Hardwood floors are a defacto choice for new homeowners. This is because wooden flooring is durable and aesthetic like the red cedar lumber. With proper interior design, one can even enhance the look of their living space. However, most people prefer to cover the living area with carpets to prevent any damage to the wooden flooring. Still, a lot of area remains uncovered, which is susceptible to damages like scratches, breakage, scars, etc., which hampers the look of the house. 



Over time, the hardwood flooring becomes dull, which takes away the charm of living in the house. Therefore, it is crucial to refinish the hardwood flooring at an appropriate time using sanding and proper chemicals. You can either hire professionals for this job or do it yourself. In any case, here are the things you should consider when refinishing hardwood floors. 

Consider deep cleaning your floor first
Deep cleaning can restore your floor’s charm and make it as good as new. Deep cleaning is a cakewalk and you can do it in these simple steps:

● Use a soft-bristle broom to remove all the dust and dirt accumulated on the surface. Remember, stiff bristles can scratch the surface.

● Now, take your vacuum out to clean hard-to-reach areas like craned corners and underneath furniture, etc. You can also use the vacuum to clean all the dirt between the floorboards.

● Lastly, mop the floor thoroughly using a micro cloth and a concentrated hardwood floor cleaner. Apply a bit of pressure while mopping to remove all the stubborn stains. Remember, steam, vinegar, soap cleaners, etc. are not good options for hardwood floor cleaning.

DIY hardwood floor sanding
If a deep cleaning doesn’t work for you, it means your floor has deeper body damage that requires thorough fixing. Buy sanding discs of varying grits (ask a professional or search online) and identify the areas of your floor that have deep cuts and scratches. 

In the areas where deeper scratches are present, use a low-grit sanding disk, which is coarser and more aggressive. 

In case you want to even out the surface and remove the rough patches, use medium-grit sandpaper. Lastly, if you want to provide a smooth finish to the floor before polishing it, use high-grit sandpaper. You can use the wet-sandpaper technique to even out the polishing on the surface. 

When to outsource the refinishing?
If your hardwood flooring has been around for a while, it is possible it may have deeper issues than you thought. In this case, you cannot expect the DIY to work for you. You may choose to go completely professional over this and do the sanding, staining, patching, and top-coating by yourself, but you should keep in mind that finishing the entire process will easily take up your entire weekend for 500 square feet. 

Therefore, seeing how labor-intensive the job is, it is always good to outsource it to contractors. For this, it is better to get bids from different contractors who will visit your house free of cost and quote a price per square foot.