3 Tips For Successfully Sanding Your Hardwood Floors

If you want to refinish you hardwood flooring, this can give it a completely new look and give it several more years of use. If you are planning on doing your refinishing work yourself, or at the very least getting the floor ready to be refinished, you are going to want to take the time to carefully sand down the floors. This removes all of the old finish from your floors, preparing them to be re-finished. However, in order for the sanding process to be a successful one, there are a few things that you are going to need to do. This article will discuss 3 tips for successfully sanding your hardwood floors. 

Protect Yourself And Your Home

Before you ever begin the process of sanding, you are going to want to protect yourself, as well as the rest of your home. To do this, place tape along all the bottom of all of your baseboards. Doing this stops the sanders from accidentally coming in contact with them and sanding off the paint finish. You are also going to want to make sure that your body is protected as well because your skin can be removed if it happens to come in contact with the sanding machine, which of course is going to be very painful. To protect your body, wear a long sleeve shirt, gloves, and pants. As an added protection, you will also need to wear goggles to protect your eyes from any flying particles that may come off of your floors as they are being sanded. 

Prepare The Floor 

To prepare the floor itself, make sure that there are no loose nails or loose boards. Take the time to ensure that all of the nails are securely nailed down, and check for any that are broken or missing. Doing this will ensure that the sander is not going to get caught on any of these nails while you are trying to sand the floor. It will also ensure that the different pieces of wood don't move as they are being sanded. 

Use Different Kinds Of Sanders 

A great way to ensure that every single portion of the floor is going to be sanded evenly and correctly, is to use different kinds of sanders. The three normal kinds of sanders that will generally allow you to get the entire job done are a regular drum sander for the main portion of the floors, and an edge sander and a corner sander to get the more hard-to-reach areas of the floor. Talk to a professional, like Kenton Carpet - Hardwood Floor Care, for more help.