Reader DIY Question: How Do I Refinish My House’s Hardwood Floors One Room At A Time?

First, a fast replace: Matt had an amazing weekend, and that implies that I used to be capable of get some work performed. I’m *this shut* to ending the toilet flooring (simply have to do a little bit of cleanup and grouting right now). That implies that I can transfer on to constructing the cupboard in the bathroom space and putting in trim this week! However for right now, I wished to reply a DIY query about tips on how to refinish the hardwood flooring in a home one room at a time and have them mix collectively after they’re completed. I used to be excited to get a DIY query within the trove of largely adorning questions, so I wished to handle this for Paula. Right here’s what she wrote:

Paula’s DIY Query:

That is rather more a DIY process query than a adorning one, however a workable reply will change my life and assist me transfer ahead into this smaller house which is mortgage free and permit me to promote the bigger home. 

A ten-year means of essential renovations of my dream home got here to a abrupt halt virtually 10 years in the past when my husband Leon was recognized with most cancers.  That was a a few years lengthy medical therapy and surgical procedure that culminated in his launch to his heavenly house in 2016.  A lot of the home was accomplished previous to his prognosis, leaving stripping and refinishing of the strong 50-year-old pine flooring but to be performed. My very own well being critically cratered about two weeks after his house going and had not totally recovered partly attributable to Covid infections (3) over the past two years.  These years in the past I had initially deliberate to refinish all of the flooring directly due to recommendation to do it unexpectedly or the “seams” going from one room to a different can be not possible to make presentable. 

My query is clearly is “How did you, Kristi, transition the end/prime coats from the flooring in your room that was completed years in the past to the brand new flooring within the corridor butting as much as it?  I’m at some extent in restoration that I really feel I can prep, sand and end two bedrooms and the closets with a view to truly transfer into that home, then sort out different rooms as I’m ready. 

Right here’s how I might deal with this flooring refinishing scenario:

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It’s true that for those who can refinish the entire hardwood flooring in the entire room at one time, you’ll in all probability get a greater consequence with none likelihood of getting “seams” from one room to a different. That’s what I did the primary time I refinished our flooring proper after we closed on our home in August 2013.

I’ll need to admit that it was very good beginning on the bed room aspect of the home and actually working my manner out the entrance door, getting all of these flooring performed in a single start-to-finish course of.

I had the luxurious of doing it that manner as a result of we hadn’t but moved into the home, and I used to be totally of vitality and pleasure to get it performed. I had that “nothing’s going to cease me” perspective, and since we weren’t actually on a time crunch (we had no concrete move-in date, so I may have taken so long as I wanted), I used to be capable of do it this fashion.

However I additionally know that’s not at all times potential. For people who find themselves already residing of their properties and needing to shuffle furnishings from one room to a different to get the flooring performed, they need to be performed one room at a time.

I additionally had this case once we wanted to interchange the ground within the hallway (together with the subfloor) after the crap geyser episode within the hallway rest room. After that incident, the toilet flooring was fantastic (thank goodness for impenetrable tile), however the hallway flooring wasn’t. So all of it needed to come up and get replaced.

So as soon as the entire new flooring was put in, I had the problem of constructing this flooring match the prevailing refinished flooring within the adjoining music room.

At this stage, this venture was somewhat totally different from what Paula describes in her home since this was new flooring and there was no RE-finishing essential. I solely wanted to complete the ground. However lots of you’ll do not forget that my preliminary try to stain the ground and get it to match the music room flooring was a complete fail.

The colour didn’t match in any respect. So this left me in a scenario that’s in all probability very near what Paula has proper now, the place I solely wanted to sand and refinish the hallway flooring, whereas leaving the music room flooring intact, and making the 2 flooring match in the long run.

Since my hallway flooring is so small, I selected to sand the entire thing down with a hand-held belt sander. However had this been a normal measurement bed room, I might have rented the large flooring sander and edge sander and sanded the ground as regular.

However the query right here is about stopping one flooring, after which beginning the adjoining flooring at a later date. So listed here are the steps I might use.

First, select the board you wish to finish the preliminary refinishing on. For instance, if the primary room you wish to refinish is a bed room, then you definitely’ll select a board that’s within the doorway of the bed room. Utilizing painters tape, tape off round that board like I’ve performed beneath so that you’ve a visible of the place the primary section of refinishing will cease.

