So, you’ve considered all options and decided to refinish hardwood floors. Smart idea. This will not only save you money, but it’s also an easy to do it yourself project. If your hardwood is not badly damaged, you’re also in luck as messy sanding and staining may not be necessary. We’ll be taking a look at five steps needed to refinish hardwood floors to great look again.
Refinishing Hardwood Floors
Step 1. Deep clean your hardwood floors
This may seems like an obvious step but there’s a difference between a dirty floor and a dull one. Deep cleaning a hardwood floor is fairly straight forward. Here are the three steps involved:
- Thoroughly sweep the hardwood floors with a soft bristle broom. Your broom doesn’t have to be expensive. What matters most is that it is a soft bristle broom as hard bristle could potentially scratch the wood floor surface.
- Use a vacuum to remove dirty from corners and underneath the floor if present.
- Use a soft mop with a gently cleaning solution made especially for hardwood floors. For best results use a commercial grade cleaner especially formulated to clean hardwood floors. Water, detergent or vinegar is not recommended.
After you completed the initial deep clean keep in mind that you’ll need to do the following to keep your hardwood floor in top shape:
- Do a clean up two to three times per week using a vacuum or micro mop
- Deep clean once per month using a commercial grade hardwood floor cleaner
Step 2. DIY Hardwood New Finish Without Sanding
If deep cleaning didn’t restore your hardwood flooring to you liking, you can give it a few fresh glow with a commercial hardwood floor cleaning product. We recommend the following:
- Rust-Olemum Transformation Wood and Laminate Floor Renewal Kit. This includes everything you need to refinish hardwood floors. And it gives you a semi-glossy finish without changing the floor’s colour.
- Minwax Hardwood Floor Reviver. This product is made to restore your hardwood floor with a high-gloss finish that lasts up to six months.
Step 3. How to Repair Your Hardwood Floor if Damaged
If you have gaps in your hardwood flooring, trowel filling after sanding is the easiest way to resolve and repair gashes, gaps and digs in the floor. Be careful though as there’s a trick here. It’s best to do this in the summer when the weather is hot as the wood contracts during cold winter days. Equally important, filling hardwood floor gaps is best for large damaged gaps. You’re better off leaving smaller gaps for the wood to expand and contract.
Step 4. Picking The Right Hardwood Floor Stains Colours
This is a matter of preference and budget. You can go with a light or darker hardwood floor stain finish like Dark Oak for example. One thing to keep in mind is that, although darker colours look nice and rich, dust particles will show more easily.
Step 5. Picking The Right Finish: Satin or Gloss
There’s no doubt that a glossy hardwood floor looks very good. Here’s a tip: if you have small children, you’re primed to have a lot of races on your floor. This is where satin finish comes in: satin hardwood floors are harder to slip on. So pick a hardwood finish accordingly. If you don’t have children, by all means, go with a high gloss finish for a glowing look.
Keep also in mind that waxed floors are also very slippery and do not last very long. Lastly, you may want to consider a water-based finish as this gives low VOC as this is less hazardous when compared to oil-based hardwood floor finish.