move around even if your room will be filled with saw dust.
The sander is not as difficult to operate as you may have believed. It is self propelling making it easy for the user to move it. However, you would have to keep a firm grip on its controls. It wouldn't take a while when you get the hang of operating it. Some even think that operating a sander is fun.
However, you would still need to be cautious in using the sander. It is like a flat iron that when you keep it in one spot on your clothes, it could burn your clothes. You would have to keep the sander in constant motion to reduce the possibility of damaging the floors.
Also, expect your place to be a bit noisy whenever you turn on the sander. Aside from being noisy, it'll also be creating a lot of saw dust. So you can also expect your room to be full of messy saw dust afterwards.
Sanding removes the old finish of your hardwood. Once you're done with that you can start applying a stain on the floor. Some people though don't apply stain and just prefer to leave the wood in its natural color. Then you would have to give the floor the finish to protect it.
There are two kinds of floor finish. There is an oil-based and water-based floor finishing. Under these major types, are a few subtypes. For example, there are semi-gloss, satin or gloss oil-based finishes.
Satin is a great choice for your hardwood floor. It provides a good cover for hardwood flaws while letting its natural beauty show without that bright shine. Though oil-based finish are good in giving the floor a natural amber glow, it doesn't dry as soon as water based finishes. Water based finished also have the advantage of keeping the wood from yellowing.
Before you start applying the next coats, by the way, ensure that the previous coat is completely dry. Of course, it is as important to follow the instructions on the finish. Usually, you may not occupy the room within a ceratin amount time. Then when everything's ok, and you're satisfied with what you've done, you can move all your furniture back again.
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