Four Steps To Prepare Hardwood Floors For A New Finish
Posted on: 25 August 2020
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Preparing a hardwood floor for a new finish is fairly simple, although it can be time-consuming. You should make sure the hardwood floor is ready for finishing, otherwise the finish may not adhere evenly or may make damaged areas more visible afterwards.
1. Floor Preparation
Before any work can begin, the floor must be prepared. First, all furniture in the room must be removed so that the floor is revealed. If old carpeting was recently torn up, nails and fasteners will need to be removed. Next, the floor will be dusted and vacuumed so that there are no debris to impede the rest of the process. You can also deep clean the hardwood floor with a cleaner, although this isn't usually necessary since the old finish will be removed.
2. Room Sealing
Once the floor is ready, the room must be prepared. Refinishing produces a lot of sawdust, so the room must be sealed off from the rest of the house. Vents should be covered with plastic sheeting, as should doorways and pass-through windows into other rooms. Anything that can be damaged by wood dust should also be sealed off, such as electrical outlets and wall thermostats. Even with sealing, some wood dust may get into the rest of the home, so be prepared to clean deeply once the refinishing is complete.
3. Damage Repairs
Refinishing will remove many types of damages, such as surface stains and rough areas, but some damages will require a little advance care. Deep holes or cracks may need to be filled with a wood filler. Your refinishing experts will choose a stainable filler so that the repair won't be highly visible. Sometimes, a board is so damaged that repair isn't possible, such as if the wood has begun to rot. In this case, your refinishing service will need to replace the board, taking care to match it to the old boards as closely as possible.
4. Sanding
Once repairs are made, the floor is ready to be sanded. Sanding after repairs will smooth out any patches and further help them blend into the existing wood. Only a thin layer of the wood is sanded away, which is why you can have the floors sanded and refinished multiple times before the boards become too thin. Once the floors are sanded and satiny smooth, the techs will use a high powered vacuum to remove all of the sawdust so it doesn't cause a gritty surface once the finish is applied.
Contact a hardwood flooring refinishing service if you have more questions about the process.