First time DIY refinisher. Please confirm my process

7 years ago

First time floor refinisher here and I need you experts to
double check my steps please.

I ripped up the carpet to find about 700 sq ft of red oak. It’s
mostly unfinished, but there is about 250 sq ft of a stained and poly area.

I plan to sand everything using a U-Sand (too scared of drum
sanders). Then staining, then finishing with Bona Traffic. Please check my
steps below:

Sand with 24 grit. (Since U-Sand machines are
not nearly as powerful as drum sanders, I’m starting with a very rough grit to
make up for the under power). Vacuum
Sand with 40 grit. Vacuum
Sand with 60 grit. Vacuum
Spot fill all nail and staple holes. I did some experimenting
with fillers (Timbermate, Parks); I found that Famowood Latex Wood Filler works
the best for accepting the color stain I’m using.
Final sanding with 100 grit (or should I screen
with a buffer?).
Vaccum and tack
Water-pop floors using purified water and a
sponge. Just enough water to dampen floor. Wait for floor to dry overnight.
Stain with Minwax English Chestnut stain.
Letting it sit for like 5 mins before wiping off.
Give plenty of time for stain to dry completely,
at least 3 days.
Apply 1st coat of Bona Traffic Using
Bona Roller and Padco Pads
Abrade floor with pole sander and 220 grit
screens. Vacuum and tac
Apply 2nd coat of Bona Traffic Using
Bona Roller and Padco Pads

I would really appreciate any advice with my plan. Thanks in
advance!

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Comments (4)

PRO
Precision Carpentry
7 years ago
I would go finer than 100 grit.I would also sand between water popping and staining.Water popping will raise the grain of the wood. I never have water popped.Your taking a chance,especially with oak that the tannins in the wood will react with the metal in the nails and stain the floor. If you do it be very careful of the amount of water you use. I've also never seen any reason to start with something like 24 grit with any type of sander .Try starting with 60 and see how it goes.

Hate Minwax stain.Especially on oak but that's just my opinion,It has a low solids content and have had problems with it bleeding .Especially on oak.
User
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I have to preface my remarks by stating that I've never used the U-Sand. The commenter above makes a valid point though. I suggest you try a finer grit initially to see if it will do the job. It might not, but if it does, you'll save a lot of time and money.

Water popping is quite easy. Use a sponge mop. You don't have to soak the floor, Just apply a thin even coat. We use foam applicators, like a painting pad.

You're going to need to apply a third coat of finish. I suggest you use BonaSeal for the first coat. It's a high solids sealer (used to be called HiBuild Sealer) with a good film build and is less expensive than Traffic. If you're abrading by hand (ie a pad and a stick) use a cloth as a pad and stick a couple of half sheets of 150 grit sticky back orbital sander paper to the cloth. Water popping the floor leaves it "fuzzy". A third coat is needed to counteract the fuzziness. Done properly, this will give you a smooth end product. Also, before you do any finishing, make a sample using the products and techniques you'll use on the floor.

You make no mention of sanding the edges or scraping corners and around door jambs.

One note. If you find some imperfections during staining, you can quickly sand them out, water pop and re-stain.
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I would start with 60 or 80 grit. See if it 'loads' up.
Jane
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I too am a first time floor refinisher. Pay more attention to the pros than me, but here is what I have learned so far. I am currently in the staining phase.

I could not find a u sand, but I found a hiretech htf2 orbital sander at home depot which was easy to use. It has a weight that you can fill with about 50 pounds of play sand. You have to take the weight off to change sandpaper. I neglected to change sandpaper often enough (got tired of lifting the weight), so now after staining I have to redo a lot of my floor. I am using various palm sanders to re-sand. I think if I changed the sandpaper every 25sf of poly, I would have had better results. At least I can see what I am doing now after staining over the poly'd area. It's taking a lot of time but I feel I have a lot of control. I'm basically sitting on the floor and erasing finish with the palm sanders.

