Floor Sanding & Refinishing

... The tools you need to Rejuvenate hardwood flooring

Sanding and refinishing hardwood flooring can be quite the undertaking. But going through with it is usually well worth the effort. When done well, refinishing hardwood flooring will completely rejuvenate hardwood flooring. But like any great undertaking there are a lot of things that go into the process. Possibly, the most important part would be the assortment of tools needed for the job.

One of the reasons why refinishing hardwood flooring is so difficult is because of all the steps involved and all the tools needed to complete them. There is the potential to cause serious damage to your floor either by sanding too deeply or applying too much finish afterward. If this is a project you’re looking to undertake then you should do as much research as possible. Here we’ll just touch on a few of the tools someone would need. In no way is this list comprehensive but hopefully it can serve as a good start for someone.

Dust Mask/Safety Goggles: First and foremost you’ll have to protect yourself from all of the irritants and VOCs that are creating by refinishing a floor. This means acquiring a good dust mask and safety goggles. In addition to these you should also make sure the room you’re working in has good ventilation.

Floor Sander: There are several different types of floor sanders. High powered ones for bigger jobs and then smaller ones for smaller jobs. It’s a good idea to have one larger sander for the majority of the job and then an edger for the sides of the room and then even maybe a handheld one to get into all the places the edger couldn’t reach.

Lamp Wool Applicator: These are popular tools used to apply the finishes and the seals to the hardwood flooring.

Hammer, pry bar: You would need these to remove shoe molding or any other types of molds from the walls surrounding your working area.

Vacuum: A vacuum will most likely never be as crucial to the well being of your hardwood floors as they are during refinishing. Using a vacuum is a great way to eliminate much of the dust caused by refinishing. They even make specialized flooring vacuums just for this purpose. Eliminating dust is important because a build up of dust can cause finishes not to adhere properly and can cause unsightly blemishes and irregularities in the floor.

Sandpaper: The coarseness of the sandpaper that you need will likely be determined on the type of floor you’re refinishing and the amount of damage it has sustained. But in the process of refinishing you want to have a coarse sandpaper to remove the finish and imperfections in the wood and then move on to progressively finer grades of sandpaper to eliminate the scratches caused from the coarser sandpaper.

Nail setter: Hopefully this tool will not be needed by most. Once you decide to refinish your floor you should walk its entire length being very careful to listen to any creaking or squeaking. Squeaking in the floor is usually caused by movement of some type. If your floorboards are moving it's because they're not fastened down tightly enough. The nail setter will help you do exactly that, set the nail in deeper. This should take care of most of the noise and provide you with a more permanent solution than lubricating the rubbing areas. Setting nails can be a difficult task if the flooring has been installed specifically to hide them. Luckily, there are several types of magnetic and electronic nail finders on the market.

These are just a few of the tools you’ll need for your refinishing project. You should consult a hardware specialist for more information, or call us toll-free and we'll get you started!

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