Floor Sanding & Polishing
Perhaps you have discovered that you have reasonably decent hardwood floors under the carpeting of your house and you are thinking of refinishing them. This is a fairly simple procedure which will save you money from having to replace the floors with new hardwood. Replacement can be an expensive feat and one that many people can avoid with the right tools and steps in order to save money and restore the beauty of old hardwood floors.
First, you need to clean the floors with a broom and mop in order to make sure the area is clean and dirt free. Once this is done, lightly sand the floors in order to clean them up and smooth them down. Make sure you do a thorough job so that you can make sure there are no uneven spots in your work. It is fine to use a coarse sander as long as you keep a constant motion going to prevent tearing holes in your floor. It is recommended that you work with the grain as you are sanding although the first time around it is fine to work diagonally from the grain in order to level your floors out.
If you are having trouble sanding the edges of your floor, it is possible to buy a sander specifically made for edging from your local home improvement store. Once you are satisfied with the sanding of the floor, you need to sweep the area down to remove particles of dust and debris before you begin with your next step.
After the hardwood floors have been completely cleaned up, it is time to apply the putty. Use a tool such as a trowel to spread the putty evenly across the floor. The purpose of the putty is to fill in any minor holes or tears in the floor. Once this is finished, scrape off any excess and you should see if there were any patch jobs that you missed. After you finished scarping off the putty, use a fine sander to remove any bits of putty that might have been left behind and, once again, clean your floors up.
It is now time to polish down and refinish the hardwood floors. Use a stain or oil based urethane finish and apply to the floors using a tool that is a lot like a long paint brush called a paint pad. This tool more or less resembles a mop and requires you to use strokes just as if you were mopping the floor. Once the surface is dry, lightly sand down and stain again. Keep repeating this process until you have done it a total of three finishes on your floor. After that, the luster and beauty of your floors should be restored.