How to Refinish Wood Floors Without Sanding

Sanding hardwood floors is time-consuming as well as messy. There are times when you may want to refinish a floor without all of the fuss, bother and mess of sanding. While sanding generally produces the best results when you are refinishing your wood floors, adequate results can be obtained in many cases without resorting to sanding, especially if there are no deep gouges or scratches in your floors.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Vacuum
• Water
• Ammonia
• Mop
• Buffer (rental)
• Tack cloths
• Foam or lambs wool applicator
• Polyurethane floor finish
• Breathing mask

1. Remove all furniture. Vacuum your floor, removing as much dirt, grit and grime as possible.

2. Add 1/2 cup of ammonia to a gallon of warm water and mop your floor to remove any remaining dust and grime. Wipe your floor with dry cotton towels until completely dry.

3. Buff your floor with an electric buffer. Buffers can be rented at most home centers and many large hardware stores. Start in the middle of the room and work your way to the edges. It may take a few minutes to get the feel for using the buffer. Buff in large circular patterns.

4. Wipe your floor with tack cloths to pick up the last remnants of dust.

5. Open windows for ventilation. Wear a breathing mask. Pour a dinner-plate-size puddle of polyurethane near one wall furthest away from the room's door. Use your lamb's wool or foam applicator to apply an even coat of the polyurethane to the floor. Continue applying the polyurethane until you have worked your way to the door.

6. Allow the polyurethane to dry for a full 24 hours.

Tips & Warnings

• The cleaner your floor is when you apply the polyurethane, the better your finished floor will look.
• If you have not used a floor buffer before, there may be a short learning curve before you can control the machine.