Sanding and Refinishing Hardwood Floors (step by step)

Sanding and refinishing hardwood floors is relatively easy by contrast to parquet floors or pine floorboards. Generally you can start sanding on a finer grit than the average floor.

This is due to the floor being a lot flatter than other floors. Also, the texture and moisture content of hardwoods is generally conducive to finer sanding. This is also the method you would use on engineered hardwood flooring.

People always wonder if they can sand and refinish their engineered wood flooring, the answer of course is YES. Unless it is only a 1mm vineer, which very rare indeed.

Start of sanding at around 50 or 60 grit, do the same around the edges and corners, then belt sand with 80 and 100. Finally edge the floor with an 80 grit and smooth the corners with an 80 grit.

You can then buff the floor or use a rotary machine at an 80 and 100 grit, but usually that's beyond the purview of a DIYer.

Check out some of my other videos for tips on lacquering your floor.

I hope this helps, If you have any questions, by all means post them in the comments section below.

Good luck with restoring your hardwood floors!

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BONA TRAFFIC HD LINKS (you can change the sheen level you want)

BONA PRIMER (SEALER)
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LINKS FOR ACCESSORIES
Roller For Lacquer

Roller For Stain

Rags For Stain

Respirator (face mask)

[biggee]

The music started to get pretty hot around 6:30 good thing my wife wasn't home she would have thought i had porn on lol

[shayanperez]

I just finished sanding my floors today. After 9 years of having a bad color on them I decided to fix it! We’re going to gloss today and this really helped me! 🙏🏼 thank you

[kennybeaudrie]

27 yr in the floor refinishing business and I have to say, I never cross the floors like this unless it’s a new install. But you seem to do great work! I’m a new follower so I’ll be checking out all of your videos soon.
Blessings 🤙🏼🎯💯

[taxedtodeath]

So that was a Brazilian Cherry (maybe Mahogany?) 3 strip, engineered, pre finished wood floor possibly a glue down to concrete or a nail down application over a wood subfloor.
The sanders he used are professional grade equipment. The "big machine" is run off of 220V and not the 110V you get at a rental place. That, in itself, will make a huge difference!
You can tell he is professional by just the tools and equipment he uses and the steps to his process (I do it differently and both have amazing results, both ways are not wrong, just simply different).
He applied the first coat of finish with a roller. I personally wouldn't recommend doing that for a DIY. Use a synthetic foam pad and go from wall to wall, with the grain, and don't stop in the middle. Pour out a line of finish and go back and forth. Also use finishes that are designed for wood floors, there is a big difference!
He used an oil based polyurethane finish for his first "sealer" coat and used 2 "top coats" of water based. It makes a really nice job. The oil brings out the natural characteristics of the wood while the water base adds depth. The water based has a higher UV protectant, dries harder, more scratch restistant, and it dries much faster and cures much faster as well.
Please note:
You can use water base over oil base. You CANNOT use oil base over water base. It will not stick!!. Most good and reputable contractors will give you the right advise if you want to do it yourself, some won't but most will. When using rental equipment there is going to be some hardships with it. Most rental yards don't know how to adjust the machines properly and they are not well taken care of. Most machines will give you problems but it can be fixed, its wood, it can always be fixed!
Remember folks. Its called HARDWOOD FLOORS, not EASYwood floors...its simple but very far from being easy! Happy sanding!!

[BYOTools]

This video was extremely helpful! Thanks so much and my floor project turned out amazing!

[cali]

Big difference compared to the other diy's out there. A true PROFESSIONAL.

[urbanlumberjack]

These videos are awesome. Highlighting the skilled people who work with their hands for a living. Cheers!

[hennapuffin]

I tried the diagonal sanding method… it made a huge difference in how smooth it came out in comparison to the room I did not using the same technique. Thank you.

[mjpowers]

I've been doing research today on sanding and refinishing hardwood floors to help decide if I'm up for the job. I saw the diagonal sanding by another professional on a popular home improvement site, then again on your sites. It makes sense when you think about making it level. I especially like your information about polyester backed sanding "paper".
My only venture into floor refinishing was when we did the foyer in our home. We sanded with a hand-held orbital sander, vacuumed well, then I wiped it with a wet rag and let it dry before applying the polyurethane. We let it dry, buffed, vacuumed and wiped down before the next coat- a total of seven coats. It still looks good with no wear patterns after 10 years.We had several floors in our home professionally refinished, but it's been over 10 years and the finish has come off in the "wear" areas and looks terrible. They applied 3 coats of polyurethane. I don't think I'm up for applying 7 coats of lacquer, but we have several large dogs and their trimmed nails still scratch the floors we paid to have refinished.
How many coat of polyurethane would you recommend on an oak floor and would that differ on a pine floor? -consider the dogs
Thanks for your video and assistance. It was very informative. MJ

[kadirburakozer]

Most useful video I have ever watched. No bullshit talking, pure action ! Great Job man, keep it up like this !

[franklin]

Love that your sanding the correct way. Pretty sure you knocked-down any previous waves and creating a smooth even floor. Great job! And awesome finish!!!

[Chris-mxjb]

im currently learning to finish floors from a pro. i watched your videos when i first started and continue to watch them. solid info!

[Dr_Xyzt]

I re-did my floor by hand for the very first time. I had unique luck this time. Not even a power sander. I removed 60-year old carpet (according to my grandparents), and the mat left a herringbone pattern in the finish.
--I was debating on properly refinishing the floor, or simply rescuing the finish. I wetted the floor with alcohol and found it to be amber shellac. I scraped the surface lightly and found that it removed the imperfections at a tolerable rate. After a week of examining the floor, I decided that the existing finish had good chatoyance when the imperfections were scraped off. So, that's what I did. I put a layer of de-waxed shellac on top, after about a week of scraping. I put water based polyurethane on top, and it has held up nicely. It's never that easy.
-- I refinished another floor, and it was awful. The previous owner would put corn oil on it, of all things, as an attempt to "keep it glossy". I live in a Podunk town 200 miles away from a proper drum sander, so I had to do it with a hand sander. With the right tools, I could have had that place sanded properly in 3 days. Instead, it took a month.

[faithfulservant]

I think he did an awesome job! about to refinish my old wood floors. please pray for me!

[zicario]

You’re very thorough with your technique. 👍🏽👍🏽

[robertgoldbornatyout]

Thank you for sharing your hard-earned experience and know-how with us!! Excellent content and commentary on the video, including your replies in text. Truly nice work. Many thanks.

[adamprince]

Why do you belt sand with 100 and the step down to 80 grit with the buffer? Why do you use the floor buffer?

[jasonm]

I don’t what was on my floors but a drum sander took forever to get that stuff off. Started with 24 grit. Took me 20 hours to do 5 rooms. All these videos on here have the stuff coming off in one pass.

[JeffBourke]

Hi
I don't have any wood floors but I still enjoy your vids.

[josephrichardson]

Darn man. You weren't kidding about those other people messing up their floors. Gonna listen to you