I live and work out of a 1957 house with wall-to-wall carpets. I am pulling out the carpets one room at a time and would like to refinish the floors myself, as I have the time to do it. If I refinish just the areas that need it - to match the original color, do I need to put a polyurethane coat on it? If not, how best to clean those floors that are not coated?

Are you talking about refinishing hardwood floors that were under the carpet?

Yep we need more details about what is down on th e floor. Usually after ripping out carpet you need to sand , stain and coat.

I have re-finished several hardwood floors in old houses underneath carpet. After you remove the carpet, you will have to prep the floor by sanding (you can rent a floor sander at most equipment rental stores-a big one for most of the room and a smaller hand one for the sides and corners). Depending on the condition of the floor you will start with either course or medium sandpaper and end up with fine sandpaper. You may fill in any cracks or holes with a putty matched to your floor color or not-some people don't like putty because it changes the character of the original flooring. When done sanding and cleaning up with a vacuum cleaner until there is absolutely no dust, you can apply at least 3 coats of clear polyurethane made specifically for flooring (ask you hardware store for the best brands that leave the most natural finish). Before the polyurethane some people like to apply some type of sealer that seals the pores in the wood. I've done it with and without sealer and as long as the polyurethane is good quality, the sealer is not really necessary. There will be some darkening of the wood but in my experience this just brings out the depth better. Make sure you get the kind of finish you want- do you want a glossy finish (high shine) or a satin finish (less shine). Again, you hardware store can help you choose the finish you want-they should have samples of what the finish looks like on display. If you don't coat the floors with anything, they will be very difficult to clean, become dirty much easier and prone to staining so you almost have to use something and I have found a high quality polyurethane works well, is easy to apply, keeps the floors looking natural and maintains them for years. If you want to change the floor color first, you will have to use a stain before the polyurethane but it sounds like you want to keep the original color. Make sure there is as little dust as possible in the air when applying the polyurethane or it will show up on the floor as little particles. If you do each room in the house the same way they should all look basically the same, everything else being equal. The prep is hard work so doing one room at a time is a good plan. It also gives you progressive experience -as you do each successive room you will get better. Good luck!

Hey,
Refinishing floors could require a lot more work than expected. I would recommend going to carpet and flooring stores and looking around and asking questions.


Carpet Stores & Flooring Dealers in Santa Clara County CA » The Prime Buyer's Report

Here is a list of flooring and carpet dealers. It may help you out. Good luck.