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Hardwood floors add warmth and value to any home where they’re found. These floors are durable and timeless so, naturally, they are a must-have for most homeowners. Over time, hardwood floors can scratch and sustain damage, causing their beauty to fade. Thankfully, even if a hardwood floor is in bad condition, there is still hope for it. Hardwood floor finishers in Marietta can give new life to old, beat up floors. They have the tools and knowledge necessary to salvage these floors and restore them to their original glory. While it is possible for a homeowner to refinish and restore hardwood floors themselves, it is highly recommended that they seek the help of a professional, as the process is difficult and has to be done just right to ensure no damage to the flooring is sustained. Before getting started, it is important for a homeowner to have a professional come out and inspect the hardwood floor they desire to have refinished. A professional can easily determine whether the flooring is solid hardwood or engineered hardwood. Engineered hardwood floors can only be refinished twice before running the risk of damage to the flooring, so when this flooring is present, a professional will need to know the history of the floor before working on it. The first step in the refinishing process is to sand the floor. Prior to starting this step, a person will need to remove all furniture, drapes, and anything else from the room that is on the floor or could possibly become damaged during the refinishing process. The walls will be covered with plastic sheets to lessen the amount of sawdust that will need to be cleaned up. Baseboards will also need to be removed from the walls to prevent damage to them and provide the person finishing the floor full access to the flooring. Any staples or nail heads poking up from the flooring will either need to be hammered down into the floor or pulled out to ensure sandpaper won’t get caught and torn. Sanding is completed in 3 different steps. First, the floor is sanded using coarse grit sandpaper. Next, it is sanded with medium grit paper, and finally a fine grit. This should leave the hardwood floor feeling soft. The floors will then be wiped off and all of the sawdust cleaned up in the room. Any damage to the flooring will be addressed at this time, and any holes and scratches will be filled using filler that matches the color of the wood. When the damaged areas have been addressed, a flooring professional will do one more pass with the sander. Once the floors have been wiped and cleared of sawdust, they can be stained. A homeowner can choose to leave the floors their current color and skip this step, but if they desire a different look or want something darker, the staining will need to be completed at this stage. Next comes application of the sealer, which is sanded once it has dried. The final step in the refinishing process is application of the polyurethane. Polyurethane must be applied carefully to prevent bubbles and streaks from forming. Once it has been applied, the floors must be allowed several days to dry. If the floors are walked on before the polyurethane has a chance to dry, noticeable marks and scratches can be left in the finish. The process of refinishing hardwood floors is difficult and should be left to a professional who is skilled in the technique, and can produce flawless results. When considering restoring hardwood floors to their original beauty, it is important to research hardwood floor finishers in Marietta.
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