Homeowners are constantly carrying out renovations such as Hardwood floor refinishing to improve the appearance of their homes and boost their values. While you should always entrust this task to the professionals, you should be aware of the steps involved beforehand.

Now the first step in hardwood floor refinishing is sanding off the old finish, which will require a floor sander along with a handheld power edge sander. Both these come with a vacuum along with a dust bag system which helps in restricting the amount of sanding dust that may be left behind in the process.

Once this has been done, the next step is filling any gouges or nicks in the floor, which is followed by the removal of dust from walls, molding and floor. Make sure that all the dust, including that on the walls is removed or this may fall on the new finish. For this purpose, your contractor may require the use of a vacuum with dust filler and a tack cloth to wipe the entire floor.


The next step in the floor refinishing process is choosing the type of finish. Your choices include penetrating sealer, varnish and polyurethane. To prevent the open wood surface from absorbing any moisture, the floor should be sealed the same day as the sanding.

The sealer should be applied with a sheepskin applicator and be spread evenly. The quantity should be just enough to cover the surface. However, any excess will only pool onto the surface and will not soak into the wood.

As you can see, the task is not easy. So do not try it yourself and call a hardwood floor refinishing professional.