Refinishing your hardwood floors is a great way to add value to your home. Not only will it improve the aesthetics of your home, but it will have a 100% return on investment if you sell your home. 

However, the steps to refinish hardwood floors can be difficult and are best left to a professional flooring company. 

Do you want to learn more about how to refinish hardwood floors? Keep reading this guide to see how professional companies will help you with your hardwood floors refinish project!

Signs You Need to Refinish Your Floors

There are many ways that you can improve the flooring in your home, from refinishing to resurfacing and even complete replacement. Before you decide which flooring service is best for you, you should look for signs that you need to refinish your floors. 

Refinishing hardwood floors is the process of sanding the top layer off of your flooring and adding a fresh coat of stain and wood finish. This is an easy process that will make your floors look brand new. 

If your floor has any serious issues, like rotted planks, warped floorboards, or holes in your wood, it will likely need to be resurfaced or replaced. 

However, most minor problems can be improved by refinishing hardwood floors. This includes any scratches or dents, water stains, discoloration or fading, or even splinters.

By simply sanding down your floorboards and restaining them, you will have flooring that looks new. 

Prepare Your Flooring

Before you can begin sanding down your current flooring, your flooring company will prepare your flooring. This includes a thorough clean, removal of the trim along the floor, and more. 

If your floor has any noticeable squeaks or creaks, your floor refinishing company can fix this for you as well!

Sand

After your floors are prepared, your flooring company will sand down the floors to remove the existing stain and finish. Using a drum sander, they will use coarse sandpaper and work their way up to fine sandpaper for the smoothest results. 

To make sure the sanding is completely uniform, your floor refinishing company will sand until the floor color is completely uniform. 

Because professional companies have the necessary sanding equipment, hiring a floor refinishing company will make the process go by much faster than doing it as a DIY project. 

Clean & Remove Dust

Sanding your floors creates a lot of dust and debris.

This can cause problems, especially if you are using coarse and fine-grit sandpaper. If you do not sweep and vacuum after each time you sand, the leftover dust can cause scratches on your floor. 

While it is important to clean the dust between sands, it is also vital to clean them again before staining your floors. 

An easy way to clean up this dust is by using a tack cloth. These are great for picking up fine dust and debris that are created by sandpaper and will give you a clean, smooth floor. 

Your floor refinishing company will be experienced in these steps and will be sure to thoroughly clean up the debris that comes from sanding. 

Apply Wood Stain

Next, it is time to apply the wood stain to your flooring. If you want to change the color of your existing wood floors, this is an easy way to do it without having to replace them. 

Typically, your floor refinishing company will apply the stain with a foam applicator. The stain should be applied in the direction of the wood grain to give the best results. 

Because stain can dry quickly, your home improvement company will work in small areas at a time. Once the stain has been brushed onto your floor, it will stay there for a few minutes, depending on how dark you want your stain to look.

After waiting for a few minutes, the excess stain needs to be removed with clean cloths or paper towels. Once the stain covers your entire floor, you need to wait for it to dry before walking on it and before applying your wood finish. 

Apply Wood Finish

Finally, it is time to apply the wood finish. If you do not want to change the color of your natural wood, you can skip the stain application step and immediately apply a wood finish. 

There are a few different types of wood finish, including water-based finishes and oil-based finishes. 

Your flooring company can help you determine which finish is best for your needs.

Then, they will apply a few layers of your desired finish. To get the smoothest results, they will also lightly sand your floors between each layer of your wood finish. 

Once your floors have the wood finish applied, you will need to wait before replacing your furniture or walking on the floors. Typically, you can wait for 4-8 hours for water-based finishes to dry or you can wait 4-24 hours for other finishes to completely cure. 

Get Help With the Steps to Refinish Hardwood Floors Today

Refinishing your hardwood floors is an involved process. To make sure you get the best results and to protect your hardwood floors, it is best to hire a professional company to refinish your wood floors for you. 

If you are looking for a company to refinish your wood floors in Massachusetts, Ulta Home Improvements can help! We offer flooring installation, hardwood refinishing services, and more. 

Contact our team today to learn more about the steps to refinish hardwood floors or to request a free quote from our home improvements team to learn more about the hardwood floor refinishing cost!