How Do I Need To Prepare My Home When Refinishing My Hardwood Floors?

All furniture should be removed from the room you plan where your having your hardwood floors refinished. This is because you will save a lot of money on not having to move the furniture back and forth. If you can't avoid furniture in the room when refinishing, there will be additional cost. 

The process of wood floor refinishing takes twice as long when you have belongings in the room. This is because you have to move everything to one side than to the other side and set up twice. Set up takes a long time with all the sanding machines and wiring. You can't move things around while you are refinishing your wood floors either because the machines are too big. The furniture will get damaged. You will be paying a big moving fee. 

If you are doing just a light sanding or refreshing the surface polyurethane, than your furniture can be in the room without a problem. As long as you have all the loose ends and the have the furniture emptied out (including electronics unplugged) the process will not have that much more time added to it.  This is because the machines are not that big and there is not as much drying time compared to when your fully sanding down the wood. You will be paying a moving fee, but not twice the price as you would with a full sanding. 

www.woodvitalize.com

Facebook at:https://www.facebook.com/WoodVitalize/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodvitalize/?hl=en

Follow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/WoodVitalize
https://www.linkedin.com/company/sandless-finish-hardwood-floor-refinishing-ny

Are My Hardwood Floors Thick Enough To Sand And Refinish?

If your wood floors are too thin they will sand right though and break when refinishing. There are a few methods to check if the hardwood floor boards are too thin.

Before you start checking for the thickness, find the tongue and groove and understand what that is. The tongue and groove is how the boards connect. You will see a wood groove or indentation in the wood boards (on the side and in the front). This is the tongue and groove of the hardwood board. The thickness of the wood is measured from from the top of the wood to where the tongue and groove starts.

After understanding what the tongue and groove is, one way to check the thickness is to look at the end or front of the wood boards (use a flashlight). You can find the ends or fronts by where the wood meets kitchen tile, meets the closets, any other rooms start, or around any saddles. Shine a flash light down into the gap and see if you can see the tongue and groove. If the there is a good enough space from where the tongue and groove starts and the top of the wood boards, your hardwood floors are thick enough to sand. You can also use a paper card of some sort to slide between the spaces. When the card hits the tongue and groove, you can mark the paper card to measure the thickness.

Another method to use to find the thickness of your hardwood floors, is to check between the sides of the floor boards. If you have gaps between the wood boards, shine the light between the gaps to find the tongue and groove. You can use the same method with the paper card to measure the thickness.

www.woodvitalize.com

Facebook at:https://www.facebook.com/WoodVitalize/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodvitalize/?hl=en

Follow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/WoodVitalize
https://www.linkedin.com/company/sandless-finish-hardwood-floor-refinishing-ny

Can Maple Hardwood Floors Be Stained?

The reason why maple hardwood flooring is not often stained is because of the grains patterns. The patterns after refinishing and staining can be seen as "blotchy" to some customers. Maple is often left in its natural state without stain because the grains are less visible and the maple wood floor's look very light. The white or light look of Maple is the biggest reason why the wood floor is popular. 

Maple hardwood floors can be stained any color you would like but sure to have a sample made before applying the stain to the entire floor. The grain patters that come up with staining do not bother everyone and it is more of a personal choice. 

www.woodvitalize.com

Facebook at:https://www.facebook.com/WoodVitalize/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodvitalize/?hl=en

Follow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/WoodVitalize
https://www.linkedin.com/company/sandless-finish-hardwood-floor-refinishing-ny

Is Oil Based Polyurethane More Durable Than Water Based?

This question definitely depends on the circumstances. Overall, as long as your using a high grade commercial based polyurethane either oil or water based, it becomes a matter of which type the craftsman likes to use on hardwood floors.

What it is important is the look here. Oil will yellow and give the wood an oil color. Water based (as long as its a high grade) will remain clear and natural. You definitely cannot use an oil based on a white hardwood floors or any light colors because your don't want the floors to darken or shift color from an oil.

www.woodvitalize.com

Facebook at:https://www.facebook.com/WoodVitalize/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodvitalize/?hl=en

Follow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/WoodVitalize
https://www.linkedin.com/company/sandless-finish-hardwood-floor-refinishing-ny

Is It Easy To Sand And Refinish Hardwood Floors?

The answer is it is not recommended. It takes years of experience to learn how to control and use the sanding machines properly. The sanding equipment will definitely toss you around and you can risk injury and will not get a high quality result. The rental equipment provided by major outlets and small hardware stores are not high quality machines and there different than the ones the professionals use.

The machines the professionals use are heavier and more maintained. Overall, they sand a lot more even. Professionals also know how to control the machines. If you own your home, you don't want to leave gauges and marks all over your floors from rental sanders that are not used properly. You can also thin out the hardwood boards too much causing you to have to replace the entire floor which of course is extremely expensive. Also, remember staining or polyurethane finish application has to be applied with a certain technique. Bubbles, lines, and blemishes will most likely happen if your not extremely careful and don't know what your doing. Even junior wood floor refinishers with a years experience make these application mistakes. 

If you have a small room that your not too concerned about if it gets messed up, then sure go ahead and give it a try. Otherwise, hardwood floor refinishing is one area you would want to leave to the professionals. 

www.woodvitalize.com

Facebook at:https://www.facebook.com/WoodVitalize/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodvitalize/?hl=en

Follow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/WoodVitalize
https://www.linkedin.com/company/sandless-finish-hardwood-floor-refinishing-ny

Do You Paint Before Refinishing Your Hardwood Floors? Or, Do You Refinish Your Wood Floors First?

This is always the big question for new home owners or customers looking to renovate a room in their home. Painters say they should go first and the hardwood floor refinishers say they should go first? So which is best?

Painting should come after the wood floor refinishing.  This is simply because the sanding process can create scuff marks along the baseboards from the machines going up against the baseboards. Taping the baseboards after freshly painted will not work either. The new paint can peel away when you take it off (even with light tape). Unless you the homeowner want to repaint the baseboards after the refinishing, the painter should come second. 

This should not be big deal because as you can imagine, people always paint rooms in their homes without refinishing their wood floors. So, painters know the proper precautions which is to simply just cover the floors with paper.

www.woodvitalize.com

Facebook at:https://www.facebook.com/WoodVitalize/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodvitalize/?hl=en

Follow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/WoodVitalize

Are Glossy Floor More Durable Than Satin, Semi-Gloss, Or Matte?

This is a misconception that the more shine your floors have the more durable the wood floors are. The shine (which is usually called polyurethane or varnish) has nothing to do with how strong the surface will be across the hardwood boards.

The durability is determined by the actual quality of the product. The best durability you can get would be from a commercial brand polyurethane. The sheen does not make a difference. Gloss sheens actually will show the most damage because as you can imagine it highlights every scratch, stain, or ding that much more.

The most popular polyurethane in 2019 going into 2020 are definitely satin and matte finishes. Subtle and more natural are the new look in wood floor refinishing. Customers also like the flatter sheens because they do not highlight scratches or stains like a gloss does. They are also easier to spot fix sections of the wood flooring in the future.

www.woodvitalize.com

Facebook at:https://www.facebook.com/WoodVitalize/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodvitalize/?hl=en

Follow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/WoodVitalize