It is painfully inevitable. No matter how much you try to protect your hardwood flooring from stains and water damage, at some point or another, someone will spill something on floor. When this happens, there’s no reason to go ballistic.

If you have been diligently checking your floor’s finishing, then spilling water or any form of liquid into it should not be too much of a problem, so long as you wipe the spill up immediately.

But if you’re floor coating has thinned and liquid has been there for quite a while, that’s when you should start to think of restoration strategies.

Follow below mentioned instructions to protect floor from water damage:

As water damages the hardwood floor, water has become the enemy of hardwood floor. Your floor’s luster is at its mercy. You can easily remedy this by mopping the affected area. In worse cases, water can seep into the woodwork and result in decay and warping.

When wiping, use only soft, dry cloth rags. Coarse cleaning materials will scratch the flooring’s surface and thin out the finishing. If you’re dealing with a puddle, start with the edges of the puddle first and work your way to the middle.

For do-it-yourselfers, probably the most annoying part of hardwood flooring installations is the part where the floor is sanded.

See, because there is never any precision or accuracy when you’re dealing with an organic material like wood, having uneven plank heights and gaps are inevitable.

And when this happens, your only option is sanding hardwood floors own to even levels.

Machines used for sanding hardwood floor:

There are different kinds of sanding hardwood floor machines. There’s the drum sander and there’s the orbital sander. The orbital sander is said to be easier to use and more reliable, but the drum sander is more commonly available. If buying your own sander is not an option, you can rent it from floor installation specialists, who will also be willing to teach you how to operate it.

The best sandpaper for new floors is 20grit, but you can change to higher grits once you’ve got the initial sanding job done.

How can you handle sanding hardwood floor machine?

Sanding experts say the best way for sanding hardwood floor is by using just one direction and going from right to left. This is because sanders are unevenly constructed, with the left acting as the ‘digger‘ and the right part as the ‘sweeper‘. Surely you wouldn’t want to sweep first before cutting through the excess wood.

One of the most practical flooring and building materials is hardwood.

It is sturdy enough to last decades and even centuries, with proper care, and it can give an otherwise dull living space an earthy and natural feel.

As time progresses, however, the protective coating of your hardwood floor will inevitably thin out, particularly in areas where there’s a lot of foot traffic.

When this happens, your best option is to refinishing hardwood floors so that it lasts longer and it becomes a lot easier to clean and maintain.

Why refinishing hardwood floor is necessary? If your floor has been subjected to constant wear or has been hidden under the carpet for so long, you will need to do the refinishing hardwood floor to preserve it.

What you have to do, to perform refinishing hardwood floor?

You may attempt to do the refinishing hardwood floor yourself, but those who have had experience in doing refinishing hard wood floor this will tell you that it’s quite a challenging task. Refinishing hardwood floor does not simply entail reapplying the translucent coat. You will first have to remove the previous finishing for refinishing hardwood floor.

It’s only been a few years and you see that your hardwood floor looks seemingly old.

What happened? How can you make it look like new again? Before you take any step further, you should first see the condition your hardwood flooring is in.

Check if any special cleaning is necessary or if serious repairs need to be done.

When evaluating the condition of your hardwood floor, observe the finish.

Is it just soiled or has it already thinned out? Study your floor to see if the finishing has been scraped, dulled, or chipped.

Find whether refinish hardwood floor is required or not?

You can find out if your finish is worn by spilling a small amount of water at a high-traffic area. If the water beads at the top, then you have nothing to worry about — the finish is still intact and sealed. But if the water seeps in and darkens the spot where it landed then you refinish hardwood floor for that particular area. If the test bears the same result for other parts of the house, then those probably need replacing, too.

You can admit hardwood flooring. Installing hardwood flooring is quite a task and not many do it yourselfers succeed perfectly during their first try.

True, installing hardwood flooring is a skill, but it can be less of a chore and a headache if you go with prefinished hardwood flooring in the first place.

Prefinished hardwood flooring means it has already been coated and sealed with translucent film which serves as its protection from daily wear.

What finishings can do is shield your hardwood floor from spills and scratches, and make it easier for you to wipe or mop clean.

In what way prefinished hardwood flooring is better for you?

If you’re thinking of installing hardwood flooring yourself, you can enjoy the greatest ease and convenience with prefinished planks. With prefinished hardwood flooring, the task of nailing the flooring to your sub floor ends after the drilling is done.

