Anyone have real hardwood floors that needed refinishing or polishing? Other than spending a fortune on having it done, what did you do or what can be done? Any suggestions????
I put down large area rugs and decided to love the uneven finish and scratches. My house is over 100 yrs old and I have no idea when the floors were done last. I've been here 10 yrs.
I have hardwood floors, that my husband and father sanded down and finished. My dad also did his house a few years ago. It is a ton of work, but much more affordable. You can rent a sander from Home Depot or Lowes and I would suggest going to into their flooring department and talk to someone about the different finishes. Some are more durable for high traffic areas, etc. Also Lowes has a youtube channel with a ton of do it yourself tutorials and the DIY Network does on their website too. watch some videos to see what it entails, so you can avoid as many surprises as possible :) good luck!
The oak floors in our old house needed refinishing once in 15 years. We had a company come in the sand and refinish them. We left the house for the weekend. They put up these huge plastic sheets everywhere to keep the dust out of the rest of the house. Did a pretty good job and there was minimal clean up after they left.
I have character grade cherry floors in my house now, and love them. All the color variations and knots hide the dents and dings that have accumulated over the last 9 years. Hides all the dirt, too. No plans to have the floors refinished anytime soon.
Oh, one thing I did discover is a product called "scratch out" or something like that. It's some type of oil and comes in different colors. I do have a few big scratches and rub this oil in them every few months so they disappear.
J.:
I use the Mop 'N Glow hardwood orange about once a month. It helps keep them shiny.
Since my husband is such a good DIY'er - we rented a sander from Home Depot and did it ourselves. You NEED to make sure you have enough wood to do it though...we had 3/4" hardwoods - they aren't 3/4" anymore after the sanding...but not far off!!
When doing it yourself - you MUST have patience and take your time so that the sander doesn't "dig" into the floors.
I would be interested in hearing how do-it-yourself wood floor refinishing comes out, if that's what you choose to do. I hope it will be great!
Our 1960 house has wood floors. When we moved in, it was all covered with wall-to-wall carpeting (as was the fashion at the time), but eventually we pulled up the carpet and invested in having the floors professionally refinished (which included moving out for a week). That was, oh, some dozen or more years ago. We have never been sorry. The floors don't look brand new, of course - not with four children, six grandchildren, and several dogs - but they look *good.* It was worth every penny.
Haven't refinished mine yet but when I do I am heading to Lowes or Home Depot. It is hard work but can be done without professionals.
The 1st time we refinished them, we had them done professionally. They came out great !
The 2nd time, we rented a sander from Home Depot & did them ourselves. They came out pretty good. * I would not rec this unless the person knows how to do it. It's very dusty and messy. It's more afforable.
