How to sand and seal a wooden floor

Homeowner, Erik Zempel, shows us how he sanded and sealed a wooden floor in his home.

 

This weekend our major goal was to re-finish the wood floors. Above is a before picture of the floors – they are in pretty rough shape and are covered with water stains, scuffs and scratches.

DAY 1
We all took turns running the orbital sander and crawling on the floor to sand around all the edges and get in the corners.

DAY 2
The job goes much faster with a disc sander. This does an amazing, albeit slow job. We bought 3 packages of sanding discs, and could’ve probably used 4. Before progressing further, we had to vacuum and clean the floors with mineral spirits to remove all dust and dirt particles from becoming a permanent part of the floor.

BELOW: When it was all over, the floors looked like this:

 

After a short break for a snack, we started staining the floor. It's hard work and you think it will never get done. At the end though, you can stand back and enjoy your beautiful floor and all your hard work.

Woodoc 25 Floor Sealer is the best option for floors. Use a clear and buy a separate tint to stain in the colour that you want. The tint we used is Imbuia.

Don't rush to start; pick the best place to begin that is preferably in a far corner and then work your way backwards from that spot. If there are any doors or walk throughs that are going to be used, close these off until the floor is dry. Drying time depends on the weather, but follow the instructions on the tin.

BELOW: I love the rich colour the wood and nice contrast with the grain.

NOTE:
Regardless of the type of finish you apply, remember that there is a difference between “dry time” and “cure time.” A finish may dry in a matter of minutes, but it will not achieve its maximum hardness until it has had time to cure - typically in about 7 days.

Once dry, you can walk on the floor in stocking feet, but keep shoes and pets off it for an additional day. If possible, wait three days before bringing in rugs and furniture. And regardless of how long the finish has cured, never slide furniture across a hardwood floor, as it can leave an unsightly scratch in even the strongest finish.