Oak floor refinish help

[Brian Palmer]

In the next couple day I plan on refinishing the oak floor in my house. The floor is solid oak 50+ years old. My grandparents had the floor put in when they bought and remodeled the house. After a couple years they got sick of upkeep on it with varnish ect being what it was at the time so they had carpets put in, so I essentially have a brand new oak floor. It has some stains from where my dad, uncle, brother, me and many children have spilled drinks, food god knows what else to sand out. I am looking for any tips grit to start and finish with ect. As of right now I plan on just using tung oil to fishing it.

[Rich Engelhardt]

As of right now I plan on just using tung oil to fishing it.
Nope - use a floor varnish or floor finish. Something that forms a film and protects the wood from scratches & ground in dirt.

First off, if the wood is in otherwise good shape and level, you don't want or need a heavy drum type sander.
Home Depot rents a sander called a U-Sand. It's a big giant heavy random orbital device with for 6" disks underneath.
It takes off the old finish and removes minimal wood in the process. It's also nearly dustless to use, so you don;t have to open a window this time of year.

Start with 36 grit disks and work your way through to the 180 grit.
The 36 grit disks will only be good for a small area before they need changed.
I found I could only do about three times the area of the sander between disk changes.
The finer grits last a lot longer. By the time I'd worked up to the 180 grit, I was getting about half a 9x12 room before I had to change disks.

The whole process is simple - but - it takes time.
Clean the floors well. Vacuum them.
Sand.
Vacuum.
Sand.
Vacuum
Sand.
Vacuum.
Stain or dye.
Hand sand after - optional
Vacuum
Tack cloth - if appropriate.
Zinsser Seal Coat to seal. - optional
I like to seal the floors before putting on the varnish/finish. Mainly it's because I like to have some sort of protection on the floors in the event I can't get a varnish or finish on right away.

Varnish/finish - as many coats as the manufacturer says are required.
I've had good results with the waterborne poly floor finishes. They have little to no odor and dry quick. 4 copats are possible to lay down in a weekend.
Some swear by using only a phenolic floor varnish.
Other's swear by Varathane.


The stained areas could be tough. It depends on how deep into the wood the stains are. They may sand out or you could have to bleach the whole floor a uniform color first, then dye or stain it. You could also have to cut out the damaged/stained areas and replace the wood.
Both sound a lot harder and scarrer than they really are.

Most closet floors have the same wood as the floors. You can remove pieces from there to use on the floors if need be and replace what's in the closet with new.
If you run into a situation where you need to replace any of the floors, just post & ask how.

Enjoy! I'd say good luck, but, luck has nothing to do with it. Just take your time and plan out each step and allow enough time to do it.

[scott vroom]

Very informative answer, Rich!

[Rich Engelhardt]

Thanks Scott.

I've done about a a dozen floors in the last few years. I have a bad one to do in one of our rentals here in the next month or so.

There's also a few others here that have a lot more experience than I do.
Hopefully some of them will chime in here also.

[Peter J Lee]

I agree with most of what Rich says especially the recommendation on avoiding a drum sander if you don't need it. Those things are beasts. I've done a couple big floors with them and did ok. I can't imagine using one in confined spaces. I've seen pros do it, but it isn't easy IMO and any mistakes will show. If you do use one start sanding in a corner where a sofa or something will go.

I'd also say that pulling up the shoe molding makes it easier to get a good job.

In our house we used the Basic coatings 2 part product which wasn't available to non-pros. Its been tough and didn't have the amber tone that some finishes impart. It went on maple floors so the brightness is a nice contrast in a house filled with dark woodwork.

I know its contrary to conventional wisdom, but when the teen headed off to college and the back bedroom was regained, I put down 3 quick coats of Zinsser's Sealcoat after light sanding. It's holding up and looks fine after 7 or 8 years. There are still people who use Tung oil. I'd consider not only durability but what an adventure it might turn into if you have drying or some other problem.

[Bob Glenn]

We've quit putting carpet in our rental houses due to upkeep. Some of our houses have hardwood floors under the carpet and I've sanded them. The stains didn't come up, even with a drum sander which is much more aggressive than the vibrator or orbit sanders. The worse ones, I just sanded smooth, stained dark, then applied two to three coats of floor poly. It wasn't perfect, but so far they are holding up well. In the future, if they need a touch up, I'll just rent the vibrating sander, sand lightly then mop on another coat of poly.