Refinishing Wood Floors Isn’t Easy (Step 1)

Refinishing hardwood floors is really hard if you're going to do it correctly. It's far more complicated than running a vacuum cleaner and just moving your furniture around. That's because refinishing wood floors creates an incredible amount of fine dust (see below) that gets into everything nearby.

Moving the furniture is step 1 when refinishing your wood floors. It's not as difficult as when you're really moving, as you don't have to pack anything up in boxes. You do need to move every single piece of furniture, and what can't be moved easily, chandeliers, needs to get wrapped in plastic or it will end up covered in dust.

One of my handyman customers was getting their home ready to sell, and with 2 little boys they knew the house would show much better if they refinished the floors. Fortunately for them, the large, eat-in kitchen had tile floors. It was still a lot of work, but the furniture from the dining room, living room and family room only had to move a short distance. When everything was out of these rooms, the entry ways between the rooms were closed off with plastic to protect the furniture from dust.

Steps to Refinishing Wood Floors

1. Step 1: Moving the furniture (this photo article).
2. Step 2: Wrapping fixtures, walls/doors and open doorways with plastic to avoid wood dust.
3. Step 3: Skilled sanding to remove enough, but not too much of the wood.
4. Step 4: Now it's time to apply multiple coats of polyurethane to the floors, and some floors require staining first.
5. Step 5: Cleaning up and putting furniture back (we think you get this one without photos).