Hardwood Floor REFINISH Treatment
Last week I shared that I was in the process of choosing a color to have the hardwood floor in my kitchen and living room refinished. You can read about it in this post – How I Chose the Color to Stain the Hardwood Floor. This is Part 2 of getting the floors refinished.
The wood floor in the two rooms has a unique layout pattern that I wanted to accent with a new color and matte finish.
Having a wood floor refinished usually means you have to deal with the smell of polyurethane drying and a dusty mess to clean up after the floor has been sanded. That was the case when I had the hardwood floors refinished in my previous house.
This time around, refinishing the wood floor at the lake house was a totally different process made possible by the folks at Bona.
They not only have better floor refinishing products that don’t smell awful for days, but a dust containment system like no other – that means no sanding dust all over the house!
How Were My Hardwood Floors Refinished?
Bona offers 3 different treatments for hardwood floors – RESTORE, REVIVE, and REFINISH.
Adios… amber orange color. :-)
My floors are getting the REFINISH treatment that includes a full sanding, stain, and sealing with two layers of Bona Traffic HD for protection and beauty that will completely renovate the floor.
I am very excited about having a floor that will now color coordinate with the other floors on the first floor of my house as well as the decor.
Here is what the floor in my kitchen looked like after the amber orange stain has been sanded off. :-) I like the light color, but wanted to darken it to coordinate with the adjoining flooring in the foyer, hallway and my studioffice.
The floor was sanded a few times. Each time using a finer sanding grit so that on the final sanding, the floor is super smooth.
Greg Martin, the Bona Certified Craftsman, used a few different sanders – this one is an edge sander to remove the old finish right up against the baseboards.
Every sander he used was connected directly to a vacuum system for immediate dust removal. See it outside the sliding door? In case you’ve wondering about the red lines, that’s a little trick of the trade. Greg marked the areas he had sanded to ensure that everything was sanded an equal number of times with the same grit sandpaper.
This dust containment system eliminates up to 99.8% of dust versus traditional sanding methods, leaving the air clean and safe for you and your family!
There is a big bag inside that fills up. When full it is removed and simply replaced with a new bag.
With the dustless system, there was no need to have to drape the rooms off to keep sanding dust from getting everywhere.
How Long Does Sanding a Floor Take?
Greg went over the floor 3-4 times. This took two days. It may take more or less time depending on the size of your room(s) and condition of the floor(s).
Staining The Hardwood Floor
As I mentioned in my previous post. I chose to go with Grey stain.
Greg applied the stain by pouring some of it on the floor and then using a Bona buffing machine to smooth it out over the floor.
Along the edges of the floor, the stain was applied with a rag and then rubbed in.
The next step was to apply the topcoat.
Bona Traffic HD is is the topcoat that was used. It outperforms all urethane finishes in durability after 24 hours. I chose to go with the matte sheen. I felt glossy shine would hide and distract away from the pattern in the floor.
When Can You Walk on the Floors After the Topcoat is Applied?
Once Greg had the first coat of topcoat on, we could not walk on the floor for a few hours. I stood at the door to take this photo with my phone.
No Smell – Low VOC Topcoat
The topcoat is water-based and has very little smell – low VOC’s which made it easy to still be in the house. It cures up to a very hard durable surface.
We ate our meals out, but since there was no smell in the stain and topcoat, we could still be in the house and sleep normally without being overwhelmed by a polyurethane smell.
The next morning Greg came back to apply a second coat of the topcoat.
3-4 hours: Floor may be walked on with stocking feet only, depending on conditions
72 hours: Lift and place furniture back on the floor – DO NOT DRAG. Use felt floor protectors on all items that come in contact with floor
72 hours: Floor may be cleaned using Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner and a Bona Microfiber Mop. Place walk-off mats and area rugs on floor.
We had to stay off the floor for 24 hours and not put any furniture back into the room for at least 3 days, but the longer we waited the better.
Knowing this in advance, we decided to take a trip for a few days to let the floor dry undisturbed.
The color is perfect – not too light or dark.
I am so happy with how it blends in with the darker flooring in my studioffice. :-)
To Learn and See More About the Bona Floor Refinishing Process:
Part 1: Selecting the Stain and Finish
Part 3: The Revel and Video. I didn’t tell you before, but there was a video crew at my house during the floor refinishing to document the whole process. Watching them along with Greg work was fascinating.
Inspired to do amazing things with your hardwood floors? Check out Bona’s flooring inspiration site. For even more hardwood floor ideas, head on over to their Pinterest boards.
