Before Picture Hardwood Floors

The best way to see what refinishing your floors can do for your home is to see before and after pictures.  I love looking at these because the difference is clear.  This floor is a 1930′s red oak hardwood.  It’s got an original oil base finish on it.  We sanded it down and cleaned it up.  The floor looks great and the customers were very happy. Oak is a lot lighter before you put the polyurethane on it.  Oil base finishes will give the floor a lot more color.  A water base finish will keep the floor more light.  Overall, people tend to like the look of oil base finishes better because it’s easier to match furniture and paint colors to the oil base look then the water base look.

After Refinish Hardwood Floors

Now look at the after picture.  The floor looks way better.  It’s clean, the color tone is more even, the whole house just feels better.  Having a old floor that hasn’t been refinished is kinda like having dirty carpet that never gets vacuumed.  It just all ways feels dirty.  But if you have nice, clean, refinished hardwood, your house just feels better.  It’s a very positive feeling.  So there are some before and after pictures of hardwood floors.  Call us today.

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Sanding A Floor

Sanding a hardwood floor and re-coating it can dramatically change the look and feel of your house, bedroom, or kitchen.  You can do a dark stain, a natural oil base, or water base finish.  All of them will give your hardwood floor a different look.  Also, there are a number of different machines you can use to get the job done. You can use a Hummel 220 drum sander, which is very powerful, and if the machine is tuned up properly, and the user is a skilled professional, then you can get a very good result.  Or you can use a smaller drum sander such as a Clarke E-Z 8, which is shown in this picture.  These machines are considerably less powerful.  They are a little easier to use then the 220 drum sander, you can rent them at Home Depot and they are lighter so they you can transport them easier.  However, they are not nearly as aggressive.  Sanding a floor with this machine will take longer and you probably won’t get as good of a result.  I’ve used both machines hundreds of times and I prefer the bigger drum sander.  It is just a better machine.  Also, you will need to use a floor sanding edger to sand the perimeter of the floor.  There are a number of different brands to use such as Bona or Clarke.  I’ve had a Clarke edger for a while.  Actually, I’ve had three of them.  They are very reliable, but if you them a lot, then you will need to get them tuned up frequently to get the best result.  On most floors you should be able to start with a 24 grit sanding paper, then work your way up to a 60-100 grit paper.  I like using a buff pad while I am edging because I think you get a smoother more even final sand.  So if you are renting the equipment see if you can purchase a few edger pads.  They don’t last that long.  After I do my first cut with the edger I will hand scrape the finish off the corners and along the baseboards that I couldn’t get with the edger.  Then I do one or two more cuts on the edge.  Next I will buff out the floor using a 16 inch buffer.  I use a sanding screen, around 100-150 grit.  I don’t buff too hard, but I make sure I go over the floor once.  After that, I sweep very well, then vacuum using a professional floor sanding vacuum.  You can use a shop vac, but it will take a lot longer and won’t work nearly as well.  The next step: put the finish down!!  But that is another story!  This is how you sand a floor.

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Hardwood Floors

The benefits of hardwood floors are numerous.  Compared to carpet it isn’t even close.  Just look at this picture.  Don’t they look beautiful?  Hardwood floors add lasting beauty to your home.  You can put them in your living room, dining room, bedrooms, kitchens.  I’ve even seen a lot of older homes with hardwood in bathrooms too.

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Hardwood Floors are Practical

Personally, I like tile in bathrooms because tile is a lot more water resistance than wood floors.  For kitchens you can go either way.  I think it depends on the design of your house and kitchen.  I’ve sanded a lot of kitchen floors, especially in homes built between 1880-1930.  After that time period they usually installed a vinyl or tile in the kitchens.  Wood floors are also very convenient.  If you spill juice, wine, or water on the floor you can just wipe it up.  Unlike carpet that you have to clean up right away and hopefully, if it is a stain, you can get it out.  A few weeks ago my Mom was dying her hair and she some how spilled black hair dye on her white carpet without knowing it.  It got all over her hallway and steps going to the main level.  Basically her carpet is ruined and she will need to spend $2,000-$5,000 to replace it.  If she had hardwood floors this wouldn’t have been a problem.  All she would have had to do is wipe it up and its done.  Now, what is my Mom doing with carpet in her house?  That is a good question.

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Old Maple Floors Milwaukee

When I sand a floor I try to make sure I have everything I need at the job site.  I don’t like leaving the job site once I get there unless I absolutely have to because it is a waste of time and it is nice to keep your momentum. But there are a hand full of tools you must have to get the job done right.  First, you need a drum sander to sand the body of the floor, an edger sander to sand the perimeter, a buffer to buff the floor and a vacuum to vacuum it.  These are the major pieces of machinery to take all the finish off and clean up.  But the devil is in the details and you will get a better job done if you have a number of smaller tools.  You will need a hand scraper to get the corners and low spots in the floor.  Also, it is good to have a phillips screw driver, a nippers, a nail sinker, a hammer, a pry bar, a bastard file, extension cord, a chisel, a dust pan and broom, a few rags, gloves, a couple extra small 3 inch clean paint brushes, an extra broom handle and cheese clothes.  Get a good tool box to put all these tools in and bring them with you to every job.  If the floor has staples in it you will need nippers to pull them out.  If you don’t pull them out they will destroy your sand paper and it will end up taking you a lot longer to finish the job and cost more money because you will keep having to replace paper.  Being prepare is the most important thing when sanding a floor.  Don’t start without going through your check list.  We refinish hardwood floors in Milwaukee so give us a call.

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Bad Stain Job Oak Floors Milwaukee

This is a bad stain job.  Look closely between the door way.  Do you see how light the floor looks there?  The lightness looks about 5-6 boards wide.  That is from a sanding machine.  Staining a floor is very difficult. And depending on what type of wood, the type of finish on the floor, and the color of the stain, you have to be careful.  First you want to make sure you get ALL the finish off the wood.  Even in the small cracks of the floor, the low spots, the corners.  Every board should be clean.  Second, cut the floor throughly.  Finish with at least an 100 grit paper on the body and a 100 grit paper on the edge.  Use a buffer pad along the edge.  Then buff out the floor good.  Don’t buff it too much, but buff it down once over.  Sweep the floor, then vacuum.  Make sure all the dust is off the floor.  After this, water pop the floor.  Take a bucket of water and get on your hands and knees and wipe the whole floor down with a wet rag.  Let it dry at least 5-6 hours depending on the temperature in the room.  If you can wait over night, that is even better.  Then apply the stain.  Wipe the stain on, and then wipe it off, make sure there are no streaks.  Let the stain dry over night.  Next, apply your polyurethane.  Use three coats, buff, and vacuum before you put the final coat down.  We do hardwood floor refinishing in Milwaukee so call us today!

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