SANDING AND REFINISHING
Fargo and Moorhead are pretty fortunate to have a lot of houses with original hardwood floors installed. If you have an older wood floor that has seen better days and needs some love and attention, then our hardwood floor sanding and refinishing service will be perfect for you.
We specialize in restoring well-used and worn-out floors back to life... and in pretty much every case, to an even better condition than they were when new.
Our Floor Sanding Process...
We’ve been fine-tuning our process for years here at Natural Accent Hardwood Floors. And even though every hardwood floor we sand and refinish is unique, we find that adhering to this process is a proven method to restore and protect your floor...
STEP 1Prepare the Rooms
Make sure all furniture is off the floor, and the floor is relatively clean. Next, we remove as many wall decorations as possible, as well as flipping up the drapes and curtain. Next, we remove the covers from any baseboard heaters and doors that may prohibit sanding and then set any protruding nails or screws. We’ll also cover any electronics with plastic. Even though our dustless sanding removes 98% of airborne dust, we always take extra precautions.
STEP 2Remove Old Finish
We begin removing the existing finish to take the floor back to bare wood. This involves several passes with different grits of sandpaper and various sanding machines, including a big belt sander, edger sanders, and hand scrapers. If you have mastic or shellac, we will use 16 or 24 grit paper to remove it. Once that is removed, or there is only old urethane on the floor, we start “cross-cutting” with 36 grit at about a 30-degree angle to “flatten” the floor.
STEP 3Rough Sanding
Using 50 grit on the big machine, we remove the 36 grit cross-cut lines by sanding with the grain. At this point, we make sure all areas of concern, such as pet stains, water stains, or past spills, are buffed out. We can repair these spots if you choose. If there was no Shellac or mastic on the floor and the urethane is from after 1970, we do two passes with the edger. First pass with a 16 grit, the second with a 40 or 50 grit, depending on the wood species.
STEP 4Vacuum and Filler
At this point, the floor should be bare wood except where the big machine and edger could not reach. Here, we vacuum the floor well and set any nails or staples above the surface. We will spot fill nail holes, staple holes, and chip-outs on older floors. For new floors, we spot fill staple holes, nail holes, chip outs, and any gapping between floorboards. Any wind-shake or blisters are fixed using epoxy.
STEP 5Final Sanding
Using 80 or 100 grit (depending on the wood species) on both the big machine and edger, we’ll sand off the wood filler and sand out the 50 grit lines. Then, using 100 grit on a random orbit sander, we blend the transition from the big machine to the edging. We also sand all the doorways to remove sanding marks from the edger. Finally, using a small hand scraper, we remove any finish in the corners or any place the edger couldn’t reach, such as nosings and around radiators.
STEP 6Vacuum and Buffing
Buffing comes next. But before we can polish the floor, we vacuum to remove any debris or sanding grit that may get in the way. Instead of using buffing screens, Natural Accent Hardwood Floors has invested in a 6-head satellite buffer attachment. Using the satellite with 120 grit discs, we buff the floor, taking extra care to smooth out the transition from the big machine to the edging. We also allow extra time on large areas that were sanded using the edger to prevent profiling.
STEP 7Water-Pop and Stain
(Optional)
Water-popping refers to wiping the entire floor down with a wet rag. This opens up and raises the floor's grain to accept the stain better—a crucial step to achieving professional results. No areas can be skipped, or it will be very apparent once the stain is applied. To prevent stain or sealer from ruining the surfaces, we tape off any areas you wouldn’t want stained–like carpet. Then, we begin applying the stain of your color choice.
STEP 8Apply Finish
Your floors are now ready to be coated. Depending on which finish system you choose, this process will involve either 1 or 3 coats. The floor is abraded and then thoroughly vacuumed and tacked in between each coat of our multiple coat systems. Once dry, your floor is finished!
STEP 9Clean Up and Final Walk Through
We’re done. All that’s left is to clean up anything left behind, put any doors or baseboard heater covers back, check that everything is good to go and have a discussion to make sure you’re 100% satisfied. Your newly sanded and refinished floor will look as good or better than it did the day it was first installed and finished!
We look forward to going through this hardwood floor refinishing procedure with you in your Fargo or Moorhead area home soon.
Articles about refinishing...
PDFs to download...
Which Finish System Should You Choose For Your Floors?
This is one of the biggest questions we get asked by our customers. We have put together a very detailed PDF guide for you that will answer this question in depth…
pdf Download PDF ArticlePHOTOS from past projects
CUSTOMER feedback
Our new to us home had 20+ year old floors that were yellowed, discolored, and worn. Natural Accent did an outstanding job refinishing them, and they now look brand new and beautiful! From start to finish we were very pleased with the professionalism and quality of the service. Thank you Natural Accent Hardwood Floors, we will enjoy our floors for years to come!Bethany Ustanko | Fargo, ND