How to Refinish Hand-Scraped Wood Flooring
- 1). Pull exposed nails out with pliers. Hammer in three-inch flooring nails to secure loose boards.
- 2). Cover any air vents and interior doorways with plastic sheeting. Sanding dust drifts through the entire house if left unchecked. Open windows and exterior doors for ventilation.
- 3). Fit a drum sander with 100-grit sandpaper. Turn on the power to the sander. Lower it to the floor and begin sanding. Move with the grain of the wood. Sand every area you can reach.
- 4). Attach 100-grit sandpaper to a hand sander. Sand the edges and corners of the room
- 5). Switch both sanders to 180-grit sandpaper. Sand the entire room again. Repeat the process with 220-grit paper.
- 6). Vacuum the space thoroughly to remove the sanding dust. Wipe the floors with a damp towel to remove any remaining small particles of dust.
- 7). Open the stain and stir. Brush the stain onto the wood and wipe away the excess with a clean rag. Work in manageable sections of flooring to keep the stain from drying before you can wipe up the excess, or ask a friend to follow you with the rag to speed up the process. Let the first coat dry. Apply additional coats of stain until you like the depth of color.
- 8). Apply urethane topcoat to the floors. Saturate a long-handled roller in the topcoat. Roll a thin, even coat onto the floor. Apply one to two coats of urethane.