I can't say for sure that the htf2 was effective. The floors that were worn the most look great - the parts where the poly finish was untouched (under rugs and furniture) need to be resanded.

I got enough sandpaper in every grit to accomodate 1 sheet of each grit for 25sf of floor. I returned most of it. I should have used all the 40 grit. I got all grits available up to 120: 40, 60, 80, 100, 120. They recommended 80 and 120 only - I really needed the 40 over the poly and I ended up doing a pass for each grit. I am resanding (touchup) with 50, 80 and 120.

Do some research online: There is a refinishing blog entry on the home depot blog that was really helpful. (http://blog.homedepot.com/refinishing-floors-floor-sander/) I also found a couple of awesome water popping articles and videos: I used a popup sponge from Williams Sonoma which was really good about releasing an even amount of water, and I used distilled water. When I stained after waterpopping I did not notice any sanding marks, which is an awesome benefit of waterpopping. I applied dark stain and all I am seeing are a couple of deep dog scratches. (This is a much-loved floor - you have to have the right attitude when doing this or you'll be disappointed.) Also research the bona product reviews - I decided against bona traffic when I learned some amateurs had issues with curing. I chose varathane water based floor finish (which I haven't applied yet) because reviews from amateurs seemed more consistently successful. Basically I was scared off bona traffic and went with something I perceived to be more forgiving. We'll see. Look at reviews. Also figure out what to use for applicators. That was an issue for me because some people were having problems using certain applicators with certain products. Figure out all your applicators and wipes (no tackcloth!) ahead of time, and make sure they work with your products. Don't hesitate to call the manufacturers and ask questions. I have called bona, minwax, varathane and taken a lot of their time.

Wear a lot of protection. I use the monster respirator, shower cap for major sanding, ear protection, goggles. You'll spend a lot of time in the respirator so find something comfortable. Have a good shop vac and extra filters.

For edging I used a palm sander with 50 grit, 80 grit and 120 grit. I also had to get an oscillating tool to fit under the kitchen cabinets. I am not picky about my floors - they will have a lot of texture to them as they are old, but I do want a pretty overall stain color. I decided not to use the edge sander they rented at home depot - it was too big and seemed like it would be harder to control.

I used a mix of minwax wood finish (red mahogany and sedona red) which is dark. It went on well after water popping except for the areas that still had poly. I loaded it on with a 1"x3" stain brush, let it sit for probably 15 minutes (probably too long) then wiped with a really wet (from excess stain) wiping cloth followed by a dry wiping cloth. Once I get all my touchup done (I have no idea how well the stain touchup will work!) I plan to put a light coat of sedona red minwax stain over it per my test sample. The minwax rep told me to wipe the dry stain with pure (not odorless) mineral spirits 30 minutes before poly. Then I will try the varathane. I plan to fill after I coat with 2 coats varathane so that I can sand the fill if necessary. I read that no wood filler stains well and filler should match the stained floor. Then lightly sand-screen to remove the grain-rise from water popping, and apply the last 2 coats of varathane, or maybe I will screen before the last coat. I am using satin varathane.

Sorry to be so long winded, but this is a complex process for a first-timer. Do enough research until you are fed up and ready to go. Then default to the manufacturer's instructions. Every chemical is different.

You will learn a few things as you go. Keep your phone or ipad handy so that you can ask google all your questions mid-process. You will need infinite patience. Good luck!

If any pros are still reading this and laughing, here is why I am doing this myself: I want full control over the stain color. I want to be able to maintain the floors myself. I plan to screen and top off the water based poly every couple of years. In the past I waited several years and let the floors wear down to bare wood. I will run out of floor if I continue to do this. If I invest the time and effort now, I think I will take better care of the floor in the future. Also most of the work is clearing the area and cleaning up the sanding mess. I have to do that even when professionals sand my floor. And I am always up for a new experience. However I would never recommend to others to do this yourself, unless you really want to. But if you are staining and do not do this yourself, find a really good professional.
monkey5465 thanked Jane

First time DIY refinisher. Please confirm my process

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Precision Carpentry

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