How to finish Hardwood Floor Planks

Professionals agree that finishing and refinishing hardwood floors is hard work. Nevertheless, the process is simple and straightforward, and the needed equipment can easily be obtained at home improvement stores, hardware stores, and rental centers. If you’ve never used a sander or buffer before, get instructions and a demonstration at the rental center before you bring them home. Remove anything that isn’t permanent and sweep the floor well. With your pliers, remove any leftover carpeting staples. Use your hammer to sink all exposed nails that could damage your equipment. There will be a lot of dust, so hang plastic sheeting over doorways and secure rags and towels under doorways and over air vents. Make sure no major repairs need to be done to the floors before you start sanding. Use your ear protection and put on your dust mask and safety goggles before you start.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Hammer
• Diagonal pliers
• Ear protection
• Tack cloths, rags, towels, and plastic sheeting
• Dust masks, safety goggles, and gloves
• Drum sander (with coarse, medium, and fine sandpaper)
• Floor edger
• Buffer with a fine abrasive screen
• Orbital/Palm sander
• Shop Vacuum
• Putty knife and wood putty of the correct color
• Lamb’s wool and natural bristle brush or foam applicators
• Wood stain (oil-based) and brush
• Water-based urethane wood finish

Finish Hardwood Floor Planks

1. The drum sander should first be fitted with the coarse sandpaper (20 to 36 grit). Begin in an area that receives little visual exposure, like underneath where a large item of furniture would be. Turn the machine on with the drum off of the floor, and then gradually lower it onto the hardwood surface, while walking the sander forward at the same time. Move with the grain of the wood. Move steadily from wall to wall, making both a forward and a backward pass of each row that you make. Complete half to two thirds of the room at a time before moving on to the next section of the room.

2. Use the edge sander to sand wall edges and corners that cannot be accessed using the larger drum sander. Raise up the edge sander, turn it on, and lower it to the wood. With a left to right arcing motion, and very little pressure, gently sand the floor.

3. Change to medium grit sandpaper (50 to 60 grit). Sand the entire floor again the same way. When you’re finished, fill in any cracks with matching wood putty and hammer down any nails that were exposed during sanding.

4. For the final sanding, use a fine (80-100 grit) abrasive and finish with a palm sander around the edges to smooth the area out. Vacuum the entire floor, the walls, and the ceiling to remove dust. Buff the floor along the grain of the wood using a fine abrasive screen to prep the floor for staining.

5. Before staining, make sure the area is ventilated well. Put out any cigarettes, extinguish pilot lights, and turn off any open flames in the area because you will be working with flammable chemicals. Put on your gloves, and using one rag, apply stain along the wood’s grain, and with another rag, remove the excess. If possible, split these duties with a friend so that one person can apply the stain while the other person wipes the excess away. Change rags often. Use as many coats as necessary to obtain the desired richness of color.

6. Allow the stain to dry overnight and avoid walking on the floor. Apply the wood finish by using a high quality natural bristle brush or foam applicator to reach the edges and corners. You will need about 3 thin coats of finish. Avoid drips and thick overlaps of finish. Start at the most distant point from the doorway and apply an even coat. While the finish is still wet, blend in any brush marks with a lamb's wool or foam applicator. Drag a damp cloth across the floor to pick up all the dust. Apply the final coat just like the previous coats. Stay off the finish and avoid stirring up any dust while the finish cures.

Tips & Warnings

• If cracks and gaps are present, fill them with wood putty and a putty knife before sanding. If floors are badly warped, do not sand with the wood grain. Sand diagonally to the grain. Floors with only shallow scratches or a dull surface need only a topcoat of finish.
• Maple floors are a softer wood and are difficult to sand and stain well. Let a professional refinish them.
• If the floor feels spongy, sags, or if floorboards are buckled/warped, you should consider replacing them since refinishing them will not be enough.
• A wood floor can only be refinished so many times because each sanding will remove more wood. Check the floor’s edges to see how much wood remains.
• Note that the first finish coat could cause the wood’s grain to rise a bit. If so, you’ll need to sand or buff the floor again before applying the last coat of finish.
• The drum sander seems like a big, loud, unruly piece of equipment and scares off most people from refinishing their own wood floor. It can also seriously damage hardwood floors. Using it correctly takes some getting used to, but with a little practice, you can do it as long as you're careful. Never stop moving while the sander is operating. A sander can badly gouge a floor in mere seconds. If you must stop or pause, lift up the drum, and turn the unit off.

Resources

• Hometime.com is a great do-it-yourself resource!