If you purchased pure hardwood oak or maple (or whatever is available), you will have to apply finishings, sand it down and put on wax and polishers after. The amount of time to perform the task of installing a hardwood floor is halved if prefinished hardwood flooring is used.

What is a hardwood? Contrary to its name, ‘hardwood’ does not mean that the wood is harder than any other, however, hardwood is considered denser compared to other species.

The most common uses of hardwood are building materials, particularly for flooring.

The popular hardwood species include cherry, maple, and alder, but the most widely used among them is oak.

Two types of oak hardwood flooring:

There are basically two ideal types of oak for flooring use: Red oak and white oak. The characteristics of each will be discussed in brief here.

Red Oak Hardwood Flooring:

Red oak is probably one of the most popular picks for hardwood floors. First, it is abundant and second, it has a rather reddish hue that appeals to most interior designers and home owners.

Red oak is also a comparatively dense type of hardwood so it is more resistant to regular wear. Red oak hardwood flooring texture is a little coarse but it’s nothing a little sanding won’t be able to fix.

White Oak Hardwood Flooring:

Hardwood floors are sold everywhere, but little do you know that it takes a lot of effort and time to prepare each plank until it is fit for building use.

Trees are an exhaustible resource. This means they are not simply manufactured out of factories and have to be grown for a considerable period before they can be used.

Why hardwood floor cost is too much?

Oak hardwood, for instance, can take as long as a hundred years to mature. Because of this hardwood is comparatively expensive.

Standard hardwood floor cost around $4 per square foot and that’s still the unfinished version. Refinished hardwood floor cost a little bit more, usually at around $5 per square foot.

When buying unfinished hardwood flooring, however, don’t think that you’re saving a huge deal. Unfinished hardwood still has to be finished and stained before it can truly serve its purpose, so it’s an extra expense.

Which place should be preferred for reducing the hardwood floor cost?

If your budget is limited, then you should opt for refinished boards, instead. They are less costly in the long run and more convenient to install. You will no longer have to worry about stains, polish and finishing once you have them in place.

There are homes that adopt a modern look and, therefore, use modern materials and designs.

They may look a little futuristic and metallic, using only the finest concrete, steel, or fiber glass available.

However, there are also those homes that stick to the conventional way of building; that is, by using wood. And for purists like these, hardwood floors are almost always a staple.

What is it about hardwood floors that never go out of style no matter how the times and interior design principles change? Hardwood floors offer a kind of natural sturdiness and reliability that cannot be found in most home building materials.

Sure, concrete is great, but nothing beats a well finished hardwood floor to get that truly natural touch.

Following benefits can be obtained with hardwood floors:

Hardwood floors are pretty expensive compared to most types of wood. However, they last a whole lot longer with proper care. The types of wood for such are oak and maple, but if you’re under a budget, you might want to work with the latter, as oak woods are relatively expensive.

Many home building do it yourselfers prefer to buy their materials in their most basic and purest form to preserve the idea of really starting from scratch.

Thus, when it comes to hardwood flooring, these people opt to get unfinished hardwood, so eventually they can proudly say that they the finished product is something they had labored over.

But, pride aside, there is no convenience to buy unfinished hardwood flooring. For one, purchasing it bare is just the first step of many.

You will still have to sand it, apply finishing, stain it, wax it, and, for some, apply preservatives. And that’s not to include the installation process itself, which involves a lot of heavy sawing, nailing, and others.

Refinished hardwood flooring versus unfinished hardwood flooring:

This is not to say that using unfinished hardwood materials is a zero-sum option. However, it would be a LOT convenient to just buy refinished material and forget about all the hassles prior to installation. You do away with many time-delaying steps and get closer faster to the hardwood flooring look you desire.

Hardwood floor refinishing which will be done by yourself can be pretty daunting and those who are bent on making your floors look like new then do it in your own way.

This type of hard wood floor refinishing may find it more convenient to just have the entire floor replaced, instead.

If you are planning to perform hardwood floor refinishing without calling in the professionals, it is advised that you buy tongue and groove materials so that you can easily snap them together.

Buying refinished hardwood flooring will also save you a lot of time and effort.

What is the cost for hardwood floor refinishing?

The normal cost of hardwood floor refinishing is around $1.25 to $4.00 for every square foot. If you bring in a professional for hardwood floor refinishing then you should stand to spend between $3 and $3.50 for every square foot on labor alone. So if this is an expense you wish to avoid hardwood floor refinishing by professionals, then the best option will be hardwood refinishing hardwood floor by yourself. You do have to be ready for the task ahead, though.