Refinishing A Hardwood Floor Loveland CO

Before getting started on sanding floors in your home, you'll have some preparation that needs to come first. You will need to identify a budget and a schedule to perform the work. It's also important to buy safety goggles and disposable facemasks to wear while you're sanding wood floors.

Refinishing wood floors is a labor-intensive task. Therefore, you won't really have a lot of additional costs beyond buying or renting the needed power tools and materials. New hardwood floor will cost a few dollars per board. This cost should be minimal unless you have to repair a lot of boards. Other costs will include wood filler, sandpaper, stain, and polyurethane. If you'll be finishing wood in several rooms, it might be more economical for you to purchase a sander rather than renting one.

Refinishing wood floors will take several days to complete. The reason is that stains and polyurethane take several hours or even up to one full day to dry in between coats. If you have any pets, you'll need to carefully consider whether you should make other temporary living arrangements for them. This might be necessary if you're sanding wood floors and refinishing wood floors in high-traffic areas. Also, consider making arrangements for children, as well, because stain and polyurethane have very strong odors.

If the room where you'll be sanding floors and finishing wood is carpeted, you'll need to remove the carpet before doing anything else. Factor this in when you're trying to estimate how long it will take you to complete the tasks of sanding floors and finishing wood. Having to remove carpet before you get started will definitely add time to your total project.

Start in one corner of the room to remove carpet. It might be necessary to remove the baseboards in order to have enough space to remove the carpet. Carefully remove the baseboards to avoid damaging them. This way you'll be able to reuse them later and stick to your estimated budget.

The very first thing you'll need to do before refinishing a hardwood floor is to examine the condition of the existing floor. This is not strictly for cosmetic reasons; it's actually a very important safety issue, especially for older houses. Check to see if any floorboards need to be replaced. Any board that is wet and damaged or contains severe dents is a definitely a candidate for replacement.
In some cases, sanding floors isn't an option if you have a very high number of damaged floorboards to replace. This is particularly true for smaller rooms if nearly half the floorboards are damaged. Overall, though, sanding wood floors is an option for many homeowners, even those who have much older homes.

Oak and pine are the two most common types of wood used. Determine your budget and factor in how many damaged floorboards you need to replace. Oak is more expensive than pine, so keep that in mind when choosing. If possible, match your new replacement boards to the type of wood you already have.

Resist the temptation to skip this very important step. Finishing wood can result in a spectacular end product, but only if you have a solid foundation on which to begin. If floorboards need to be replaced, you can't avoid it. This task will need to be taken care of before you begin sanding wood floors.

There are several things to consider when refinishing wood floors. Wood contracts and expands depending on the temperature. Therefore, you won't want to undertake the task of sanding floors and finishing wood during extremely warm temperatures, unless you have adequate air conditioning and ventilation for the area you'll be working.

Pets and family members will need to vacate the room that you are working in. Using power tools will cause a lot of noise that may disrupt the household, and the smell of wood stains will permeate your house until it fully dries. Also, don't forget to wear your safety goggles and facemask when working. Safety goggles will protect your eyes, and it's important to keep safety in mind even if it prolongs your task.