You’ll get a mountain of benefits from professional hardwood floor refinishers. The convenience alone is worth the cost of labor, but the end result is really the selling point. DIY refinishing jobs rarely look professional.
Here are three reasons to put your material costs to their best use by hiring professionals for the job:
1. Sanding Scars
Most DIY refinishers rent a drum sander from the local hardware store. This is a commercial product built for consumers to handle. This is not the same kind of machine used by professionals. If you use a sander slowly and carefully, you might prevent any damage to your wood floors. However, there are a myriad of common problems that can occur when using a drum sander, including:
● Dips
● Pits
● Scratches
● Swirl marks
You also have to contend with dust and the impact it has on your final finish.
Professional hardwood floor refinishers have access to professional-grade sanders which help you avoid these issues.
2. No Flakey Finish with Professional Hardwood Floor Refinishers
Flaking, peeling floor finish can result from a few application mistakes, but the most common is an excess of stain residue left behind. Stain becomes harder to remove the longer it is on the wood. Adding multiple coats of stain is also problematic and leads to excess buildup. It’s no surprise this is a common problem for novices who choose darker stains.
They’re not the only ones who struggle to get it right, however. Simply applying finish before the floor is dry will lead to peeling as well. Depending on the brand and the color, your stain might need one to four days to thoroughly dry.
Unfortunately, there’s no reliable quick-fix for a peeling or flaking finish. The only solution is sanding it down again and repeating the process. Not only is this a huge waste of time and money, but it takes years off the life of your wood floor.
3. Premature Wear
After a week or more of hard labor, the look of your newly sanded, stained and finished wood floors will dazzle you. Unfortunately, you might not feel that way for long. If you make one of the most common DIY floor refinishing errors, you might be repeating the process within a year or so.
Refinishing a wood floor takes a lot of time and effort. No matter how many times you say this, homeowners have a way of underestimating the process. For some people, this results in taking shortcuts or ignoring the obvious.
Once you sand away imperfections, it’s important to go over the floor several times in sandpaper of finer grits to create a truly smooth surface. Your eyes and hands might have trouble noticing the difference, but it’ll mean a big difference to your stain and finish.
Forgo fine sanding, and your stain and finish will sink into grooves in your wood flooring. Less coverage will stay on the surface. This causes several problems that lead to a floor that looks rough and blotchy only a few years later. The only long-term solution is doing the floor to professional standards.
Schedule a an appointment with professional hardwood floor refinishers on our team at Atlanta Floors. We’ll get the job done right.
