wood floor refinishing?

[msvicki]

i would like to know the steps and prosses to refinish wood floors, the house was built in the late 1800’s and have not been refinished in at least 50 yrs. i would like a shineing deep tone to the wood when finished, any information on how we can do this our selfs, would be fabulous. thank you and i look forward to hearing from you

ps. any info on the tin ceiling tiles on the roof would be greatly appritated!!!!

ms vicki in new mexico

[studio1]

I have refinished a couple of oak wood floors in an old apartment building, and also one in a newer building. The procedure is the same. I rent a “drum type” floor sander with various grades of paper. Be sure to work in the direction of the grain. I then finish the edges with a circular “edger”. There is a square orbital floor sanding machine available at most rental places, however I find this does not strip the old varinsh efficiently. I would recommend this machine only as a follow up stage to the drum sander in order remove any machine marks. (If you would like a furniture-like finish.)
Last but not least, apply two (or more) coats of polyuerethane lacquer.

Desmond J. Henry.

[Unregistered-ktc]

I would be very afraid of refinishing an old floor for several reasons; wax buildup, it was very popular to wax floors back then and wax clogging sand paper will make your pocketbook throb, the only good way to remove wax is to use an aggressive grit like 36 or 20, but used incorrectly you might as well use a chain saw. second, old houses sag. and drum sanders cut flat with out the proper knowledge you can side cut right down to the nails.it takes a very skilled person to finnes rolls and dips. Add those two together and you have a resipe for replacement. Third darker tones will show more sanding imperfections, stain will fill any minor scratch and is very difficult to get even, and a glossy finnish will make it all show in any angle. however some of the best floors I have seen are dark with glossy finnish. Old houses have the best first growth wood. finaly Nothing is more enjoyable than doing a project your self. I would find out if their is a floor company in your area that gives classes. and read as much as you can. I think their is detailed instructions at the “national wood flooring association”(NWFA) Web site. You might have a floor company give you a bid and when they are at your house ask whats currently on the floor, and how they would go about removing it. another Idea is if the house is being restored is to hand scrape the entire thing. it is very time consuming but has an awsome distresed look and almost anyone with enough elbow grease can do. Just make sure you go with the grain.

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