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Refinish Your Hardwood Floor Like a Pro

by: Dan Farrell

by Dan Farrell

This article is written by a pro of refinishing hardwood floors since I have done too many to count. Maybe 300 would be a good guess.�
My father was in the business full time (as well as aluminum windows and doors (which I'll write another article about that soon) and while I attended college, and for a short time after, I worked with him as well as on my own refinishing hardwood floors.

In fact, I just did my mother-in-law's last summer and my back still hurts!

Before you even think of starting this DIY project, you need to be fairly good shape. There is a lot of bending, kneeling and scraping :(

Ok, you still are here reading so I guess you are serious :o)

Here are the easy? steps to a beautiful, shiny hardwood floor:

1. Determine what kind of finish you would like first. There are a couple choices, low gloss and high gloss. It's strictly taste as they both wear the same. I prefer a polyurethane paint but some like varnishes. I found urethane to be a durable finish and won't yellow over time. Look for 'non-yellowing' on the can.�

2. Go to your local hardware store that carries floor sanders, edger sander, pain scrapers, sandpaper (medium) and the floor paint.�

3. Prepare your floor by filling in any blemishes, depressions, cracks and nail holes.

4. Sweep and then vacuum floor. (at this point I would hang a plastic sheet over any door openings if the door has been removed (new construction etc).

5. Sand main floor being careful to keep sander going in same direction. Start with a coarse sandpaper and switch to finer for second sanding. The first sanding is to get to bare wood and the second for a finished look.

6. Sand the edges. The trick here is to use a fairly light touch and rotate the sander in semi-circle reducing sand marks.

7. Now the fun part. Take your scraper in scrape the corners and under heaters. Don't worry about under heaters too much as it won't be that noticeable.

8. Whew! The hard part is done. Now the fun part. Sweep and vacuum floor and if you see a swirl or sanding marks scrape the out.�

9. Put the sealer down. Wait at least 2 hours, hand sand the whole floor, vacuum and apply the urethane.�If you don't have air conditioning, put a fan on the floor to dry it quicker.

10. I usually waited at least 4-5 hours for it dry, most of the time overnight. I recommend at least 2 coats of urethane for a durable, hard finish.�

You're done! Wow not so bad was it?�

Oh yeah,

Email me for a chiropractor :o)

About the author:
Dan Farrell is the owner of where you can get a free closet organizer plan and
other home improvement ideas and articles.

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Home Improvements � The Fun Stuff
by: Raynor James

Planning home improvements necessarily involves addressing numerous practical matters. That doesn�t mean you should ignore the fun stuff!

The Fun Stuff

The first thing to plan for in home improvements is the practical stuff. The second thing you need to talk to family members about is the fun stuff.

Most people have colors they like and colors they don�t like. They have things that interest them and things that don�t. Get your family to talk to you about those things. Each person�s bedroom, or bedroom area, should reflect his or her taste and interests.

A boy who likes green, football, and backpacking can easily have a sage green (it �reads� as more neutral than many shades of green if re-sale of your home is a concern) room with cream woodwork, cream interior shutters, and cream ceiling. Framed football posters and wilderness scenes might be pleasant. Bedding with a rustic motif (rows of stylized pine trees?) from L.L. Bean or Plow and Hearth would work right in. Add a touch or two of a bright color like red or yellow.

Does he need a desk in his room? A chest of drawers? A bookcase? Would he enjoy having a bulletin board? Even if they�re small, most rooms need at least three lamps so that illumination is general and even. The shades are usually best in warm, neutral colors. (Light coming through green shades tends to make people look sick.) Lamp shades should be level and the seams should be toward the wall so they�re not visible. When the bottom edge of most lamp shades in a room are the same height from the floor, the room tends to look serene and cohesive.

Hanging pictures usually look best if the bottom edges of the frames are the same height from the floor and level with each other, too. There are exceptions to this and every generalization of course. A grouping of pictures can have the bottom tier follow the �rule� while all of the other pictures are higher. A picture over a fireplace often looks good higher than the other pictures in the room.

Pictures usually look best when they have a relationship to furniture or an architectural feature. Pictures centered over a chest, bed, bookcase, or fireplace are good examples. Pictures don�t tend to look good if they�re scattered willy-nilly around a room, or if they�re up near the ceiling (unless they�re part of a grouping), or if the height at which they�re hung varies wildly with no rhyme nor reason.

A girl who loves pink, the ballet, and swimming can have woodwork the same cream as her brother�s while her walls are a soft pink (a pink with a hint of yellow in it tends to go well with cream), and her art work reflects her interests. If she loves to read, make sure she has a good reading lamp near her bed, or near a comfortable chair, or both.

A cream colored dust ruffle with widely spaced pink stripes and a quilted plaid coverlet in pink, green, yellow, and blue on a cream background might look nice. Add cream fabric window shades with large pink polka dots and I�ll bet she�ll smile.

The bigger point is to simply have fun with some of your home improvements. There is no need to look exclusively at practical matters.

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