Hardwood floors tend to lose its looks and luster after years of wear and tear. However, it is possible to regain this luster of hardwood by refinishing hardwood floors. Though it is better to have your refinishing of hardwood floors done by a professional, it is possible to do it on your own.

You only need some basic supplies for refinishing hardwood floors like a ready strip deck stripper, plastic scraper, deck brush, auto brush and applicator. All of these supplies are easily available at any hardware store.

Start by sweeping floors clean

The first thing to do is to sweep and mop all floors clean. This done, you have to pour Ready Strip Deck Stripper into a paint tray. Then with the help of an auto brush, you have to apply the Stripper on the floor using dabbing and not brushing movements.

The stripper has to be left to work on the floor for about half an hour after which it has to be scrapped off the floor with a large, plastic scraper. Once most of the stripper is removed, a deck brush has to be used to remove leftover residue.

The floor then has to be left to dry after which a power sander is used to sand away imperfections. Then any dust on the floor has to be vacuumed off, after which stain and polyurethane has to be applied using a brush or applicator pad. This thus completes the process of refinishing hardwood floors.

Trewax Hardwood Floor Refinisher

Sale price: 9.33

32oz hw floor refinisher The easiest finish to apply for beautiful wood floors and factory finished wood floors No buffing, no offensive odors Safely deep cleans as it restores and aids in the repair of light and medium abrasions of heavily traveled flooring Long-lasting, lustrous shine, durable protection and wear 32 fl. oz. bottle Brand #: Beaumont Prod. 887122299 UPC: 070755222996 Keywords: acrylic finish wood floor cleaner trewax

Ok maybe this is a dumb question but I am remodeling an old house and the owner told me he wanted the hardwood flooring left untouched. However theres an old clawfoot tub in the bathroom and the floors and walls look like they keep getting soaked and I dont want the wall to rot through. What do you suggest I do?
Thanks.

Here are some great hardwood flooring auctions happening now on ebay:

Spring Water Cherry 3/4 inch Solid Hardwood Flooring

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Kingsmill Click-Together Midnight Oak Hardwood Flooring

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Kingsmill Handscraped 6.5" Hardwood Flooring Lapacho

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Kingsmill Handscraped Engineered Hardwood Flooring

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Kingsmill Handscraped Hardwood Flooring Brazilian

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Many of the old houses employ hardwood flooring. The use of hardwood for floors was popularized in the circa 1960s. Today, there is a resurgence of hardwood floors because people find these floors to be very relaxing to the eye. Hardwood floors are very attractive because of their natural look.

For people who purchased an old house with withered hardwood flooring, they would probably want to look into refinishing the flooring. Carpets cannot hide the hideous truth forever, and at some point, these homeowners need to refinish the flooring. A bad hardwood floor can literally ruin the whole theme of the house therefore lowering its value.

Refinishing a hardwood flooring is a great idea. Yes, it is a great idea indeed and that is why professional refinishers of hardwood floors charge exorbitant fees to their clients. These clients can't do anything but to succumb to the demands of the contractors because they don't have the know-how of proper hardwood refinishing.

Given the proper know-how and techniques for hardwood refinishing, homeowners can be liberated from the financial burden of paying professional contractors to refinish their hardwood flooring. If one is able-bodied and can follow simple instructions, then there would be no reason at all why he can't refinish the flooring himself.

Let's take a look at the pertinent steps that one needs to do to be able to successfully refinish his hardwood flooring.

1) Do the preparatory stuff

Before engaging into sanding the floor or being too excited and buying all the necessary equipment and tools for the refinishing process, one needs to lay down the foundations and do the preparatory steps in the process.

First, one needs to decide what look he would want to give his hardwood floor. There should be a design and color scheme plan that should be laid out before one starts to sand. Knowing what one really wants is as important as doing the process properly. This is to ensure that he knows what he would want to do so that he knows how he can achieve his desired look.

After the plans have been laid out, make sure that all the furniture and other things in the room are taken out and stored properly.

2) Take out the nails

Sanding is perhaps one of the most important steps in the whole process of refinishing a hardwood floor, but don't get too excited yet. Before sanding, make sure that all the nails in the hardwood. The nails need to be taken out because they will eventually damage the sand paper or the sanding discs and perhaps one's hands if they are not taken out. The holes that are left by the nails should be filled with wood fillers that are of the same color as that of the wood.

3) Sand, sand, sand!

If the area of the flooring is not too big, then one can actually sand the floor manually (by hand). But if one deems that there is a need to use an electric sander, then he has two options: one is to buy a new one, the other is to rent. One can buy a pretty decent hardwood floor sander for under 100 US dollars. This can be seen as a good investment, but it really depends on how frequently it will be used. One can also choose to rent a sander from the local home depot or borrow from his neighbor.

One should sand the floor at least 3 times. The first should be made with a heavier grit and the grit level goes down each time. This will ensure that the wax and the coating will be removed thoroughly.

4) Stain the floor

Try to get the correct color that you would want to apply to your hardwood floor and test it in a small wood plank that is similar to the wood that is used in the flooring. Make sure that the stain is applied equally to the floor.

5) Refinish

Refinish with a polyurethane finish. Make sure that the container is stirred and not shaken to prevent bubbles from forming. Apply the solution equally throughout the flooring and wait for it to dry. It usually takes about 3 hours for the solution to dry.

Refinishing your own hardwood flooring is not an impossible task. One only needs the right materials and the right implementation of his plans to be able to successfully refinish such floors.

