What do you use on bare hardwood floors?

Remove all the furniture, and spray the floor with a hardwood flooring cleaner or your own mix of 10 parts water to 1 part white vinegar. Gently wipe the floor with a terry-cloth mop or a towel wrapped around a mop head. Close the windows and doors to keep dust contained in the room you’re sanding.

Can you sand down oak flooring?

For the edges of the room, sanding should be done by hand or using an electric hand sander. Just before the final run of sanding, we decided it was best to give the oak flooring a quick sweep with a vacuum cleaner. This ensured that any excess build up of dust was removed before the final sweep of sanding.

How do you finish unfinished oak flooring?

The choice of oil or lacquer (sometimes known as varnish), is completely your choice. A lacquer or varnish will provide a smooth finish to your wooden floor and is available in either a matt or semi-matt appearance. An oil, on the other hand, gives a more natural appearance that is slightly rough to the touch.

How do you treat wooden floors after sanding?

After sanding, once the dust has settled , vacuum everywhere, then wipe the floor with white spirit and leave to dry completely. Apply varnish to seal the wood; you can do this using a floor pad. Varnish floor pads come in a plastic container with the varnish.

Do you have to recoat oak flooring After sanding?

With the oak flooring sanded back to bare timber, the next stage is to recoat the floor with your chosen finish. The time between the final sanding and the new application should be as minimal as possible. This will ensure that the freshly sanded flooring does not become marked in its unprotected state.

Which is the correct way to Sand oak flooring?

This consistency ensures that some areas of the boards are not sanded more so than others. Excessively sanding certain areas could lead to discrepancies once the finish has been applied. Follow the oak floorings natural grain direction up and down the boards.

What kind of Sander do you use to sand hardwood floors?

If you think your floor is in pretty good shape, put a 36 grit belt on the drum sander and sand a small test area, about 4’ x 4’ (pick an area of the floor that is in rough shape, not one of the spots that still looks good). Stop the sander and carefully inspect the area you just sanded.

What’s the process of sanding a wood floor?

Sanding a wood floor is a multi-step process. None of it is rocket science, but it will help you to read through all the sanding pages, including First Things First, Working with Sanders and Edgers, and the Sanding FAQ, before you begin.

Do you need a Sander to Sand oak floors?

For the sanding process, this can be done by hand, but it is much quicker in larger areas to use a floor sander. It is first important that the right safety equipment is used. We recommend using a sander which can connect to a dust extractor, which not only protects yourself from harmful particles, but also ensures a much cleaner work area.

Can a wood floor be sanded to bare wood?

In our example, we have simply isolated an area in which to sand down. If the area simply shows wear from traffic, with hard wax oils, this step can be skipped as there is no need to sand down the timber to bare wood. With all marks removed, the hard wax oil can now be reapplied over the marked area.

What causes oak flooring to go out of style?

These are often caused by excess traffic over a particular area of your floor and may vary in size from small patches to whole rooms. With this in mind, we have created this guide to show how you can restore your oak floor finish and bring it back to its original, like new condition.