Refinishing Your Hardwood Floors Is Worth It
If you have just bought a new house with hardwood floors, you may want to refinish those floors before you move into your house. If the floors were damaged or you just didn't like the way that they looked, refinishing can give you the floor that you really want.
Necessary Equipment
In order to refinish your floor, you are going to need to use some big power tools. They include a large floor buffer that you can use to both sand the floor and buff it when you are done finishing it. A floor buffer looks kind of like a heavy-duty vacuum cleaner. You walk behind it and slowly work on a section of floor at a time. You don't need to use a floor buffer often, so buying one doesn't make much sense. If you are going to refinish your floors, it's must more cost-efficient to just go ahead and rent one from an equipment rental store. They will show you what you need to do in order to run the machine. The equipment rental store should also have all the accessories you will need in order to sand and buff your floor.
You will also need some brushes or rollers to apply any stripper, stain, or varnish, as well as rags to wipe up any extra.
Basic Procedure
When you are refinishing your floor, the first thing you are going to need to do is to make sure that it is very clean. That means that you will want to sweep it to get all the dirt and debris off. You may want to buy a broom that has a large head on it. That way you can cover a lot of space at once. Sweep the floor in a pattern from one wall straight to the parallel wall, and then switch to the other walls when you are done. The cross-hatch pattern should get everything up and off your floor. Then it's time to sand.
When you are sanding, you are going to want to go slowly over the area so that you can get everything up, but you don't want to go too slowly, because you can damage the floor. Your best bet is to use several passes. It's always better to not get everything the first time and to go back than it is to risk any kind of damage. Going in the same cross-hatch pattern will make sure that you cover every inch of the floor.
When you are done with the floor, you are going to want to carefully sweep it again so that you can get all the dust up. Then you are going to want to get down and use a slightly tacky cloth to get everything up. You don't want to leave any dust behind because it could mess up your stain or finish. After you have applied the stain, finish, or wax, it's time to buff your floors to a nice shine. You will want to do that in the same way that you sanded the floor.
It may seem like a lot of work, but refinishing your hardwood floors before you move into your new house can give you a nice, fresh surface to start with.