How to Polish Floorboards | Here’s What No One Tells You

We are often with people who wonder how to polish floorboards?

Regardless of the continuity with which you clean your wood floors, you will need to sand and polish them periodically to make them look as good as possible.

This can be a daunting prospect if you’ve never done it before, but if you learn how to improve wood floors the right way, you can save yourself money.

Polishing floors is a regular do-it-yourself upgrade venture. However, if you don’t speak carefully, it’s simple to make mistakes and end up a bit messy, instead of the new shiny floor you were waiting for.

Not only do wood floors have the potential to add a considerable amount of character to a room, but they are also extreme and durable when correctly polished and maintained. They are a timeless combination of beauty and longevity that fits any interface in a room.

If your wood floors are in a high traffic area, or if the polish wears off, then they can be easily replaced without the need for replacement.

You will need to have a wood stain for floors on hand.

Improving a wood floor is the removal of its outer covering, that part that is subject to scratches, scuffs, and marks, to make the quality and appearance of the polished floorboards underneath better.

How to Polish Floorboards: Materials Needed

• Tape measure
• Vacuum cleaner
• Furniture Pads
• Drum sander
• 40, 60, 80, and 120 grit sanding discs
• Dust masks
• Earmuffs
• Hammer
• Safety glasses
• Floor polishing

For start undertaking, the correct elaboration is vital.

Having a clean and dry floor is substantial to achieving the desired results—plan with the right utilities and the right amount of polishing for a smooth working session.

Remove furniture and carpets. At this point, ask a friend or family member to help you lift furniture that because of its weight, you cannot lift yourself.

If you’re cleaning your floor yourself, put furniture pads under the legs, and slide the furniture out of the room. Roll up area rugs and remove them as well.

Vacuum Your Floors

Make sure your vacuum cleaner has no rough plastic parts near the base or edges. Vacuum cleaners with defective wheels have the potential to scratch floors. If you do not have an optimal model, use a broom to remove dust and debris.

Measure your floor

It is essential to make some measurements and calculations of the square footage of the room to make sure you have enough bottles of polish for one application. To find the square footage, multiply the length by the width of the room—a 32 oz. Bottle Polish only covers 500 square feet, while the 24 oz. Polish only covers 350 square feet.

Test the polish

Evaluate the enamel in a small area to ensure that you are satisfied with the results.

Sanding of wood floors

To have fantastic sand wood floors, you will need a floor sander and an edge sander. These and the sandpaper discs you will need can be found in most rental stores.

The type of sander will be different according to the area to be sanded. When purchasing or renting a sander, it is best to ask the developer or retailer what particular types of sandpaper to use.

To get it done, you will need to sand the floor four times, starting with 40 grit sanding discs and gradually working up to 60, 80, and finally 120 grit discs. The floor sander is a heavy and noisy assembly, so you will want to use ear protection when using it.

Learn More: How To Stain Wood Paneling

To achieve satisfactory results with a drum sander, you must follow some basic rules:

• Slowly lower the sanding disc onto the floor.
• Always sand with the grain.
• As soon as the sanding disc touches the floor, begin to follow it slowly. If you leave it standing, it will sink into the bed.

Move forward only

• To prevent wood oils from clogging the sandpaper, periodically sprinkle kerosene on the floor in front of you.
• Before changing your 40 to 60 grit sandpaper, check for exposed nail holes.
• Use wood filler that matches the color of your floor to fill the holes.
• Allow 30 minutes to rest before sanding. Remember that the floor sander will not be able yet to sand the edges of the floor.
• You will need the edge sander to do this. The 60 grit sandpaper discs are the special ones for this, and you may want to continue with 80 grit for a slower finish
• Hardwood flooring finishing is an essential part of this process.

How to Polish Floorboards: Advantages of DIY

• Cheaper
• Learning a unique skill
• An intriguing and challenging purpose of fulfilling
• The cons of do-it-yourself

How to Polish Floorboards: Disadvantages of DIY

• Labor intensive
• Risks of ruining the floor
• Lack of professional set
• A milky, cloudy looking floor may be due to improper handling of the polisher.
• To achieve superior results, keep water away from polishing satisfaction and avoid contaminating the polish by transferring it to another container.
• Do not pour the polish into a mop or spray bottle.
• Not pour the polish into a bucket.
• Do not use polish with a sponge, string or mop.
• Do not apply polish with a scrubbing or wiping action; wiping is not required. Do not apply the polish too thinly; it must be an acceptable suit coating applied at the specific application rate. The polish must be used within one year of opening the bottle and has a shelf life of 1 to 2 years without opening. For hardwood floors staining it is necessary to follow all our instructions.

Learn More: How To Remove Orange From Wood Floors

How to Polish Floorboards: FAQ

How do you polish floorboards without sanding?

Most owners assume that to get that new shine. They have to sand the floors, restore them and reseal them if the wear is very superficial (regular wear, scratches on the finish, and only a few deeper scratches that scrape the wood). It is simple to upgrade your wood floors in one day and avoid the chaos, labor, and expense of sanding your finish that exists.

• test your wood floor finish
• Clean and dust your wood floors.
• Polish your wood floors to make them shine.
• Stop room restoration for at least one day.
• Follow some precautions to make the wood floors look good.

How do I get the shine off my hardwood floors?

While some decorators like a matte finish, most hardwood floor owners like a finish that shines. The trick is to hold that shine after years of normal wear and tear.

Your cleaning habits are part of the reason why your wood floors are so discouraged. If you want your wood floors to look shiny and presentable, you should polish them every 2 to 4 months.

Floor polish fills in the scratches and ensures the finish against future damage and excessive cleaning. Before improving, as you do every week, it is an excellent idea to clean the floors intensively. This easy-care will keep your wood floors looking like new for several years.

Follow these steps to keep newly installed or renovated hardwoods looking their best.

• Clean up spills
• To avoid watermarks, quickly clean up any moisture spillage when it occurs.
• Remove dirt daily
• Wet mop when the season changes

Using a subtly damp microfiber mop, wipe in the direction of the wood grain. Never use a wet mop because too much water can cause even sealed floors to bend. You can try using a commercial cleaner; choose one with a spray applicator. A dense mist of precisely half a teaspoon of cleaner per two square feet of the floor is sufficient for cleaning.

Follow with a completely dry microfiber mop to avoid scratches.

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Should I fill gaps between floorboards?

No. Gaps between floorboards do not have to be filled. Gaps between floorboards are not filled because shrinking and spreading of the wood will cause the edges to join and the fill to crack.

Some people have old wood floors that have filler between the polished floorboards. There may be pieces of filler still intact. Over time, the details will come off and be missing. As a result, these floors do not look like a suit. It is also difficult to fix this problem.

Conclusion

Studying to improve wood floors adds shine and assists in completing micro-scratches, so they are less noticeable. Polishing assists in reattaching the protective finish cover of a floor and can be an easy DIY undertaking that can be done without any particular assembly. However, without the excellent craftsmanship and technique, even the “simple” work of improving your floor can lead to unfriendly results if you are not ready. Within this whole process, the essential thing is sealing floorboards.

Hardwood floors finishing can give your floor an elegant touch, and be very well seen by your visitors. Which, in turn, gives your home economic value? If you think you can’t handle this job, it’s best to leave it to a specialist. Although it seems easy, if you don’t have the right tools, it will only become too complicated.

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