How To Have Hardwood Flooring In Your Old Home Restored To Its Original Beauty
When you purchase an old home, there are many surprises that you may find when you start to renovate it. There are many homeowners who discover that the house has hardwood flooring in it when they remove the carpeting in the house. Finding hardwood flooring can be a great thing because the wood flooring used in many older homes was designed to be long lasting and durable. If you have found hardwood flooring in your old home, use the guide below to determine how you can restore it to its original beauty.
Visually Inspect the Flooring
The first thing that you will need to do is you will need to visually inspect the flooring. You want to make sure that it is not bowed or warped anywhere. You do not want to see areas that are raised or fallen as these are signs that the floor is damaged. You also do not want to see signs of obvious discoloration. Discolored wood flooring may have suffered water damage and will need to be replaced.
Have a Flooring Company Look at the Floors
Once you have determined that a majority of the floor is in good condition, you need to hire a flooring company to come and give you an estimate for what the refinishing process would cost. They will have to determine which boards will need to be removed and walk you through the process that they will use to feather in new boards with the old boards so that no one can ever tell that they were not original to the home.
Have the Floors Sanded
Once the damaged areas are repaired, all of the floors will be sanded with a large commercial sander. This creates a smooth surface and opens up the wood so that it can absorb any stain you want to put on it. The floors need to be sanded by professionals so that they are not damaged during the sanding process.
Have the Floors Stained
After the floors are sanded, they will need to be stained. At this point, you can choose any stain that you feel would look best in the home. You can go dark or light with the stain, but it is important to realize that once you go very dark with the stain, it will be very difficult to change the look that you create. It is often best to start lighter and add more coats of stain as you go to ensure you do not stain the floors too dark of a color at first.
Once the stain is applied, the flooring company will seal the flooring and it will need to dry for an extended period of time. Once the floors are dry, they will look great and be fully protected from everyday wear and tear.
For more information, contact a professional in your area or visit a website like http://www.towneinteriors.net.
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