Refinishing Prefinished and Laminated Hardwood Floors
Whether you have traditional hardwoods, prefinished wood, or laminated wood, restoring without sanding is a practical solution. Though you can sand your traditional hardwoods, it's difficult or even impossible to sand prefinished or laminated wood floors.
Clean, Clean, Clean
This should help pick up any dust you stirred up while sanding. Use an attachment to reach the higher areas in the room where dust might've accumulated, and make sure you thoroughly vacuum into any cracks and crevices on the floor. When done, use a damp microfiber cloth or mop to go over the floor.
When you want to stain or change the color of your hardwood floors, you MUST fully sand and refinish the floors. If you don't sand the floors first, the stain won't properly penetrate the hardwood nor will the polyurethane properly adhere. This is the ONLY way to change the color of your hardwood floors.
Start with 36-grit sandpaper for a floor that hasn't been sanded in a long time or that has a lot of heavy finish on it. Floors that have been painted may even require you to go tougher and use 24 or 16-grit paper. Maple floors are so hard that they often require 36-grit sandpaper as well.
The palm sander is definitely the most common tool for sanding a wooden floor by hand. Palm sanders also oscillate, however, unlike orbital random sanders, the pad of the palm sander is fixed straight.
If your hardwood floors have been sanded and finished with Bona Mega Clear HD, it is safe to sleep in the home about 2-3 hours after the project is finished, but again, only if there are other rooms that have not been robbed of their furniture – furniture should stay off floors for at least 24 hours after ANY project ...
Luckily, you have options other than leaving the floor as it is or replacing it. The best way to refinish wood floors without sanding is to use a technique called screen and recoat. This involves scuffing up the finish with a floor buffer and applying a refresher coat of finish.
Applying a revitalizer gloss is the simplest and cheapest way to refinish hardwood floors. This approach works best on floors that only have surface-level scratches and other minor wear and tear issues. You can get the job done without the need for equipment rentals or hard-to-find materials.
When sanding any floor, the amount of wood you remove depends on the coarseness of the paper you use. Flooring professionals can sand away as much as 1/16 inches of wood with the coarsest paper.
12 sheets of 24 grit sandpaper. 8 sheets of 40 grit sandpaper.
If your floorboards are 'just' dirty or have a thin coat of paint on them, starting to sand with 24 grit sandpaper should be sufficient. If your floorboards are really uneven or painted in a thick coat of paint, you will probably be best starting to sand your floors with 16 grit paper.
Sanding hardwood floors might seem like a pros-only project. It's a big job that creates big disruptions in your household. And then there's that big, scary sanding machine… But it's really not that difficult.
Random orbital sanders are the best choice for do-it-yourself hardwood floor refinishing. They take longer to remove old finishes than drum sanders, but they do not require a lot of experience to use and are less likely to damage your wood floor.
How long does it take to sand a floor with an orbital sander? Unless your floor is in flat and in very good condition, an orbital sander is going to increase your refinishing time but 2-3 times. Let's say 2-4 days per room as opposed to 1-2 days with a full sanding kit. For handheld orbitals, double that again.
A belt sander is more effective for large materials, while the orbital sander is ideal for small spaces and pieces of furniture. A belt sander works effectively on flat surfaces, while an orbital sander can work with various angles.
40 – 80 Grit: Coarse. 40 to 80 grit is used for heavy or rough sanding and to help remove scratches or imperfections. While it is okay to be abrasive, take your time when using a low-grit sandpaper because it may show noticeable scratches or swirls in the wood.