DIY Tips: Sanding and Refinishing

Homeowners love hardwood floors!

Even a home with beat up, scratched up hardwood floors will make a buyer salivate. Restoring hardwood floors may take a little time and money, but it’s an investment worth making. What you spend now to restore hardwood floors will come back to you if you ever want to sell your home. And if you never want to sell your home, you’ll have beautifully restored hardwood floors that will last you a lifetime.

Hardwood flooring DIY advice
Do your research before you turn on the sander.

To breathe new life into your old floors, you’ll need to completely sand away the old finish, right down to the naked wood board. Many homeowners see  this as something they can do themselves. They bought a fix-me-upper and darn it, they’re gonna fix it up themselves. But, using a sanding machine is not as easy as you may imagine. It’s not like a vacuum cleaner that just sucks off the finish on your hardwood floors. You have to really put some muscle, sweat and time into sanding down your floors properly.

Sanding hardwood floors is time-consuming

Sanding hardwood floors is a dirty, dusty, tedious and time-consuming process.  And by the time you are done renting and buying materials, you may have been better served hiring a professional who has the proper equipment, the skills and the time to sand your floors without ruining them.

Sanding has to be smooth and even. One mistake and you’ll be renting more equipment to smooth out any dents and divots you may have created using the various sanders. All you little mistakes may not be noticeable on the naked floor, but once you apply a finish, each mistake will show up. Once you spot them, they’re hard to unspot.

DIY hardwood flooring advice
Visit our Denver showroom and get help and inspiration for your next Colorado hardwood flooring project.

Get professional advice before you take on sanding and refinishing your hardwood floors

We understand the value of DIY project and we don’t want to tell you that you can’t refinish your own hardwood floors, you just need to understand the size and the difficulty of the project. And the expense. As with any DIY project, when it comes to quality, you want to buy quality materials and research your options before you turn on the sander.

If you need inspiration or advice, we’re here to help. And when you are a day into your sanding and you feel like you have barely made any progress, we won’t judge you. We’ll just bring our crew and our equipment and our skills and we’ll have your floors looking as good as new in no time and you are one step closer to moving into your dream home.

Picture of Chris Keale

Chris Keale

Owner & Operator of Tongue & Groove Flooring
Wood Flooring 101 Course Creator

Chris Keale is the owner of Tongue & Groove and the creator of the Wood Floors 101 course, an educational resource that helps homeowners and design professionals make confident flooring decisions.

With a career that began in global technology and consulting, Chris traded boardrooms for floorboards, bringing his leadership skills and love of craftsmanship into the hardwood flooring industry. Since 2007, he has grown Tongue & Groove into one of Colorado’s most trusted flooring companies—built on a foundation of integrity, education and precision. 

Known for his sharp insight, dry humor and genuine commitment to his clients, Chris has helped homeowners, builders and designers through the complexities of choosing and installing hardwood floors. Whether teaching in the showroom, on a jobsite or through his Wood Floors 101, his mission remains the same: to simplify a complicated industry and deliver floors that stand the test of time.

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Whether you are searching for new hardwood floors, working on an upcoming project or looking to learn more about wood floors, we are here to help.