How to restore Hardwood Floors
How To Sand & Refinish Hardwood Floors
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I'm Shannon from house improvements calm
and in my video today I want to show you
how I sound and refinish hardwood
flooring so for the bulk of the floor
we're gonna use a large pad sander like
this there are other options out there
drum Sanders those sorts of things so
depending on the severity of the
condition of your floor you may have to
go to a drum sander my case this pad
sander is gonna do the job basically to
start out you want to get as much out of
the room as you can put up some
barricades or whatever to control the
dust because you're gonna have some dust
some of these Sanders will have a bag or
a vacuum attachment this one doesn't so
but it's always a good idea to put up
some dust screens anyways so so I did
all that we basically have everything
out of the room i've i've actually
sanded most of this room already we just
have a little three foot by five foot
area here that isn't done and we're
going to go through the process showing
you how to do it the first thing i'm
going to do is i'm going to use an
orbital sander like this this one i've
got about sixty grit on it and i'm gonna
go around the perimeter of the room or
what's left here to do and i'm just
gonna get right up against the wall any
obstacles little sort of things that I
need to get tight up against that I
can't with this machine you could rent a
an edger if you wanted to for what I was
doing the combination of these two
Sanders is basically going to do it if
you've got some big lumps of old varnish
or paint or anything like that a scraper
just a simple paint scraper like this
you can go around and get those chunks
off pretty quick and if you really
needed to you could use this in a corner
to scrape the finish off too if you
can't get right in there with the sander
another helpful thing that could be
helpful is more of a detail sander that
has like the triangular pad on it and
that'll you know get your aide in tight
around anything you have to get in a
corner around so basic idea and I'll
show you more when we get to this sander
is we're gonna use a variety of grits of
sandpaper the first ones are going to be
really coarse I think I've got a twenty
grit and a 36 grit
my initial sanding and that's just to
get that old finish that old grime off
and you'll use quite a few of those pads
I don't know on about say a hundred
square feet you're probably gonna on
this machine you're probably gonna use
four or five pads in those lower grits
just to get that finish off because
they're gonna gum up fairly quickly so
I'm using twenty grit
what are they thirty six sixty eighty
and a hundred I believe are my grits so
we'll just go finer and finer every
every time we sand just to each each
each change of the paper basically sands
out the scratches from the previous one
so and gets you a nice smooth finish
okay so yeah so get all your stuff out
of the way go around set any nails or
anything like that that might be you
know sticking out of the floor fill in
any little holes or cracks or big nicks
that you obviously can't sand right down
through and then you're you're ready to
go you're probably gonna want some like
a dust mask and that sort of thing maybe
some ear protection if you like I
probably really don't need high
protection but that's up to you so we're
gonna reposition the camera and I've got
a little bit to do around the edges here
with this orbital and then we'll get to
the big guy okay so like I said I've
just got a basic orbital sander like you
might already own and I'm gonna do the
perimeter and it's just because you
can't get right up close sometimes with
some of these machines and in the case
of this machine really I'm only gonna do
this once just the initial pass to get
the finish off itself after that I can
get close enough with this one to
actually sand scratches and that sort of
thing out so I've got sixty grit on here
you know if you had a fifty grit or
something would be probably even a
little better so so I'll make this pass
with orbital and then that's probably
the only time I'll need it so then you
know I guess if you've got a difficult
spot to get in you might still need
yours after this but I don't hear so
[Music]
okay so I did the did the edges there in
between sanding you want to either sweep
up or preferably vacuum up your dust so
you aren't grinding that into the the
next pass or whatever when you're
sanding away so I'm just gonna quickly
vacuum this up and then we'll get the
sanding pad on the sander and then we'll
start that process so because I've got
such a small area here it's going to be
kind of quick going through this and
I'll be changing pads quite often but
with this style of this style of sander
it's going to come with the I don't know
what you call this kind of a sponge kind
