How to Refinish Wood Floors- Steps and Tools

The first step in how to refinish wood floors is to determine if you can, in fact, do it yourself.

If not, step two is to stop looking for information on refinishing and start calling professional finishers to see who can do the job for you at an affordable rate with quality results. If you think you're able to take on this task, keep reading.

There's not a lot to the entire process of refinishing floors, as long as you've got a little bit of patience to take the process slowly. You can basically learn how to refinish a wood floor in four easy steps, as listed here:

Step One: Clean the floor. Sweep it completely, mop it with a damp mop, and make sure that all nail heads and/or tacks are pounded down into the wood so that nothing gets in the way of the sanding process.

Step Two: Sand the floor. This is best done using a drum sander because they can go back and forth in line with the wood grain. It produces a more uniform and even finish than a disk sander, which goes in a circular motion.

Start with one pass, and use a power sander or a sanding block to do all of the edges and trim work that the large sanding machine cannot reach. After one pass, if more sanding is needed, then do a second pass, and so on.

Step Three: Clean the floor again. At this point, you need to sweep up all the dust and once again wipe down the floor with a damp mop. This is an imperative stage of cleaning because if the floor is not completely spotless, the imperfections will be ingrained in the finish of the floor and make your floor appear grainy or not as smooth as you would like.

Step Four: Stain and protect. This is where you are going to apply the new finish that you have chosen, followed by the protective clear coat of your choice. You can apply as many layers as you need, as long as you allow complete drying time in between applications.

That's really all there is to how to refinish wood floors. Remember that patience is a virtue and that the longer it takes, the better your results will be.

Also, as with any home or remodeling project, you should never get in over your head. If you don't feel that you are the right person for the job, hire the one that is and call it a day.