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Using A Hardwood Floor Sander
by: Lee Dobbins
Refinishing your hardwood floors yourself can be time consuming and a bit scary at first but well worth it in the long run. It can cost a bundle to hire a professional to refinish your floors for you, but if you have the time, you can do it yourself. The most difficult part is learning to run the sander. Many people are afraid of ruining their floors, and you can really damage a floor if you do not take care in the sanding.

Sanding is fairly easy if you pay attention and the finish does not take as long to dry as you might have been led to believe. You can rent a sander from your local Home Depot or hardware supply store. You’ll need a drum sander, a belt sander or both. They will explain to you how to use the machine and tell you what kind of sand paper to purchase. They will also tell you what kind of stain and finish to get. Make sure you also pick up some dust masks because you will have saw dust everywhere.

The key to a good floor finish is the surface, so the most important thing when learning how to run the sander is getting a feel for the equipment. Sanders are not as hard to use as you think. They are loud and messy, but fairly easy to operate. Just keep the sander in motion at all times. Moving the sander in a constant motion will reduce the risk of damaging your floor. Equate it to using an iron on your clothes – if you stop in 1 spot too long you’ll burn a hole. The sander is similar since it creates a lot of heat, keeping it in 1 spot can burn or dent your floor.

The sander is a self propelling machine so it is easy to move, but you do need to keep in control of it at all times. Retain a firm grip on it when you power it up and you will get the hang of it after a few passes. You might even think it’s fun!

Once you have removed to old finish by sanding, of course, you will need to apply the new finish. First you will apply a stain (if you want a stain – some folks like to leave their floors natural) and then the finish to protect the floor. There are basically two types of floor finishes: one is oil-based and the other is water-based polyurethane. Furthermore, oil is broken down into a semi-gloss, gloss or satin. Satin is a good choice for a hardwood floor because it hides small flaws and lets the natural beauty of the wood show without a bright shine. An oil based finish will give your floor a warm amber glow. A water based finish will dry quicker and keep from yellowing.

Make sure you let each coat thoroughly dry before applying the next. Follow the manufacturers instructions on the finish before you occupy the room again. Usually you can move your furniture back in after about 24 hours.

Don’t be overwhelmed. Just take it one step at a time and you’ll soon have a beautiful new hardwood floor.

About the author:
Lee Dobbins is a contributing writer for home improvement resources such as http://www.refinishing-hardwood-floors.comVisit our site and see how you can refinish your hardwood floor: http://www.refinishing-hardwood-floors.com/Sanding-A-Hardwood-Floor.html


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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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