You work hard to ensure your hardwood floors look their best, but over time, the finish is slowly removed by the friction of daily foot traffic in your home. Each year the finish protecting your wood floor gets thinner and more scratched.
When is it time to sand and finish?
Kring's Interiors recommends sanding and finishing when the hardwood floor is dulling or has moderate to severe scratches. Also, if the finish has worn off to bare wood in high traffic areas, or if you would like to change the color or sheen of the floor, it is time to sand and finish. If you would like to add on to your existing hardwood floor in another area of your home, unfinished wood can be installed and the entire floor sanded and finished at the same time to match. Your new and old floors will look like they were all installed at the same time.
Sanding and refinishing restores floors to a new condition. Special equipment and training are needed, since sanding and refinishing is an involved process. It typically takes four to seven days to sand, stain, seal the floor and apply multiple coats of finish. Once the final finish coat has been applied, you should wait 24 hours before subjecting your floor to light foot traffic, furniture and normal foot traffic after 72 hours, the finish needs 7 days to cure before area rugs can be put back down.
