how do u refinish a hardwood floor & what do i need to do it?

Question

THE FLOOR HAS BEEN STAINED BEFORE BUT, HAD CARPET PUT OVER IT & I PULLED THE CARPET UP, SO I GUESS I MEAN TO RESTORE IT BACK TO ITS ORGINAL SHINE AND LUSTER. THE FLOOR ALSO HAS A 4'X6' SECTION REPLACED WITH A PLAIN PIECE OF WOOD.

Answer 1

If you had carpet over it, you will probably have tack strips, staples, and maybe adhesive etc. that you will need to remove. Then the repair - remove the plain piece of wood carefully, and replace with hardwood the same width and depth as the rest of the floor. For the last piece(s) you will need to sand/plane/etc. down the edge of the wood to fit it in place, then use finishing nails to tack it down more permanently. The nails will need to be inset a bit, so when you sand it down, the sandpaper and machine don't get broken. Rent a floor sander - Menard's rents by the day and cheap and easy, although you will need to buy your own sandpaper for it, which is more expensive. Sand the floor to bare wood. Choose stain and poly. There are advantages and disadvantages to each - MinWax sells stain and poly together, and there are water-based and oil-based stains and polys (can read cans or do internet research to determine which is better for your situation - we used oil-based). If you use water-based stain, match it with water-based poly. After staining, you will need at least three coats of poly (unless you use stain/poly combo). Make sure to let dry between staining and each coat of poly.

It's time-consuming, but not too bad if you take each step separately, and definitely worth the result. Good luck! (:

Answer 2

Is this your house? Or is it an apartment?
There are loads of websites for refinishing floors.
Your big problem it seems is that 4 x 6 section.
How old is the floor?
What kind of wood? Oak, probably.
If it's your house you may be lucky.
Look in all the closets and see if the floor is the same
wood as the floor you want to refinish.
Often you can pull up pieces of wood in odd places around the house to match what you have in the room you're trying to fix.
If you can't do this, then you will have to find hardwood that you think can be made to look like the floor you have.
A new section may require a bit of mixing stains to match but it sure will look better than a 4 x 6 piece of wood.
It makes one wonder why anyone would have done this.
Maybe they had a wood stove in that section and it burned the floor?
This is just a random thought but would it be good or bad in that room to put something else,other than wood, in that 4 x 6 section? It could look stupid or, if it's in a place that might make sense, say an entrance to the room or under a window, a tile or marble or granite piece might be a focal point. You'd have to look at the room very carefully though to see if it could work.
Refinishing the floor is semi-costly, pretty messy, time consuming, and will make the room look wonderful.
You just have to commit yourself to the ordeal.
Good luck in your choice.

Answer 3

many good sites on the web. here's one: http://www.hometime.com/Howto/projects/flooring/floor_6.htm

I like this one as it also talks about evaluating the floor, patching as well as sanding and refinishing. It's a messy job, dust goes everywhere even if you put plastic on the door openings. Still, the result can be spectacular. You'll have to cost of renting the sanders, buying the sand paper, wood putty and small tools, stains and finish, dust filer masks. It's not super expensive, but not cheap either.

Answer 4

you can rent sanders, I really couldnt afford to so i used sand paper and I have a small sander, then your stain costs and top sealer.