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advice on refinishing hard wood floors and decks

Seems like every house I work on now has hardwood floors that need work. Yesterday I posted a blog on how Murphy Oil Soap saved the day for me for one room. Today, I'm interested in how to refinish the floors.

The reason behind this is decks. My logic is that refinishing a hard wood floor is not that much different from cleaning up a really bad deck. This deck below, from my last job, had a wheelchair ramp up to the house. This will put 99.9% of buyers off.

wheel chair ramp

The ramp before the handyman attacked it.

We used $50 worth of deck cleaners and brighteners and power washed to get it the best we could. Then we sealed it with Cabot clear.

small deck on backof house

It really looks good.

I'm thinking that I could have taken a sander for hardwood floors and sanded the deck. That would have meant no chemicals and the look would have been more consistent. The area that had a outdoor rug is lighter than the rest of the deck.

I'm definitely not trying to put the professionals out of work. They would be called in at the drop of a hat for a large deck. A deck of this size would be cost prohibitive on most of the Orchestrating Estate jobs that I do.

Has anyone used a floor sander on a deck?

The local Home Depot has a floor sander that it rents by the hour and day.

hardwood floor sander

Will this work for the decks too!!

I've very curious about this because my son's deck needs to be re-done. We are all do it yourselves :-)

We tried paint strippers and power washers and it still needed to be sanded. The logical thing was for us to try sanding one section before stripping and amazing this worked. We can now skip the process of paint removers and brighteners and just sand. There are many really nice hand sanders on the market and I figure it would take us months of weekends to finish the job.

Will the hardwood floor machine work for this process?

Stage-Show-Sell, offers affordable home staging solutions in the Birmingham – Bloomfield and surrounding areas in getting your home ready for the market. We service both home sellers and realtors. We have the experience, our own rental furniture and accessories to stage many homes. We specialize in Estate work. The house can be put into our hands for the whole process of getting the house on the market

Stage-Show-Sell, offers affordable home staging solutions in the Birmingham - Bloomfield and surrounding areas in getting your home ready for the market. We service both home sellers and realtors. We have the experience, our own rental furniture and accessories to stage many homes. We specialize in Estate work. The house can be put into our hands for the whole process of getting the house on the market

Posted by Virginia Tatseos on 05/25/2009 10:42 AM

Comments (10)

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Originally posted at: Providing Services to Prepare the Home for Sale: advice on refinishing hard wood floors and decks

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10 Comments on advice on refinishing hard wood floors and decks

MAY

Hey Virginia,

The sanding machine won't work. Decks are not as evenly and perfectly planed as hardwood floors, and the sander will not refinish what it cannot make contact with.

Consider renting two belt sanders , and a buy a quality palm sander for the corners. I use that palm sander ALL THE TIME, and you will, too (works great when you find a dining room table that is in great shape except for the top. Just sand the top alone and match the stain or paint on the legs and stain it!)

Don't forget to bring some knee pads. Rent two because you will get tired and tingly from all the vibration, so have someone work with you to get it over with twice as fast.

And yes, you can skip the other steps with this method.

I try to do things that cost the least and work the fastest. The belt sander will get the job DONE and you'll be applying your stain and sealer in no time.

~Michelle

Thanks, this makes sense, I can't kneel for any reason so I work sitting down. Looks odd but it works.

There will be at least three of us working on the deck at one time so I will get relief.

I'll send my husband out tomorrow to check out the differences between renting and buying these prodcts.

Thanks again.

MAY

Do you need a contractor's license to sand a floor or deck in a home that you are Staging, or does your Staging insurance cover anything that could go wrong? I think I would hire this work out but just wondered, in case other Stagers have considered doing this type of work for their home sellers.

I'll forward this to my Insurance agent for a response.

No, Janis, it isn't a structural change, only cosmetic. It isn't construction. And yes, we are insured.

Sanding is not where you can screw it up. You are simply removing the previous finish and revealing clean bare wood. You CAN screw up the staining and varnishing. Prior experience is helpful, as well as reading up on the subject and consulting with a reputable paint store that offers sound advice, but does not require a specialized skill. It's easy, but a time consuming project requiring several steps. I do not hire out for things like that. I either advise the homeowner to do it, or we do it. Once I hired a company to refinish a floor and it cost $4000 and looked like pure crap. I had to do it over again. I prefer more control to make sure it is done correctly.

When sanding, load up on sandpaper. I get $100 worth for every 500 sq. feet, and return whatever I don't use. Running out of sandpaper really ticks me off. Don't keep switching grades in a assortment pack. Buy some GOOD medium coarse papar and follow it with fine grit. Cheap paper rips and the grit burnishes off too fast, slowing down the process, wasting precious resources and time. This can go smooth as silk or it can become a logistic nightmare.

If you have not previously stained flooring, I suggest an Old Masters gel stain application exclusively. It is comes in a LOT of different shades, and far more reliable than other brands, usually does not require two coats, and is easiest to use and control. One person wipes it on, another comes behind and wipes it off, allowing for less possibility of puddling and no overlapping. It doesn't run around on you. Also, everything you need to know about application is found on the can of product, only very few consumers read that tiny writing completely. Always read the can thoroughly, both when choosing a product and again when applying. Varying from the recommended method is never a good idea.

Choose the BEST product on the market when varnishing. This is not an area to pinch pennies. Top quality varnish is easier to use (read: allows for less mistakes to be made), looks smoother, and lasts longer than mid-priced varnish, so it is worth the extra $15 or so bucks per can than mid-priced.

Also, NEVER stop for a break when staining and when varnishing. Once you begin to apply the stain, keep going until the coat is all down. That's why I like to have a team of four people. Fatigue happens, and when it does, you just insert another team member and the project keeps rolling.

Warning: this process takes several DAYS to complete for curing and furniture installation on interior flooring. Don't push your luck. Adhere to the drying times. Use A/C and fans to reduce humidity and encourage hardening.

It will look magnificent.

~Michelle

Michelle, you are a goodness

MAY

Looks like you got good advise here. I was going to have my deck vendor call you-but it does not look like it is necessary.

We gave up with sanding the deck because the dust was bothering my daughter in law. Seems she's allergic :-(

My son used these two products and is VERY happy with the results. It's expensive but worth it in the long run

http://www.opwdecks.com/hd-80-wood-stripper-10lbs.htm

http://www.opwdecks.com/citralic-wood-brightener-2.htm

I loved all the advice here and can't wait to try a little of it on the next hard wood floor.

JUN

Janis, your commercial insurance policy is classified & priced with your exposure being home staging/decorating with some minor repairs. Although sanding a deck is only cosmetic as mentioned by Michelle Molinari, it still is a contracting risk, no different than a painting contractor or someone who installs vinyl siding (BOTH COSMETIC ONLY)

Although your insurance policy MAY cover a claim resulting from sanding work, rest assured your insurance company will do one of two things.

audit the policy, reclassify your business and definitely charge a premium OR cancel the policy at renewal.

If you hire the work out as you suggested make sure the contractor used provides you with a certificate of liability insurance then the liability will fall on their shoulders.

I hope this helps,

Thanks David

I'll have you adjust my policy IF I get into sanding floors and decks.

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