When it comes to hardwood flooring, Pine wood is one of the old favorites. Beautiful and durable, pine floors are a good choice for any room in your home. A pine floor can absorb a lot of punishment but the day will come when you feel it is too banged up and needs refinishing. Alternately if you have moved in to a new house and discovered that the pine flooring needs your attention – read on to know more.

Learn the Ropes

Refinishing any floor is not a job for untrained hands. Preparation and practice are needed to do justice to any DIY project. You can entrust your refinishing project to the professional hands at Contempo Floor Coverings. If you would like to enjoy the pleasure of working with your hands – ensure that you have access to the right tools and knowledge of the tricks needed to safely complete your pine flooring project.

Tools for Refinishing Pine Floors

• Sander
• Sand paper – multiple grades
• Buffer
• Sealant and Stain
• Tape, plastic sheets and a hammer

There may be other tools that you need according to the unique conditions of your floor.

Steps in Refinishing Pine Floors

• Use the tape and plastic sheet to demarcate the room you intend to refinish. It should be a no entry zone for the kids during the duration of the refinishing project and for a few days after it.
• Pine floors are fixed with the help of steel nails. Over time these nails may come out. Before you begin sanding the floor it is vital to ensure that all the nails are properly countersunk in the floor.
• Clean the floor carefully. Remove all dirt and debris from the floor.
• Carefully sand the floor with the floor sander. This is the most critical step that needs a certain amount of practice and a deft hand. Untrained hands tend to sand the floor unevenly – you may over sand the floor in places. Over sanding can destroy the beauty of the floor almost permanently. It also shortens the life of the pine floor.
• You may not be able to reach the corners of the floor with the floor sander. Use a hand sander or get down on your hands and knees and sand the difficult to reach areas by hand.
• Once you are through with the sanding process clean the floor thoroughly. You will need to properly vacuum not just the floor but the ceiling, fixtures and window sills too. At this stage you need to eliminate all dust and wood particles from the room. Any particles that are left may return to the floor during staining or sealing and create trouble with the finish.
• Once the floor is clean you may consider sealing the wood floor and then apply a good wood finish. Apply two coats of the sealant on the wood floor. If planning to use a stain postpone the sealing procedure until after the staining is complete as raw wood takes up stain easily and evenly.

Once the floor is stained and sealed apply a coat of finish to the floor. Water based polyurethane finish is one of the more popular choices. Choose a finish that is low on volatile organic compounds. Once the refinishing is complete let the floor dry before you begin to use it. During the refinishing procedure and for a few days after it you will need to ensure that the room is well ventilated so that any odors are driven away.

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