of deal so you want to stick your
sanding paper on to one side of that
sponge and we're starting with our
courses grit and remember so just set it
on the sponge turn that over I'm going
to set the sander on to that pad just
roughly kind of Center it up on there
and then this sander a lot of these
stall are kind of the same I'm just
going to turn this around for a minute
so you can see so obviously its electric
but there's also a safety right here
little safety button that you're gonna
have to push before you squeeze triggers
or it won't work
I'm sure at the rental shops they get a
lot of people fawning thinking they're
sander doesn't work but they don't know
about the safety so
and also most of them will have some
kind of adjustment on the handle for
storage and whatever so just kind of put
it where you want it okay so set your
sander on the pad and then with this
type of sander you're gonna start up
with the pad on the ground when you go
to stop sanding you just want to push
down on the handle which lifts the the
pad up off the ground so what else can I
tell you before I start this thing so
I'm just gonna be basically making my
way around the perimeter and back and
forth over this area and I'm just trying
to get as much of the finish off as I
can if I notice that it's not working as
well anymore then that's a good sign
that I've need to change my pad because
they will get gummed up like I said
before yeah I think that's about it so
[Applause]
[Applause]
okay so as you noticed I'm I was kind of
moving any direction and with this type
of sander you can do that with a drum
sander you generally want to go with the
green with the length of the board's
just so you aren't getting scratches
across the green if your floor was in
really rough shape though really up and
down you would probably go diagonally on
your first pass even with the drum
sander but after that you'd go with the
green this one it doesn't really matter
you're trying to get down so that all
the finish is gone and I can see I don't
know if you'll be able to tell here on
the camera but it's getting pretty good
here but there's a little low spot in
some of these joints and they're still
finished there if you're not going to
steam or change the color of your floor
a little bit of that will generally be
alright but if you're staining you for
sure want to get right down to bare wood
I've got a little bit of a wobble here
in the floor up against the wall I'm
gonna change to a new pad again I'm
going to give this another pass just to
try to flatten this out and get down
into these grooves a bit better but it's
it's getting real close so so this
change I'm just going to put another pad
on at the twenty grit and I'm not going
to worry about us vacuuming up in
between this one I'm just staying in the
same grit of paper
okay so that should be good for that
grit and I'm gonna change to a little
bit finer which i think is 36 or 35 or
something and once i vacuumed this dust
up i will do a pass or two with that if
you notice when i'm going i'm making a
pass and I'm moving over I'm not moving
over the full width of the machine I'm
going about a third of the machine over
and making my passes and I'm going
fairly slow
something else I'll mention you're doing
this in its winter time or even in the
summer I guess it stands to reason too
if you've got forced air heating or
cooling you'll want to turn that off
while you're doing this so it's not
sucking this dust through the whole
house and I would keep that off
partially when you're doing the
finishing - because same thing it's just
gonna contaminate your finish with dust
obviously you need some heat though but
you got to find that balance
[Music]
[Laughter]
[Music]
[Applause]
okay so I've done my hundred grit which
in my case is the final sanding that I'm
going to do I'm gonna vacuum a little
area here and we'll just have a look
okay so I just vacuumed a little spot
here basically where we're ready to
finish once we get everything totally
cleaned up here and and all the dust
under control so once you once you have
it done and everything vacuumed up
before you finish you want to give it a
good wipe to pick up any of the fine
dust and extra pieces that the vacuum
didn't yet you could use a damp rag or a
rag with some paint thinner on it just
give it a bit of a wipe the entire floor
and that will help pick up the fine dust
and the you know most of the garbage
that's left behind and once that dries
and before I put my first coat on I'll
probably go over it with a tack cloth as
well or a cheesecloth and that'll pick
up anything else that's happened to
settle in between so alright so kind of
our next process is we're gonna clean up
and we're gonna start finishing this
floor well I'm back yesterday your last
night we ran out of time to actually
finish this floor so I'm gonna show you
