Well last time you saw our floor in the upstairs room, we had pulled up the carpet to reveal these wood floors!
Not much to look at right now, but their day would come. We debated on different treatments (white washing, painting, ect) but in the end decided that we would refinish the wood and return the floors to their former glory! Best of all, we are going to lay out all the steps for you so that you too can bring your wood back to life!
Step 1- Sand– and keep going until all the former shiny top coat and old stain color is gone. Stain will not sink into an area that has a protective sealer still on it. You will end up with a patchy job if you choose to forgo this step. We recommend renting a drum sander from Home Depot if you have a large space. They work really, really well, but since we had a small space, the floors weren’t in terrible condition and we don’t mind a somewhat worn look we used our small orbital sander. You will want to use a heavy grit paper (60-80) to remove the top layer and then go over it again with a higher grit (120-220) to really create a smooth surface. The professionals usually go in steps: 60- 80-120- 180- 220, but I don’t think all of those steps are absolutely necessary and unless you are looking for an immaculate finish.
Step 2- You need to get rid of all the dust. I recommend starting with vacuuming, but sweeping the majority up will work as well. Next, wipe, wipe, and wipe some more. Use a wet rag/mop to remove most of the remaining dust. Then use Tac Cloth to remove every last speck of dust.
Step 3- Stain- Use a staining pad, staining pad holder, and extension pole to apply the stain. Apply the stain in the direction of the wood grain. Apply it in about 2 ft stripes going the length of the room.
Step 4- Wipe access stain. While one person is applying the stain, another person should go behind them and use a rag to remove the access stain. By using the stripe method, the second person will be able to reach the full extent of the stained area and the process will move along much more quickly. Remember to stain yourself out of the room (start in the corner farthest away from the exit door)!
Step 5- Allow to dry for designated time on can.
Step 6- Apply a protective sealer. We think oil based polyurethanes hold up better than water based ones, but water based poly’s aren’t quite so toxic. Oil based poly’s will also leave a amber tint to your finish which is no problem if you have chosen a dark colored stain, but if you have chosen a light colored stain we recommend using water based poly. Otherwise the finish will look yellowed and old. Apply the sealer in the same fashion (in stripes) as you did the stain. We use a roller to lay down a lot of poly and then go back over it with a brush to make sure the final texture doesn’t look rolled on.
Step 7- Let it dry for the time designated on the can.
So here’s how our floor turned out once we were done refinishing it! One step closer to creating a room we’re proud of! 🙂
Sorry the pictures aren’t the best. It is a pretty small room to begin with and there are a few projects we haven’t quite finished so I tried not to get them in the shots. I promise I will show some more when we are little further down the road.
Happy Tuesday!
Wow~! It looks great! I have to say though, living in the southwest where wood floors are uncommon, I get irritated when I hear “we rolled back the nasty carpet and found hardwood underneath!” – I hear it all the time from people further east! Jealous!
It looks like all that hard work was worth it. The floors look beautiful!
your “new” floors look great! and i think refinishing them was definitely the right move. my husband and i refinished our wood floors when we bought our 50’s ranch (they were covered by carpet) and that was one of the hardest things i’ve ever done…but also one of the most rewarding.
can’t wait to see the rest of the room! 🙂
Your floors look amazing! We JUST started the process of refinishing our hardwood floors. I pulled our carpet up last week, we have oak & pine floors. We are in the process of replacing a few boards right now that were, at some point, replaced with pieces of scrap wood. Then we are pulling up the pine in the dining room and replacing all of that with oak (our living room & dining room is 1 large room). Long process, but we are so looking forward to the end result!!! Thanks for the inspiration!!