How to Recoat (Sandless Refinish) Hardwood Floors

RhodesHardwood

Here is directions to restore wood floors that have previously been finished with a polyurethane finish using a sandless refinishing method. (Please Note: This process is not for all wood floors, since no actual sanding is done this process will not remove dents or dings that are deeper than the top finish layer)

The first step is to buff the floor using an electric floor buffer. You will want to use a white buffer pad a 220 grit sanding screen for this. 1 screen will typically buff about 200 square feet. If you are not experienced using a floor buffer, you may choose to use a square buffer. These vibrate rather than occilate, so they are easier to operate.

The buffing is meant to buff out surface scratches and abrade the finish so that a new coating will bond. The buffing is not meant to sand down the floors.

After throughly buffing the floors, the next step is to vacuum. It is a good idea to vacuum over every inch of the floor a couple times. After vacuuming, go over the floor with a micro fiber dust mop that has been dampened with mineral spirits. This will get any left over dust that the vacuum didn't pick up. Then let the floor dry from the mineral spirits.

Now you are ready to apply finish to the floor. To apply finish I reccomend an 18" T-Bar style applicator; Dura Tool makes a nice one. Pour finish directly on the floor and squeegee it back and forth working your way out of the house. It is best to do the edges with a foam brush.

Other Notes: This process is not ideal for floors finished with shellac or Aluminum Oxide finishes. To recoat these floors just buff the floor with a white pad only. Spray the floor with Bona prep and buff it into the floor. This product is meant to prepare these types of finishes so that a new coating will bond to the existing finish. After buffing just follow the rest of the steps listed above including vacuuming, cleaning and finishing.

Questions? Feel free to message me.

Scuba_any_time

In your original post you said "Other Notes: This process is not ideal for floors finished with shellac or Aluminum Oxide finishes." How do i determine if my existing floor is one of these?

RhodesHardwood

Chances are if the floor was not a prefinished floor it will not have an aluminum oxide finish. Here is an article I found that discusses how to determine what type of finish you have http://voices.yahoo.com/refinishing-...d-6882134.html.

If the floor was previously done in the past 10 years it probably does not have shellac. If you can not make a definite determination on the previous finish used, I would suggest to first coat the floor with a sanding sealer such a DuraSeal universal sealer, then coating with floor finish of your choice. This will seal up the floor so that a new coating will bond. Hope this helps

Drhoda

So it is ok to "pour" poly on the floors?

I've always wanted to do it that way but was afraid it would cause bubbles?

BuYersChoice

You only want to pour as much as you can work with. Don't empty the can! Pour a line of finish along your starting wall, 6-10 inches away and use the t-bar mentioned in the original post to snowplough the finish as close to the edge as you are comfortable with. Use a brush along the edges first though, and overlap with the applicator.
Your t-bar should eliminate any bubbles.

Marianna Fl.

Thank you for your posts on this topic. I bought a 110 year old (1902) home and know nothing about the 5000 sf of heartpine floors i have. How can i tell if they have a shellac or other coating on them?? Thanks, Ed

Seattle2k

The answer was already given to you.... http://voices.yahoo.com/refinishing-...134.html?cat=6