right now how to put the first coat on
so obviously you just watched me sand
this floor and everything I went through
afterwards and vacuumed it all up really
well then I actually I'm using a
polyurethane finish here so I used some
paint thinner on a rag and I wiped the
entire floor this helped pick helps pick
up some of the finer dust and any little
chunks in that and then once that was
all finished I went over the floor again
once the the floor kind of dried out or
evaporated then I used one of these tap
cloths and I wiped the floor down that
just picks up any last little bits and
pieces you're always going to have
something
the more steps you take to pick up every
little piece the less you're gonna have
in your finish so if you're using a
water-based paint or finish you could
just use a damp rag and wipe the floor
down but just be sure that the floor
dries out before you apply your finish
so so I'm using a polyurethane depending
on what you're using just follow your
recommended instructions on the jug or
kin or whatever it comes in so so I'm
pretty much ready here
like I said I've got it all ready I got
all the dust off that I can get I've
turned the furnace
we've got forced-air heating here so
I've turned that off to prevent that
from kicking in and blowing a bunch of
dust off around on me and the basic
process I'm gonna do is I'm gonna work
my way you know along this wall and work
my way back out of the room here and I
am I've got some of my finish this I've
got my finish in a smaller container
that's easier to pour because I'm gonna
use a t-bar to apply the finish and
you'll see what that is here in a minute
and so I'm actually gonna pour it some
onto the floor and then I'm gonna use
the t-bar basically like a squeegee to
manipulate that finish but along this
wall that I'm starting on after I do the
pour I'm gonna take a brush and just cut
in against the wall a little bit it's
just easier to get started if I cut in
with a brush I've also got this air
register here that I've got to work
around right off the start which is not
a huge deal just a little bit about the
t-bar maybe I'll show you that here
before I get started so the t-bar is
basically a bar that you can see you can
see it in here and this handle and I've
attached a paint handle to it and then
there's a sleeve that goes over top of
it so there's a couple different sizes
that I know of there's an 18 inch and a
24 inch this is a 24 there's also a
heavy and a lightweight this is a new
product for me this is actually the
first job I've used it on
I think if I was doing it again I'd get
the 18 inch for these smaller rooms and
I probably wouldn't get the weighted bar
either I find this one's actually a
little hard to maneuver in these smaller
rooms so basically you're just gonna use
it like a squeegee and you'll see once I
get going exactly how it works also
something to mention you see how the end
of this sleeve here is cut on a little
bit of an angle on both ends some art
well that's a really good idea because
it allows you to get much tighter up
against walls or if you have your
baseboards still on that sort of thing
and it applies the finish down here but
it doesn't rub along the wall or
whatever you're trying to get up nice
and close to so it is nice when they're
cut on a bevel like that and I don't see
why you couldn't if if your sleeve was
straight I don't know I don't see why
you couldn't cut that somehow with a
knife or scissors or something to put a
bevel on it so I'm just gonna set that
there until I get started we did one
room last night
and so I'm gonna do the first to show
you the first coat here and then we're
gonna go to the other room and show you
the second coat and depending on your
finish you probably want to do three I'm
gonna do be doing three but we'll just
show you the first and second coats yeah
so just follow your manufacturers
instructions on the cans as far as colts
and time in between for drying this
product that i'm using if i recode it
with in a certain amount of hours i
don't need to sand in between but if you
surpass that time limit then you do need
to sand and that's just basically like a
220 sanding sponge go over the floor
relatively quickly and then use that
cheesecloth or that tack cloth like I
showed you before to pick up the dust
and then you can do your coats okay so
we're gonna get going here I'm going to
pour some finish on the floor you want
to be careful when you're doing this
doing the pouring you know you're going
to get some dripping down the side of
the jug so you want to have something
other than just this floor to set it on
so you're not getting leaving a ring
behind so I'm just gonna
some people have I've actually seen some
people use like a plant watering little
water jugs sort of thing it's pretty
good idea I find this works pretty good
and I can pop the lid back on it when
