Floor refinishing: should you do it yourself or hire a contractor?
So, you just bought the house, or lived in the house for years and all this time you had a wall to wall carpeting, or in some cases linoleum..One of those days you decided to remove it, lifted it up and discovered a hardwood flooring, which is in really bad shape(sometimes covered in glue or other nasty stuff).Well, what’s next?
You have 2 choices here: do it yourself or hire a professional. Let’s do some thinking.
Of course a lot of homeowners will say that they can do their floors easily.That statement could not be further from the truth.Floor refinishing is not the type of work that anyone can do.There are so many ways to screw up your floors, while sanding them, that I could probably write another article just on this topic.Not to mention a mess you can make while coating your floors.
But let’s imagine, that every homeowner has a good idea of the refinishing process.Let’s just talk numbers here.We are going to take one room, for example(for bigger projects you’re definitely going to need a pro, unless you have a huge amount of pills for the back, knees and hands).
The floor guy will charge you something like $300-$500 for the room.That normally includes sanding your floor down to the wood, 1 coat of sealer and 2 coats of polyurethane.Of course, he has tools necessary for completion of the job.
If you will decide to refinish the floors yourself, you are going to need the following:
1.Big drum/belt sander(220v), which will be unavailable to rent, because it is made especially for professional use and it’s a little tricky.So you will end up renting a small(110v) belt sander at the Home Depot for around $50 a day+ the sandpaper(say another $40).Note: with the small sander you won’t come even close to the result you’re looking for.It simply lacks power necessary to take of all the old finish.
2.Edger(around $20)+ the sandpaper-another $40.
3.Radiator sander- good luck looking for that one.the only way to get it is to buy it.they retail new for around $500.
4.Buffer- another $20+ the sreen for it($5)
5.Vacuum cleaner(let’s hope that you have a good one)
6.Polyurethane - I’d say since we’re talking about one room only you’re going to need 1 gal. of sealer($20) and 1 gal. of poly($20)
I’m not going to mention here all the small tools that you’re going to need to do the job right.Let’s do the math: to refinish the floor yourself, you’re going to spend $215(if everything goes nice and smooth and if you know what are you doing) , not to mention your time(how much would you pay yourself to do this job?) and effort.
Well, here is the info you going to need to make a decision.The rest is up to you.Good luck!
Staining the floor
Lets talk about the staining of your floors using the most popular oil-based stain.
First and foremost: sand the floor down to the wood! You do not want to apply the stain over the old finish: it will take forever to dry and won’t stick to the floor.You will end up having the floor with what I’d like to call “a marker effect”: try to make a mark with the magic marker and take it off-comes off very easy!
The bottom line is: if you won’t sand the old finish off completely, you’ll end up making more mess than you used to have before the start of the project.
Next, you’ll need to pick up the color of the stain for your floors: I wouldn’t use the brochures, that they have at the hardware stores,
but buy a couple of sample cans of stain and apply it at home:that way you will know how the stain is going to look like on YOUR floor.
Also, I have to mention, that it’s not a good idea to buy the stain in a 1 gallon cans anymore, because it is a low VOC stain: it is very hard to apply, and it dries up way too quickly, leaving you with uneven, ugly looking finish.If you want to use the oil-based stain, get it in quarts.
Ok, now the floor is sanded and the stain color is picked: what’s next?
I’ll try as much as I can to avoid talking about the application process(you can read all about it on the back of the can), but I have to say a couple of things about the prep work:
1. Before application, I would tape all the baseboards.That way I would avoid messing them up with the stain.The best type to use is blue or green Scotch masking tape: do not buy the cheap white one, because this kind will pull all the paint off the baseboard.
2. Heavy coat, hard wood (such as oak or maple) and high humidity can increase the drying time. In some cases I saw the stain being wet for a week.
The worst time for a staining job is July, August and September due to the highest level of humidity during these months(that of course if you leave near water).
If you have more than one room to stain, consider calling a flooring company: believe me, you will save yourself a lot of time, money and effort.Good luck!
Getting your house ready for the floor guys.
A lot of homeowners ask me about what should they do to make a space ready for the floor guys, so I decided to write about it.
Well, first and foremost: move everything from the floor that will be sanded: there is no way for the floor guys to work around the furnite, not to mention that it’s going to be all dusty once they are done. If you will get the floors done in the closet, please clean it up completely: the clothes that are hanging are not going to be on the way, but more then likely you will have to wash them afterwards, since they will be very dusty.If there is no way for you to move the clothing, at least make sure that it’s covered with plastic.This also applies to the pictures on the wall and the curtains.Pay very close attention to the electronics, such as TV’s and phones: dust is a killer to them.
When the floor guys show up, make sure they seal the areas that they are not working in and put the plastic in the door frames and over the kitchen cabinets (very important when you do the kitchen).
After the job is done, you should expect some minor dust in the rooms that have been done, but everything outside the working space should remain completely dustless.Follow these easy steps and you will save yourself a lot of time cleaning the house after the floors are done.