I would like to match our kitchen flooring with the rest of the hardwood flooring in our new home. The house was built in 1928. I thought that perhaps some business may recover wood flooring from other houses in the same era and then resell it. Anyone know any companies?

Many people favor the look of natural hardwood flooring over that of shiny, finished hardwood floors or other types such as laminate wood flooring, slate flooring, bamboo flooring or even cork flooring.

Hardwood flooring has always been the first choice for most home builders, except in warmer climates like Arizona, Florida or Texas. Even today hardwood floors are replacing tiles in these geographical areas. The hard wood floor is more versatile, in that you can refinish them to a different color or gloss. They do require more care in the long term than tile floors but only need to be refinished ever 10 years or so.

Even if you plan to finish your floors with a high gloss or shine, you should know that there's no problem with the thickness, even though the amount of dents and gouges that occur over a long period of time will certainly add character to your hardwood floor once you seal it up with finish. Since hard wood floors can easily last in excess of one hundred years, I've personally refinished hardwood floors dating back to the pilgrims! In fact, a pilgrim might have even laid the floors.

There's really nothing to worry about when it comes to giving your wood floors a prematurely aged look. Hard wood floors are made thickly enough that they can withstand years of sanding. This of course is the huge difference between natural hardwood flooring and laminate flooring. One can easily see the difference in durability and quality.

Before finishing a hardwood floor, or just to rid it of large dents, it may be sanded as often as necessary. As distressed hard wood flooring makes a huge comeback, people everywhere are pounding, scraping and denting their perfectly brand new hardwood floors. To some it may seem ironic or just downright silly to spend money on a new floor just to turn around and make it look old? You can even buy pre-dented, gouged hardwood and eliminate this chore. It's simply a way to save time in their busy lifestyles.

Some other hardwood floors include such wood as hickory, oak and cherry woods. Hickory wood flooring is more durable than standard hardwood floors that are traditionally made of a variety of hard woods, and comparably strong as other single species hardwood floors. However, oak is by far the most popular and is very durable.

For sheer beauty cherry hardwood flooring can't be beat. It is slightly softer than oak or hickory and is susceptible to denting or gouging. The same can be said for pine, other than hard pine such as yellow pine. Whatever hardwood flooring you choose it they all will give you years of pleasure and home beauty.

Product DescriptionUsed for Hardwood Floors. . . More >>

Akuzuki Hardwood Flooring Mallet

Here are some great hardwood flooring auctions happening now on ebay:

Solid Hard Maple Dark Cherry Hardwood Flooring

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Lapacho Exotic Hardwood Hand-scraped Flooring Sample

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ON SALE!!! Beautiful 3/4 Inch Walnut Flooring/ Hardwood

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SOLID 3' Bamboo Flooring Hardwood Floors Wood Sample

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Hand-scraped Maple Hardwood Floors Wood Flooring Sample

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It\'s a place to get hardwood flooring deals!

Are you considering a home improvement project? Is seems that time of the year when everyone is working on some home improvement project or another. These projects can range from a fresh coat of paint to major change. One of the surest ways of improving the look of your home is through the use of hardwood floors. There is such a variety of hardwood floors that there is bound to be an option that fits every budget.

A number of the older homes have hardwood floors under the carpeting. Wall to wall carpeting covered many hardwood floors in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Carpeting was considered more energy efficient as well as more comfortable than hardwood floors.

The trend is now to restore hardwood floors in older homes and to install this flooring option in newer homes. Part of the trend of going back to hardwood floors started with the research that links carpeting to allergies to dust, mold and other particles that can get trapped in carpets. When you have hardwood floors it is much easier to get rid of these allergy causing culprits. In the past people also considered blemishes in hardwood floors a reason to cover them up, today these blemishes are seen as part of the natural beauty of hardwood floors. The natural blemishes are what distinguish the natural hardwood floors from the products that resemble wood.

Many of the new homes that are going with hardwood floors are installing heated flooring. This is popular in geographical areas that experience cold winters. The heating elements are installed under the hardwood floors. Some of the heat is electric and others get their heat through a hot water system. This can be a very nice option in bedroom areas, so that you do not step out of bed onto a cold floor. It also reduces your energy costs.

The installation of hardwood floors adds usefulness to the home. When carpeting is used its color usually dictates the color scheme for the room. With hardwood floors the color scheme can be changed by the use of area rugs. It is much more suitable and cheaper to replace an area carpet than wall to wall carpeting.

Many of the laminate flooring options that are available are a less costly alternative to hardwood floors. The higher quality laminates look like wood and are more resistant to scratch marks. The installation system used in laminate flooring allows you to place it over the existing floor. This helps save time and expense. Many people find that they can follow the step by step instructions and install the flooring themselves.

Another alternative to saving cost on hardwood floors is to purchase flooring that has been removed during a changing project. Remodeling contractors often have materials for sale that they remove from homes that they are working on. The contractor will often sell the materials rather than having to pay for their disposal. This allows for the recycling of hardwood floors from one home to another.

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Product DescriptionOwn your own professional craftsman grade tool for less than the cost of one or two weeks of tool rental. Do a professional installation of your beautiful hardwood flooring faster and easier. Our high-speed hardwood flooring, 2 in 1 pneumatic (powered by air compressor) cleat nailer / stapler is designed to install tongue and groove flooring using 1" to 2" length L-shaped cleat nails or staples on flooring thickness 1/2", 5/8", 3/4", or 25/32". Technical Information. . . More >>

Pneumatic 2 in 1 hardwood floor nailer for HARDWOOD FLOORING 1-1/2-Inch to 2-Inch Hardcore Tools®