How can I restore my old hardwood floors without it costing so much? I had a contractor come in to do the wood floors with a buffer and the floors are now looking truly awful! This is my first home, and dealing with these floors without spending a fortune is turning into a nightmare!
Emma M. ~ Reading, PA
Emma, if your home’s old wood floors are in really poor condition then using a buffer on them will not do much good. The best way to rejuvenate your wood floors is to sand and refinish them. The cost to refinish your wood floors will vary depending on the wood’s condition and the amount of hardwood flooring in your home. Although it can cost several thousand dollars to completely restore the wood floors in a typical home, many homeowners believe the beauty of new wood floors is well worth the cost.
Depending on your home improvement skills, you may be able to tackle some of the work yourself, but I caution you that restoring old floors is not a simple job. Sanding the wood smooth is straight forward enough, yet applying the finishing coats of polyurethane(so that they look good) is a whole other matter. One option for you may be to consult with some local flooring contractors and gather cost estimates for your specific project. If the estimates are financially out of your reach, then perhaps you can look for a contractor who would be willing to let you do some of the sanding and prep work, which might reduce the overall cost of the project. Good luck!
I think the sanding is much harder than the poly. The floor can be made uneven and choppy if you do not know what you’re doing and vary the ‘pressure’ on the sanding machine. You will not see the imperfections until the poly is applied. Poly application is much easier if you wipe it on and if is the water based poly it would sorta settle itself on the wood and dry faster.