If your wood floors have become dull and worn out, you might be wondering how much it would cost you to have them restored. Will you have to hire professionals to make your floors shine again, or is there something you can do on your own without spending too much money?
While you can hire professionals if you want to save yourself some trouble, the good news is that you should be able to rejuvenate your wood floors in just a few simple steps.
Here is a guide on how to make wood floors look new again:
1. Know which type of wood floor you have
It’s important to know which type of wood floors you have before you make them look new again. The first thing you should do is consider which type of wood floor you have in your home. If you have laminated wood floors, you should be able to quickly restore their inbuilt shine by cleaning them carefully with soap and water.
If you have engineered hardwood flooring, restoring them will require more effort. Pour a few drops of water on a worn out area of the floor. If the water beads, you should be able to simply refinish the floor.
If the water gets absorbed by the wood, you should consider hiring professionals to restore your wood floors by completely sanding them down, and refinishing them.
2. Do a test on the wood floors
To check whether you can simply refinish a wood floor, or you will need to have it sanded down, you can do a little test.
Most wood floors can be refinished with polyurethane, as it is durable and easy to work with. To do this test, start by cleaning a small area of your floor, roughen the finish with a sanding screen, wipe it clean, and apply a coat of polyurethane on it.
Wait 24 hours for the polyurethane to dry. Then, take a coin and scrape it across the test area. If the finish does not scrape up, you can move on to the next step.
However, if the polyurethane finish is flaky or cracked, it would be better to ask professionals to sand the floor down completely.
3. Clean the wood floor carefully
Do you see cloudy spots on hardwood floors? These unsightly spots are signs that you need to clean the flooring. Before using a sanding screen on your wood floor, you will need to clean it carefully. If there are stains on the wood, clean them with warm water, a mild soap, and a soft cloth. If there are spots of hardened dirt, you can scrape them away with a dull putty knife.
You can then sweep or vacuum the whole floor, but if it seems really dirty, you could also wash it with a mop, some warm water and some soap.
You can also get a cleaning product designed specifically for hardwood floors.
4. Screen the wood floor to remove its top layer
Next, you need to screen the floor, which means you will scratch up the finish to make it a little rough. You don’t want to completely remove it.
To do this, you can use a rotary floor buffer on top of a sanding screen. Start at one wall, and move slowly across the room. Make sure you don’t pass over the same area too often, or you will make the finish disappear completely.
Be sure to wear a dust mask as you do this, because the operation will generate a lot of dust.
5. Clean the wood floor one more time
There will be a lot of sanding dust all over the room when you are done, so you will need to do a bit of cleaning.
Vacuum the floor, but pay attention to the moldings and to the windowsills as well. You don’t want any dust falling on your floor while you refinish it.
After you have vacuumed the whole room, it could be a good idea to clean the floor with soap and water one more time. Of course, wait for it to be completely dry before you apply a new coat of finish.
6. Apply a new coat of finish to wood floor
Before you apply the polyurethane finish, put some masking tape on the moldings to protect them. Then, use a quality brush to apply the finish along all the walls in the room.
You can then use an applicator pad with a long handle to apply finish to the rest of the wood floor. Apply the finish lightly, from one end of the room to the other, until you are done.
Don’t forget to wear a respirator while you work with polyurethane.
7. Enjoy your beautiful wood floor
After the new finish of your wood floor has dried for at least 24 hours, it will look shiny as if the floor was brand new. Enjoy that beautiful floor, and make sure to keep it clean so it will stay shiny for as long as possible.
If there are high foot traffic areas in your home, think about acquiring a few area rugs to prevent scratches and dents on your newly restored wood floors.
