Home Makeover on a Budget: 5 Steps to Refinishing Hardwood Floors

Over the years, the hardwood floors in your home are going to get scratched and worn down. You can breathe some new life into those floors by refinishing them! We’re going to walk you through the steps on refinishing hardwood floors so you can have a new floor without the new floor cost.

There are tons of benefits of having hardwood floors in your home. But, what happens when they start to get scratched and look a little worse for wear?

Before you start panicking about the cost of replacing your hardwood floors, take a step back and consider refinishing them instead. Refinishing your floors can help you save money while restoring them to their former glory.

Read on to learn about how you can go about refinishing hardwood floors in five easy steps.

How to Tell if Your Floors Need to be Refinished

Before you take on a refinishing project, it’s important to determine whether or not your floors actually need to be refinished.

Sometimes, you can tell just by looking at your floors. If they are heavily scratched, refinishing is a good idea.

You can also perform a water test to see if you need to refinish your floors. This test involves pouring a tablespoon of water on the floor and watching what happens. If the water soaks into the wood, this is a sign that the finish is wearing away.

You can also reach out to a business like Floor Boys and have them look at your floors. They’ll be able to let you know very quickly if your floors need to be refinished.

Five Steps for Refinishing Hardwood Floors

If you think your floors need to be refinished, you can follow these five simple steps and get it taken care of in no time.

Gather Your Materials

You’ll need the following materials to properly refinish your floors:

• A belt sander
• Sandpaper (60, 80, and 120 grit)
• An Edger Sander
• A Shopvac
• An oil-based stain
• Water-based oil-modified polyurethane
• Shop rags
• Stain application pads
• A 6-inch smooth finish foam roller
• A screen buffer
• A 220 grit screen
• Needle nose pliers
• A pry bar

Once you’ve gathered your tools, you’re ready to get started.

1. Prep Your Floors

First, prepare your floors. You’ll need to remove carpet tacks, nails, and other objects. It’s also helpful to remove the baseboards.

2. Sand Your Floors

Next, use 60 grit sandpaper and the belt sander to sand your floors. Sand with the grain.

Then, bring out the edge sander and use the 60 grit sandpaper to sand the perimeter of each room.

Repeat with the 80 grit sandpaper, then again with the 120 grit sandpaper.

When you’re finished, use the shop vac to get rid of dust and debris.

3. Start Water Popping

Water popping involves getting the wood wet to raise the grain. This allows it to absorb more of the stain.

Simply soak shop rags in water, then wring them out and use them to wipe down the floor.

4. Stain Your Floors

Next, stain your floors using the oil-based stain and applicator pads.

Let the first coat of stain dry for 24-48 hours. Then, apply your first coat of polyurethane with the foam roller. Let it cure for at least two hours.

5. Buff Your Floors

Now, it’s time to buff the floors use the 220 grit screen.

Once they’ve been buffed, wipe the floors down and get red to apply a second coat of polyurethane.

Repeat this process until you’ve applied 3-4 coats of polyurethane.

Once you’ve applied your last coat and let it dry, your floors will be finished!

Looking for More Advice?

As you can see, refinishing hardwood floors isn’t as difficult as you might have originally thought.

Are you interested in taking on some other home renovation projects? If so, check out our renovation archives today for all kinds of tips and tricks that will help make the process a breeze!