I'm done so I'll start here but you'll
you'll see me in a minute
so I'm just going to take my brush and
kind of cut some of this in quickly
along this wall and when I pull the
t-bar along it it'll help even it out
but it's just to get some on that
surface there first and your first coat
is going to soak in pretty good it's
gonna look nice and shiny when you first
start or when you first got it on and
then once it soaks in a bit it's gonna
look a little splotchy but every cool
you put on after that will get better
and better cut along there a little bit
too so like I said but the t-bar you're
basically just kind of snow plowing this
finish along and it helps if you can
make consistent swipes along the whole
distance of the room that you're doing
kind of pull it out get off the excess
and do another pull I don't quite have
enough material down there so what
you're trying to do is not leave any
puddles behind with this weighted bar
I'm not really putting any pressure on
it if you have the lighter bar you may
have to you and as you run out of
material you just pour a little bit more
on once you're getting close to the end
of your room we'll want to be a little
bit controlled on how much product
you're putting down so that you don't
get to the end of the room and then have
a big mass to try to use up
just trying to get this edge to be
covered it kind of can get so far to the
one end and I squeeze out the excess out
of my brush and then just kind of finish
that off like so
now as I'm going here I can see I have a
couple scratches that I just couldn't
get sanded deep enough to get them out
and as you get down to the end of the
room it gets a little more difficult as
you start to run out of space
just a little bit more product weighted
bar kind of hopes you do not get it on
as thick but I think even if you add the
light bar it's a little bit of pressure
you could easily do the same thing
so again I'm trying to be a little bit
controlled about how much product I have
down here till I know but it's going to
take to finish the room yeah that's all
I can do with the t-bar I'm just going
to get rid of it and because it's a
little awkward here at the end of the
room I'm just making sure I don't have
any puddles there because I couldn't
squeeze out my brush anymore or my t-bar
and I'll just finish in cutting in along
the carpet here but a little bit excess
it's pretty good
and I'm just looking back to any spots
that might not be quite close enough to
the wall any access and I realize you
can't see some of that because of the
camera angle but and yeah we got a
pretty good covering on that for our
first coat and it looks nice and shiny
and glossy right now but it will look a
little more dull once it dries this is a
semi-gloss and you'll see actually when
we go to the next room what the first
coat looks like when it's dry so we'll
get moved over to the other room and put
a second coat on it so here we are in
another room I first coated this last
night before we left and I'm gonna do
the second coat I think I mentioned
before I'm doing three coats total you
can see I think you can probably see on
the camera now this is dried how you get
some glossy and some and not glossy
spots and that's just from the finish
soaking in more coats you put on the
better that's gonna get and be more even
so in prepping this room for the next
coat with the material I'm using I just
sand it sanded it quickly with a sanding
sponge 220 grit I think and then I did
the the tack cloth thing just to pick up
a little bit of dots dust and that's her
stuff so so I've already kind of pre-cut
in a few things here because that's
pretty much the same as doing the first
coat and I'll do my poor and work my way
out of the room that's important you
want to always make sure you're working
yourself to a point where you can leave
the room and not be it sounds like a
simple thing but it's easy to kind of
forget about your escape plan
so same kind of thing we're just plowing
this product from one side to the other
until we make our way out of the room so
I just got to get enough wet here to get
started
oops
no I stepped in my squeegee spot
it's more difficult in a small room you
don't have the room to give any kind of
rhythm going and you can see how all the
floor is getting nice and shiny again
so I just showed you how to refinish
your hardwood floors I've obviously got
one more process to go here well two on
this floor and one on the other floor
one more coat to do but really they're
all basically the same follow your
manufacturer's instructions according to
the finish that you're using as far as
whether you're sanding in between or
what you're doing will insert some
pictures at the end of the video so
stick around to see those of the
finished products so hopefully you've
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