Instructions for Refinishing Wooden Floors
- 1). Load the rented drum sander with a 30-grit sanding belt (the heaviest grade). Start the sander and bring it to full speed with the sanding surface raised over the floor. Drop the surface to the floor all at once, using the lever on the sander, and immediately begin running the sander forward and back in a diagonal direction to the direction of the floorboards, taking off the finish and beginning to expose bare wood. Don't let the sander sit in one spot while it's running.
- 2). Vacuum up the dust.
- 3). Re-load your sander with the 60-grit belt. Sand the flooring diagonally in the opposite direction as before. It should take off the rest of the finish and completely expose bare wood. Vacuum the dust.
- 4). Sand two more times, with the 80-grit belt and then the 120-grit belt. Run the sander with the direction of the boards for both the final sandings. It should get the floor smooth and bare. Vacuum thoroughly.
- 5). Stain the floor in sections of 8 to 10 square feet, starting the area furthest from the doorway. Apply the stain with a paintbrush, using enough to make it puddle on the boards. Let it penetrate for about a minute. Wipe it up with a rag. Repeat section by section, doing the whole floor. Let it dry for 12 hours.
- 6). Pour down a line of polyurethane in the corner furthest from the doorway, making the line the same size as your floor gloss applicator. Set the applicator in the gloss and slowly drag it backward along the boards, with the direction of the planks. Add more gloss and continue pulling it over the floor in courses, working your way out of the room. Do the whole floor. Let it dry for eight to 10 hours.
- 7). Sand the dried gloss by hand with 240-grit sandpaper very lightly to dull the shine, allowing the next layer of gloss to stick. Apply the next layer in the same manner as the first. Let it dry, sand it, then apply a third coat. Allow the third coat to dry at least a full day.
