Refinishing Hardwood Floor

chris johnson

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18
So who out there is ambitious enough to do their own floor refinishing. I am dying to trim out my living room, but I would hate to run baseboard over a floor that looks like garbage. I have oak floors in the living room and 3 beds w/a small hallway that connects them all. Initially I would only do the living room and the hallway, with the beds getting carpet or refinish later. What are your experiences? Also, has anyone used one of the four head random orbit floor sanders? I have heard from Mr. Silva on TOH that they are much more DIY friendly than traditional belt sanders. By the way the living room is only about 14x18, so the room is not huge by any means.

Chris
 
I have in my past life refinished several floor. Never did use the four head sander. As long as the floors are not to beat up it can be done fairly quick.As with any sanding, start with the least aggresive grit possible. If you are only needing to remove finish then you might get away starting with 80 grit. Then work up to 220 or so. It will take more time doing the edges then the main floor. What are your plans for sealing the wood after it is finshed? Good luck wit it. Let us know how it turns out.
 
If you're going to do it, do it all, then you will only have to deal with the mess/disruption once, and you won't have to worry about the transition into the bedrooms.

I know it will be a pain moving stuff around, but this way you'll get it all over at one time.

And you won't have to deal with different finish colors in the transition between the hall and the bedrooms that will inevitably happen if a lot of time passes between the two jobs.

I haven't used one of the new sanders, the last refinishing job I did was 25 years ago with one of those huge belt sanders, it was an experience!

Jay
 
I have done a couple of floors. DO NOT use a drum sander. They have a random orbital that uses rectangular screens that work very well. I also do not like the edging sander because it is very easy to gouge the floors around the edges. It takes a little while longer, but I have used my PC ROS with very good results. Start with very aggressive grit.

I would also use the waterbased poly, just make sure the room temp stays around 70* to ensure a smooth cure.
 
We used the four disc sander a couple of years ago. I was terrified of using a drum so the four disc seemed like the way to go. All went smooth (pun intended) and the dust collection was pretty good too. As for finish we just used Velvit Oil, an oil mix. I did learn to not let the oil sit too long before wiping off. We didn't want the shiney look so an oil finish worked well for us.

jy_kitchen4.jpg


More pics here.
 
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