How to Avoid Sanding Hardwood Floors
It's a pain to sand hardwood floors when you're trying to complete a home remodeling project. But you don't have to spend money to rent or buy a sanding machine and supplies. There are several ways to avoid sanding your hardwood floors that are cost-effective and will allow you to focus on other parts of your project. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Laminate or hardwood floor planks
- Shellac or laminate
- Brushes
- Carpeting or rugs
- Chemical stripping solution
- Scraping tools
Instructions
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Option 1: Lay new hardwood planks or laminate wood flooring over the existing hardwood floor. Laminate flooring pieces are relatively inexpensive compared to real wood. Many modern hardwood planks have a convenient "lock-in" technology for easy assembly. Be sure to place underlayment (buffer that absorbs each step over the floor) on top of the old hardwood floor before laying new planks.
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Option 2: Apply several layers of floor shellac or lacquer (polyurethane) to the hardwood floor. You will still have bumps and imperfections in the floor and it won't be as aesthetically pleasing as it would be if the floor were sanded thoroughly, but the shellac will seal the floor, resist moisture,and delay wear and tear on the hardwood.
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Option 3: Install wall-to-wall carpeting on the floor. You can also place an area rug over the roughest areas of the floor. This will usually only work if you have a floor with a few rough patches. But if the entire floor is coarse, buy a rug (or remainder from a carpet store) that is large enough to cover the entire floor of a room, except for a small sliver on the edges.
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Option 4: Chemically strip the wood floor to remove the top layer of lacquer instead of sanding it down. In this process, you apply a chemical solution to the hardwood floor with a brush, let it sit, and then scrape off the top layer with a scraping tool. See "Resources" below, for a visual representation of the process.
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Tips & Warnings
If you do decide to sand your hardwood floor, hire a professional. Floor sanding may seem easy, but you can damage the floor, cause uneven "chatter" marks and dig unattractive notches into the floor that are almost impossible to fix. Compare the cost of each of your alternatives to the cost of hiring a professional sander. You may find that it is more cost-effective to sand and refinish the original floor.
