Wooden floors add charm and beauty to your home. Wood makes a durable flooring, but it can show wear over time. If the wooden floor wasn't laid with the correct amount of space for expansion and contraction, the floor can buckle and become uneven. They can also become uneven due to wear in heavy traffic areas. However, hardwood floors can be sanded and refinished several times before they need to be replaced.
Instructions
1. Remove everything from the room where the floor needs to be leveled.
2. Remove the baseboards carefully so you can reuse them after you have refinished the hardwood floor. A hammer and a trim pry bar work well for this. Take your time and you will be able to reuse most, if not all, of your trim.
3. Purchase a piece of two-by-four lumber that is as straight as possible. An 8-foot length will work best. Slide the lumber on its narrow side around on the hardwood flooring. Look for the high and low spots in the room. Mark them with an "H" or "L" as you go. Check the perimeter as well as diagonal of the room.
4. Tape off the room's openings with painters tape and a cheap plastic drop cloth. This will help keep the dust contained to just the one room as your work.
5. Using 80-grit sandpaper, sand down the high spots with a flooring edge sander, available at your flooring or lumber dealer. Recheck the level often as you sand so you won't remove too much material from the floor.
6. Starting with 80-grit sandpaper, sand the entire room with a flooring drum sander, working from left to right, going in the same direction as the flooring. The drum sander is heavy and can remove a lot of material in a little time. Therefore, you should lower the sander slowly as you start and end a row of sanding. Next, use the flooring edge sander with the same grit sandpaper to sand all the areas that the drum sander could not reach. Pay close attention to the start and finish points of the drum sander so you can feather in the edges. Sweep up the sawdust and save it.
7. Mix the sawdust with a lacquer sealer to make a wood filler that exactly matches your existing hardwood flooring. Combine it into a thin mixture that can be spread out with a smooth trowel.
8. Walk the room looking for any exposed nails or screws. As you walk, listen for squeaks. Screw down the flooring with finish head screws as needed to tighten the boards and stop the squeaks. Countersink any exposed nails or screws below the hardwood flooring surface with a nail set or screwdriver.
9. Trowel the wood filler mixture onto the floor, working it into any gaps or holes. Let the filler dry before proceeding to the next step.
10. Sand the entire floor again following the procedure in Step 6. First use 120-grit sandpaper, then use 180-grit sandpaper. Sweep and vacuum up the sawdust between passes.
11. Stain the floor with lacquer-based stain and a stain brush. Brush the stain into the wood and let set for a few minutes. Work in sections so you can wipe off the excess stain with a clean rag, without having to walk on the floor that you just stained. Let the stain dry before proceeding to the next step. Check the stain's label for specific directions and precautions.
12. Apply a coat of polyurethane, working the finish into the wood with a lamb's wool applicator, going in the direction of the flooring. Follow the specific directions on the label for application and drying times between coats. Repeat this step to achieve the recommended number of coats according tor the label directions. Let the last coat dry before proceeding.
13. Remove the plastic and painters tape, and reinstall the baseboard.
Related posts
A flat subfloor is essential when installing hardwood flooring.The first layer of wood on top of the joists is subflooring. Typically there is no real concern with leveling subfloor because it's t...
Installing hardwood on concrete usually requires a buffer between the two materials to prevent moisture seepage.Many home owners choose to install hardwood flooring in their home because it adds a...
Level a Wood FloorSince no one wants a new floor that slopes or sags, this is reason enough not to install a new floor on top of an uneven sub-floor. For the best results, you need to make sure th...
Laying new vinyl, carpet or wood requires a flat, firm surface. If the subfloor is wavy and uneven, that unevenness can show up in the surface of your new flooring material and possibly even damag...
If you have a basement that needs a new floor because of foundation damage, you will have to start with creating a new bed on which the floor will rest. The bed must be even and level or the floor...
