How to refinish hardwood floors?

Question

I am remodeling my relatives house and will be refinishing the floors. The floors are 2" oak tongue and groove and have that orange look to them. She wants them a darker color.
My question is what grit do I start and finish with when sanding down to the bare wood?
And is there a pattern for sanding it such as diagonally or with the grain or across?
Is an oil stain the best to use and is it typically rolled, brushed, or sprayed on?

Any other advice you can give me would be great. Please don't say to hire someone, thats not an option and I'm not a typical beginner.
Thankyou all.

Is there a better alternative to polyurethane. When I think of that it seems better suited towards furniture.

Answer 1

Hi, I refinished my floors in my house and I own a cabinetmaking shop.
This tutorial seemed to be the most accurate I could find online. It is like a video...rather than reading a whole website.
The grit you start with depends on how thick the old finish is. If it is heavy, you will need to start with 36 grit and MAKE SURE TO GO WITH THE GRAIN! It is very time consuming and make sure to buy plenty of the lower grit papers as they will gum up pretty quickly. Don't move up to the next grit until you actually see the wood--no more finish. Then work your way up. Becasue you plan to stain the floor, work up to at least 120 grit or more becasue otherwise there will be scratch marks left in the floor. And when you stain, the scratches take the stain darker.
Another key is to lift up the sander and ease it on the floor when you are moving back and forth. It will leave dips. And to be honest, becasue we don't do this everyday, you'll end up with dips. I think the only way around that is to use a belt sander for the 36 and 60 grits and then use a 3 or 4 disc sander from 60 grit up to whatever you finish at. That is what I wish I would've done. Also, I alternnated between the big sander to the edger for each grit rather than sanding the floor through all the grits and then using the edger for all the grits.

The poly is the best for floors. There is a special floor poly you can get at Menards or Lowe's or Home Depot. I used Varathaene (I know I spelt it wrong) . I have a friend who owns a floor refinishing business adn he showed me how to apply it using one of those paint pads. They are like a sponge with some fuzzy stuff on it. They are in the paint department and slide onto a handle that swivels and then you screw it onto a broom handle and use it likie a mop. Works great! If you keep up with the applications, you don't have to sand between coats. Just make sure to read the label on the finish. And make sure to overlap your strokes.
As for the stain, I have always used minwax...I suppose you can use whatever you want. I got on my hands and knees and applied it at one house but it was such a small area. I think regardless of size, I would still do it on my knees just becasue you have to wipe off the excess.
As for the guy who said to wet the floor, I don't think that is nessasary with oak--yes maple, pine, adn birch, becasue they blotch but oak doesn't have that problem...
You'll be fine. Watch the video and just do it.
Oh, to get in the corners, you use a scraper with a carbide blade. Costs about $15 and worth every penny! It's got a long handle for one hand, with a knob for your other hand...

Answer 2

I have redone all my wood floors
Rent the floor sander and an edge sander. The rental people can tell you what grits but I remember I used 80-160 and 240.
If you individual planks are cupped (put a straight edge across the width of a single plank and look for a gap underneath) the first pass with 80 grit should be diagonally until there is full sanding clean-up on the wood. Then switch to a finer grit and sand with the grain of the wood. After completing the final pass use the edge sander and a jitterbug sander to sand the edges and corners.\I used oil based polyurethane from Minwax on my floor-if staining to darken-stain and then cover with the polyurethane. To apply poly I used a short napped roller in Small sections and then brushed it out with a brush to remove any bubbles. Good luck

Answer 3

You'll need a belt sander if you want an professional, even look. try a low count grit for stripping the finish; try 120 grit. Always go along with the grain. Then go over it again with a smoother grit like 220 or higher if you have the time. Once the floor is evenly sanded, take a leaf blower over your floor to remove most of the dust, proceed then to mopping your floor with plain tap water and nothing else. Let the floor dry. Get a smooth cotton rag and rub on one even coat of the stain of choice. Let dry, and then use as many coats as you feel looks good of the poly-urethane finish but at least 2 and I recommend no more than like 4 tops. The guy at the top of your answers list there seems to know his stuff. When applying the finish use a smooth soft brush and brush it on along with the grain. Good luck.

Answer 4

Generally, refinishers charge $4 to $5 a square foot to sand and refinish hardwood floors, more if they add multiple coats of sealer. I would recommend against laying tile down over hardwood without taking it up first. A tile floor should have an underlayment of 1/2-inch hardibacker and a float (1/4-inch or so) of leveling compound before laying the tiles. This provides a good, solid surface that won't flex (tiles and grout won't crack from walking on it). Tile will run you about $5 to $6 a square foot for installation. This doesn't include the cost of the tile itself or the removal of the old floorboards, though. Good ceramic tile will run at least $4 a square foot.

Answer 5

Fine Home Building Magazine had an article in the January 2007 issue Called: "Wood-floor finishing secrets". The article starting on page 60 had a step by step on the subject.

Answer 6

start with 80 grit then go to 150 then go to 220 go with the grain so all scratchs will hide. after you use 220 dampen the floor with a wet towel dont saturate it just wet it enough to raise the grain then sand it with 220 again. apply polyurethane with a roller and cut in with a brush

Answer 7

sand with the grain and an oil base stain is the best way to go but make sure you do about 3 coats of poly urethane to protect the floor just do not make a mistake or the hole floor is ruined good luck

Answer 8

Commercial belt sanders can be rented. You walk behind them. They can remove (and level) up to an eighth of an inch. Right tool for the right job.

Answer 9

This is a very informative site and should help you alot.


http://www.interstaterentals.net/id66.html

Answer 10

Check out this link, it will answer all your questions
http://www.ehow.com/how_1856_refinish-hardwood-floor.html