Refinishing Hardwood Floors

[cwest94]

I was just curious to know if anyone has ever taken on this task before and what your experience was like and if you have any tips to give. I'm going to try and redo the floors in the first and second floor hallway and the living room this weekend in my parents house. I pulled up all the carpet a couple months ago and since I'll have some time off this week, I thought I would do them this weekend so that I dont have to try and rush things.

 

From everything that I have been reading online, it does not seem to bad. I went to Home Depot last weekend and got floor stain and a bottle of gloss polyurethane, both are water based, I wanted to stay away from oil based finishes.

 

I'm a little worried of the outdoor temps only being 17 for the high and single digits at night and I'm not sure if this will have any affect to the drying and end product or not. I am thinking that I should stuff the heating vents in the hallway and living room with newspaper and cover the vents in plastic to prevent wood dust getting in and blowing through out the entire house.

 

So, anyone have any good tips or suggestions to give up?

[Fireman31]

I would wait for warmer weather, you will need plenty of ventilation with those stains, and it only being 17* out is no good because you can't leave the windows open.

[detjoe]

my brother has sanded floors siince he was 14.

you can do it, b/c you are using a water based finish.

it is not as easy as you think, stains will show more of your sanding marks so you have to do each grit very well.

 

yes-cover all the stuff you dont want dust on.

 

with water you will have to sand it a bit finer b/c the finish is thiner than the oil, will soak in more.

 

you will need to seal it, then buff/sand, coat, buff, coat. the steps are a bit different if you are staining it. one difficult thing @ this time of year is tracking n drity water from outside when you are doing it.

 

how many sq ft?? it will take the entire weekend, espically if you are doing it by yourself.

 

you will need buffer, edger, sander, paper (three grits), buffing screens (sand paper for the buffer), a sharp scraping tool for the corners....

 

if you have any more questions ask away.

 

and your back is going to feel nice when you are done.

[cwest94]

Unfortunately this is the last weekend that I will have off (start my new hours next week and will be working weekends). I thought that with using all water based products, that I would be safer and less fumes in be breathing in.

[detjoe]

Unfortunately this is the last weekend that I will have off (start my new hours next week and will be working weekends). I thought that with using all water based products, that I would be safer and less fumes in be breathing in.

yep-water has less VOC's

but while sanding the dust is just as bad b/c it has the old finish in it.

[jasonm]

I personally don't like the qualities of water based polyurethane when comparing to oil. The only thing I like about the acrylics is the fact that they dry faster. However, they also dry harder. Seems like a good thing, right? It's actually harder, but also more brittle. Meaniing, if you drop something from countertop height, it won't just dent the floor, it'll crack the finish. With oil, if it gets dropped hard enough, it will dent the floor (same as water), but it won't split your finish.

 

Also, if you're going to stain with an oil based stain (water, you're okay), then go over it with acrylic poly, you need to let it sit for a period of time.

 

In my opinion, wait'll spring/summer. Then, use the oil finish. You will be happier in the long run.

 

Just my $.02.