 Floor Refinishing It's time to refinish the floors... But what are your options, and where do you start? Your floors are the most used surfaces in your home. They take a lot of abuse, plus they are a major visual element in your decorating scheme. When decorating, consider your floors to be the 5th wall in your home. So, when working with floors, you start from the ground up. Prepping The Floors Go to the rental shop, and pick up a big sander with plenty of paper. They'll get you set up with the right amount of sandpaper, at the proper grit. It's always a good idea to drape the doors leading into the sanding area with a double layer of plastic drop cloth. This minimizes the dust in the rest of the house. Start with 1 to 2 passes over the floor with coarse grit sandpaper, and then repeat this process with the medium weight paper. It helps to have a hand-held belt sander for tight areas and along walls. At this point, it's time go over the floors with wood filler. This helps fill in any open grain spots which will result in a smooth, fine finish, once the top coat it applied. This step is optional. Final pass with the sander should be with the fine grit sandpaper. This best removes any excess filler, and gets the floors in great shape ready to be conditioned, stained and finished. Ready To Condition Benite is one of our best selling productsSoft woods, such as fir need to be treated before staining. This helps the porous wood accept the stain evenly, without blotchiness. A great product to use is Daly's Benite. Let this dry a minimum of 24 hours, longer in cold or moist weather conditions. One coat is all you need. Time To Stain We can custom match any stain color in our two stores. Besides adding color and depth, stain is a great way to even out an irregular looking floor surface. Daly's Wood Stain is an excellent stain product, with unlimited color choices. We can help you find the perfect color for your individual situation. That's our specialty! A mid-tone stain will help bridge the gap from the light to the dark areas on your floor. A deep color stain always looks rich, but remember, deep colors make a floor appear smaller. Choosing A Finish There are 3 basic options when it comes to finishing your floor: 1. Daly's FloorFin 2. Daly's CrystalFin for Floors 3. Daly's SatinThane or GlosThane FloorFin is a hard-drying oil finish. Easy to apply, and easy to maintain over the years. It penetrates into the grain of the wood, building with successive applications. This finish leaves a subtle amber tint to the floors. Long a favorite choice of many. CrystalFin for Floors is a water-based polyurethane finish designed specifically for hardwood floors. Non-yellowing, virtually no odor, and highly resistant to most household chemicals. SatinThane and GlosThane are both oil-based polyurethane finishes. Simply chose the correct product for the sheen desired. Easy to apply. And, as always, we are here to help! |
