Anyone here refinish a hardwood floor before?

KAG · Post by **KAG** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 8:10 pm

Im going to (try) to refinish my 50 year old hardwood floors in the house I just bought.
It's 1 1/4 Oak. It's had carpet on it for the last 30 years or so. From what I can tell it's in good shape. I know I'll need to sand it a few times. Thinking of using an oil based stain and satin diamond coat surface coat(s).

Any tips?

Cheers.

desksgo · Post by **desksgo** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 8:19 pm

I'd be careful if you don't know how many times the floor has been refinished in its life. Make sure there's plenty of wood left under there. But if its been under carpet for 30 years, then I guess its all good. If all the boards are in good shape, there's no sponginess to them, and no warping (you said good shape!), sounds like a valid project.

Time to go make friends at home depot!

KAG · Post by **KAG** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 8:38 pm

Sadly I wont know how bad things are untill I get down there and rip up the carpet. I'm going to try to peal it up in such a way that if it's a mess, I can just lay it back down again on the tack strips...I a new DIY guy, so I hope it's that easy.
Do you recommend using a Drum sander or a square buffer with a course grit paper?
I've been hearing different thoughts. The drum is the prefered method of the pro's (which I am not) and it's faster. But it will tear the hell out of your floor if your not careful. At least Home Depot has the type with a manual drum lifter so you dont have to tip it at the end of a pass.

bandaid · Post by **bandaid** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 9:55 pm

I have used a drum sander and you have to be very careful. If you don't keep it moving you can get a cupping effect that you won't really see until you do the finish. Their are a number of finishes out there, talk to the good people are the hardware store about the amount of traffic you expect and they should steer you in the right direction. It is the kind of project you will want to give yourself lots of time with, keep some of the sawdust from the sanding and if you have any gaps you can mix the sawdust with some wood glue and put in a pretty effective patch. Your worst enemy will be stains (if you have any) as they can go completely through the wood. You will not be sorry if you do it right. Be careful and have fun.

magellan · Post by **magellan** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 10:38 pm

I bought a granny house with original hardwood floors covered with scary pea green carpet. I did the crapet and underlay removal myself and had the floors refinished by a proffessional since I was told those sanders can be tricky. It only cost me $1200 to get 700 sq feet done, which I felt was a steal after calling all the companies to get quotes. I was also told that my floors couldnt be refinished again, which made me feel better about spending the money for a professional rather than try to do it myself and sand too much and have to actually replace the wood which is way more expensive. Good luck!

KAG · Post by **KAG** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 11:45 pm

1200!?!? Wow, Ive been quoted around $2000.00 (as high as 3500) and thats with me doing all prep work (pulling up carpet, underlay ETC).

ice ice baby · Post by **ice ice baby** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 12:39 am

Yes shop around if you are going to pay someone to do it. The cheapest price is not always the best. You never know what you will find till you pull up the carpets. On the subject of the sander to use it depends on your skill AND the amount of varnish on the floor. There are three types of sander that you could use. The standard 8" drum and edger, used by proffesionals. A 12" x 18" orbital (the motion of the sander) sander which will get very close to the walls. Now the third one is new VERY effective and easy to use...but it will probably cost slighly more than the other two to rent. IT WILL LEAVE BEHIND ALMOST NO DUST. I forget the name of it. It has three round discs on the under side which spin, and then all three of them are spun together in the opposite direction sorta of like one of those rides you will see at a fair. It looks like a 15" floor maintainer with a small vacuum attached, is heavy and requires two people to lift it. THIS ONE IS ONLY SUITABLE IF YOU HAVE NO RIDGES IN THE FLOOR (or they are all less than 1/8".) You may have to call a few rental shops to find one. Some People like to use the drum sander to get a varnish off and then finish it with an orbital sander. I recomend vacuuming between grits of sandpaper. The age of the house and how close you can get to an electrical outlet may dictate weather or not a drum sander is suitable. If you pop a breaker make sure you turn off (or maybe just unplug) the sander before leaving the room to turn the breaker back on. Always use a heavy gauge extension cord if a cord is required. Can't help you too much with finishing the floor, but go somewhere that specializes in flooring and finishing supplies and they will have all your answers.....that's all I can think of for now.......any more questions?

... · Post by **...** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 4:25 am

As hard as it is to drop the coin for a pro to do....do it...30 year old floors are NOT to be fooled around with.

I used to be in flooring many moons ago and I see the butchered job from people doing it them selves. Beatiful furniture great pain job or wall papering....then the eyes goes to the floor and it looked like it was sanded down by a lumberjack...

Spend the coin on flooring...do everything else yourself.

Driving Rain · Post by **Driving Rain** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 6:23 am

I've done 3 floors and they all worked out great. I rented a good drum sander at the rent all and got 3 grades of sandpaper. Inspect the floor for staples or nails or you'll destroy the paper on the drum sander in short order.
Start with the coarse grain stuff and sand 90 degrees to the grain on the first pass. Never ever let the sander sit in one spot. This 90 degree pass will take out cupping. On your next pass with the mid grade paper, sand at 45 degrees to the grain and then do one or two passes with the grain with the fine grain paper. A good heavy duty orbital sander will take care of the edges. Remember to remove all the moldings and tape the registers over to prevent dust from going in them. Tape off doorways with plastic sheeting and have the room cool when doing this work.
My last floor was all birds eye maple, over 100 years old and it is spectacular.
Good luck you can do it.

magellan · Post by **magellan** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 7:36 am

The price I paid included sanding, wood filler and 3 coats of finish, but i didnt get any stain and that would have cost me much more. Some of the more elite places like Alberta Hardwood charge alot more. I got at least 15 quotes over the phone before I decided on the company and they did an excellent job. Now if only I could find someone to help me with drywall...now thats a bitch to deal with. Good luck with the floors!!

KAG · Post by **KAG** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 8:37 am

I've been told you can do all three sandings with the drum sander..is that really a good idea given it's (users) ability to reduce your floor to dust?

Driving Rain · Post by **Driving Rain** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 10:05 am

King Air Guy wrote:I've been told you can do all three sandings with the drum sander..is that really a good idea given it's (users) ability to reduce your floor to dust?

Your right KAG all 3 are done with the drum sander. The orbital is also rented at the same time. It's not like the small palm sized sanders we are used to. It weighs in at about 50lbs all by it's self and the drum sander is 80 to 100lbs.
The paper these sanders use is frightening. The coarse grain stuff if you've never seen it before has the consistancy of asphalt! Take your time and prepare well before you start sanding. If your boards aren't cupped too bad 45 degree for the first sanding will work fine and with the grain for the final sandings is ok.
You can hire the job out if you like but it's something many people do and the results are great.
The staining and varnishing are the hard part if you ask me. This is where most people phuck up. Blotchy application and improper clean up after sanding are the usual culprits.
I've had great luck with Varathan brand finishes. The high gloss does fade out to a saten over time so if you want a high gloss you might be better of starting with a different product. I use foam brushes also they give a very consistant application.
You can do it.
Good luck.