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Hardwood floors are aesthetically appealing when taken care of. But if they haven’t been maintained or refinished for many years, then the floors will end up in terrible condition.
Since refinishing the whole house’s floors can be a challenging as well as tiring job, you can consider hiring some professionals to do the project.
But if you want to save that extra money, you can choose to do it yourself. If you are considering a renewed hardwood floor, you can try out phoenix wood floor refinishing. It is quite popular at the moment and looks great too.
Do you want to know some of the best tips that will help in doing the job in a much smoother way? Keep reading the article till the end.
Tips You Should Understand Before Refinishing Hardwood Floors
1. Keep Moving
The first rule to keep in mind while refinishing the hardwood floor is to continue the movement without stopping in between.
The biggest risk in sanding your floors is holding the movement and randomly sanding a hole into the floor.
The drum sander is a powerful tool and has the capacity to do that in no time. Thus, be careful while the sander is on and keep moving.
2. Keep a Check on the Cord
The cord that comes with the sander is too long and clumsy. It can be your biggest obstacle while doing the job.
So, do not forget to keep an eye on it while you are refinishing your hardwood floor. Otherwise, chances are there you might trip over it.
3. Use the Grain for Sanding
The sander will put marks on the floor, and these marks cannot be ignored, no matter how many grits are being used.
They will be nearly undetectable if the sanding is done in the direction of the grain, as the grain will hide any kinds of marks. Thus, it is advisable to sand with the grain and not perpendicular to the grain.
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4. Avoid Staining in a Weird Floor Pattern
Irregular patterns on the floor might appear to be very interesting. Still, they are equally challenging to refinish since the grain pattern isn’t constantly facing a similar direction.
This is why you should always choose to keep sanding with the grain.
Thus, this will end in a number of tiny marks from the drum sander looming on the floor. The solution here is to avoid stains while sanding.
Any kind of stain on the floor will make the marks become more visible.
5. Choose a Good Sander
It is important to ensure that you get a good sander, especially if you choose to rent it out from somewhere. Otherwise, it will double the work and you definitely don’t want that.
6. Have a Friend with You
The drum sander that you choose to bring home can be heavy. In such a case, there can be no way you can lift the sander from the car yourself and get it inside.
Thus, finding a friend is advised for no reason but to help you get the sander in and out of the car.
7. Buy Extra Sandpaper
It is always better to purchase a few extra sandpapers in case your sander is slightly more shrunk. Also, if you have a very sticky floor, you might end up tearing up your sandpaper faster.
Then, if you don’t use it, you can return the sandpaper to the store when you’re returning the sander.
8. Put Your Flooring Finish Applicator Inside the Refrigerator
Dealing with the applicator after every coat can be time-consuming, especially in oil-based polyurethane, as that stuff is difficult to wash.
Hence, either uses a water-based polyurethane. Or, the best way to get rid of the polyurethane is to dip the applicator in a big-sized bag and then keep it inside the refrigerator.
This stops the applicator from turning dry and allows you to use it many hours later without washing.
Conclusion
Most of the hardwood floors are far beyond small fixes. Dusty, dirty floors with thick scratches and deep gaps need to be refinished. Thus, if you are thinking of refinishing your floors, don’t be afraid!
Hopefully, the above tips help you to make things simpler. If you have any related doubts, leave a comment below. Stay connected to read such content.
