First time refinishing
4 years ago
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- 4 years ago
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Paint first or refinish floors first?
Comments (4)People generally paint their walls and trim more often than they refinish their wood floors. Painters are accustomed to working over finished surfaces and protecting them. I generally advise people to do a modified version of what greg mills recommended. Prep and prime the walls (maybe apply the first color coat), finish the floors then apply finish paint coats on the walls and trim....See MoreFirst time DIY refinisher. Please confirm my process
Comments (4)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....See MoreMistake with one-step Poly Stain on table top
Comments (1)Notes on the photos: 1st pic is original table after cleaned thoroughly with scotchbrite. Round shadows are from chandelier. 2nd & 3rd pics are current state of table 😔...See MoreYour feedback on flooring job.. dark RMC stain on pine
Comments (8)You have a mixture of issues. Issue #1 = Pine does not like to take a stain. It just doesn't like to. It is always a crap shoot when attempting to add a colour to pine or fir. Maple is another wood that is tricky to stain. That's the OVER ARCHING issue. Issue #2 = Old wood has character. It has lived a life already...it is now being asked to live another lifetime. It will be MUCH drier than any other wood anyone has seen. So it takes a special touch (ie. skill = cost) to get an old floor look AMAZING. Issue #3 = Only the SECOND floor the company has worked with Rubio. Rubio is a VERY special product that requires a VERY SPECIAL skill and a VERY GOOD training history with it. You have a low(er) cost company with VERY LITTLE history with Rubio. Rubio needs PERFECT sanding technique. That's why it costs the same to refinish in Rubio than it does to refinish with a high-end poly. The SANDING is painstaking in its detail. You need a VERY skilled crew to work the sanding to the point where the wood is ready for Rubio. And OLD dry wood that DOES NOT like to take a stain = very tough ask. A Rubio refinish *SHOULD take the same 3-7 days (or more) as a regular polyurethane refinish. How long did the company spend in your house working on your floors? How many square feet did you have to refinish?...See MoreRelated Professionals
Bullhead City Cabinets & Cabinetry · Fort Lauderdale Cabinets & Cabinetry · Newcastle Cabinets & Cabinetry · Windsor Carpenters · Bella Vista Flooring Contractors · Sachse Flooring Contractors · Winchester Flooring Contractors · Brooklyn Furniture & Accessories · Fort Wayne Furniture & Accessories · Sunset Carpenters · Sunset Cabinets & Cabinetry · Falls Church Custom Closet Designers · Downers Grove Painters · Indian Creek Furniture & Accessories · Millington Professional Organizers- 4 years ago
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Jessica KottOriginal Author