If in case you have a scenario the place the boards aren’t getting into the correct route to kind a simple transition between one room and the following, like I had in my scenario…

However as a substitute, they’re going the wrong way in order that there’s no simple transition from one room to a different…

I might nonetheless tape off round particular person boards. As a substitute of getting a straight line within the doorway, you’re going to have a scenario the place your taped off space seems extra like a metropolis skyline, however that’s how I might strategy it. In different phrases, you wish to ensure you refinish complete boards at a time slightly than prioritizing stopping and beginning your refinishing initiatives within the doorways between rooms. If in case you have that second scenario above, and also you arbitrarily select a stopping level that cuts throughout the entire boards within the doorway, then you definitely’ll undoubtedly have a seam the place one end ends and the following end begins.

For instance, if I wished to refinish the ground in my front room/entry, however I didn’t wish to do the music room proper now, my tape like would look one thing like this…

Type of like a metropolis skyline. 😀

But when I had been to take one steady piece of tape straight throughout, slicing throughout boards, to transition from one room to a different, the ultimate consequence would look terrible.

Worst case, it could be apparent that the flooring had been refinished on the identical time, and that that line was your beginning and stopping level. Or it could seem like the flooring installers determined to chop all of these boards in order that they ended at precisely the identical spot, which might look terrible and amateurish as a result of hardwood flooring boards are purported to be staggered. Both manner, the ultimate consequence can be undesirable. So persist with taping off complete boards, and never specializing in the concept that the transition has to cease and begin within the doorway.

It’s pure for particular person boards in a hardwood flooring to be various shades, although. (Simply have a look at the ground within the image above. Some boards are darker, others are lighter. That’s pure.) So if there’s a slight variation within the end of the ground within the preliminary room, and the end if you refinish the adjoining room, will probably be an entire lot much less apparent for those who end complete boards at a time slightly than taping throughout boards.

Subsequent, I’d sand the ground identical to common, utilizing a giant flooring sander and the sting sander. However the secret is that if you get to your taped space the place you wish to cease the venture throughout this section, put the sanders away and seize a hand scraper for hardwood flooring as a substitute.

This stuff are so helpful for getting the outdated end out of corners that may’t be reached with the spherical edge sander, however they’re additionally nice for this objective. As a result of they’re small and straightforward to regulate, you’ll be able to scrape the outdated end off proper as much as the very fringe of your tape.

Take into account that for those who needed to do a “skyline” tape job as your transition, you’ll wish to make sure that your scraper isn’t wider than your flooring boards. You wish to scrape with the grain of the wooden, so in case your flooring boards are solely 2.25″ vast, then you definitely’ll wish to get a 2″ scraper and never a 2.5″ scraper.

Use the scraper to complete up the method of eradicating the outdated end proper as much as your transiton. When you’ve acquired the entire flooring sanded, and the outdated end eliminated as much as the transition marked by the tape, you’ll wish to exchange the tape with contemporary tape because the unique tape can have worn and torn edges by now. This will likely be an actual ache you probably have the “skyline” transition, however don’t skip this step.

After you may have new tape down, transfer on to the staining and sealing course of. When you get the final coat of clear sealer on the ground, take away the tape on the transition whereas the sealer remains to be moist.

And that provides you with a beginning place for the following section if you’re prepared. And also you’ll do the following section in the very same manner. If you’re prepared to maneuver on to the adjoining room/hallway, you’ll tape the boards in the identical manner, and this time, the tape will go on prime of the boards that you just simply refinished.

I had nice success utilizing this technique in my hallway. Now that it’s virtually been a 12 months since I completed the hallway flooring, I virtually by no means give it a thought. It looks as if the 2 move seamlessly with one another, and I don’t suppose any customer to my home would ever know that the 2 flooring weren’t completed on the identical time.

Addicted 2 Adorning is the place I share my DIY and adorning journey as I rework and adorn the 1948 fixer higher that my husband, Matt, and I purchased in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do bodily work, so I do the vast majority of the work on the home on my own. You’ll be able to be taught extra about me right here.

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