Guide to Refinishing 100 Year Old Oak Floors in a Kitchen

Bring a new shine to your old oak floors.

Oak is often used for flooring because it's very durable. Unlike some other types of flooring, it can be refinished -- even old oak floors can be brought back to their former glory. Sanding with ever-finer grades of paper removes decades of old wax, stain and grime, and leaves the wood smooth and ready for new finish.

Preparing the Floor and the Room

Before you can refinish your old oak floors, you need to prepare them for the work ahead. Start by removing loose items from the room, including from the walls and windows. Sanding wood floors produces a lot of dust that you don't want on your curtains. Seal doorways with plastic to contain dust as well, and place a fan in an open window to blow dust outside. Remove the nails from your baseboards and take them off as well. Number them and the walls to help with putting everything back together. Go over the entire floor and countersink any protruding nails. Fill any deep holes or cracks with wood putty to smooth the surface.

Sanding the Floor

Head to the equipment rental store. Professionals use drum sanders, but orbital sanders are easier to handle, and you're less likely to sand too deeply in any one spot. Purchase sanding pads in 36, 60, 80, 100 and 120 grades. Start with the 36-grade paper and work over the whole floor in short, back-and-forth strokes. Use each of the grades of paper until the floor is smooth. Use an edging palm sander to reach the corners and edges that you didn't get with the orbital sander. Next, use a shop vac to remove every bit of dust.

Troubleshooting Problems

Once you have the floor smooth, take another look at it and see if there are any spots or marks regular sanding didn't tackle completely. If burn marks made their way through the original finish to the wood, you'll need to hand-sand those spots more deeply to remove the darkening. Pet urine is notorious for soaking deeply into wood floors. If this is the case on your old floor, sand those areas more deeply. If you can't get through to good wood, contact a professional to talk about replacing that section of floor.

Staining and Sealing

Once your floor is smooth and prepared, it's time to restain it. Start in the corner opposite the door and work outward to both sides and forward toward the door. Wear socks you don't mind ruining in case you have to walk on the stained floor. Use a rag for a lighter color, or a brush for darker, deeper stain. Work with the grain of the wood, and keep a wet edge so that you don't have lines in the finish where the stain dried. Work quickly, wiping extra stain from finished parts of the floor after 10 minutes. Once the first coat is dry, lightly sand it with a fine-grain sandpaper, remove all dust and apply a second coat. Let the second coat dry, then apply a polyurethane varnish to protect the new stain and add shine.

References

• ReNest: How To Refinish Hardwood Floors: Part One
• Wood Flooring Guide: How to Refinish Oak Flooring
• This Old House: Refinishing School; John D. Wagner