Polish a Hardwood Floor
Polishing a hardwood floor ensures a better and nice look of your hardwood floors. It\’s another way to get a new hardwood floor without buying a new one. In order to polish a hardwood floor, it definitely takes a lot of time, patience, the proper tools and techniques. You have to do the polishing of the floor because whenever the hardwood floor starts to look worn out, it just needs a little polishing, which will provide it with a more shining look. Although there is a lot of work to be done, it is well worth the time and effort that you spend on this task. Moreover, look at it as an investment where you get to save money instead of spending heavily. Most hardwood floors need a little polishing while some only need a color makeover or maybe changing the sheen level. Others might need a conversion from a waxed finish to a lesser maintenance type of finishes. Nevertheless, you will find below the ways to polish your hardwood floors.
What you need:
- Wide brooms
- Heavy and light sandpaper
- Gloves
- Rollers with long handle
- Floor wax or polyurethane finish
- Brushes
- Dust masks
- Wood stain
- A dozen or so rags
- Floor sanders and edger
- Shop vacuums
Method:
- Before sanding the floor, you need to remove all the rugs and furniture from the room. You must check the floor for any nails, carpet staples or tacks, because all of these materials could rip your sandpaper and ruining the sheet which will require even more work to be done.
- Use the newer orbital sanders designed for floor polishing, which is much easier to control. Purchase good sandpaper ranging from 36, 60, 80 or 100 grits and clip it into the sander.
- When doing the sanding, you need to run it according to the direction of the wood grain. Try to keep the machine in motion and use several long strokes to even it out.
- Once finished with that one, go over the floor again using a much lighter grain sandpaper to get more beautiful smooth floors and use sequentially grits starting from 36 to 60 to 80 to 100.
- Use a broom or vacuum to clear off any dirt or dust from the floor before you start to apply stain on the floor.
- You can apply a first coat of stain onto the floor by using a brush especially for heavier or darker coats. For lighter stain, you can use rags to work in the staining process. Leave it to dry thoroughly before you start to apply the finish.
- Next, apply polyurethane with a brush or roller and in order to avoid marks in the finish, use smooth and even strokes along with the grain. Leave the finish to dry for at least 3 hours.
- Finally, add its second coat and allow it to dry overnight or up to 3 days before you can start moving back all the furniture or rugs back on to the floor.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-involved-with-refinishing-a-hardwood-floor.htm
http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwoodinstaller/refinish.htm
Image Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74783045@N00/4723875733/
