Adding a coat of finish to hardwood floor

[adkoch]

My wife and I are moving into a house with beautiful hardwood floors that have been hidden under shag carpet for years. The carpet and pad appear to have left the wood it almost new condition (1950's)

I know fully refinishing hardwood is either expensive to have done professionally and an enormous amount of work to do yourself. So, I am looking for a simpler way to treat the floors prior to our move-in.

Is there a problem with simply applying a coat or two of modern polyurethane to make sure the surface stays in great condition? If this works, would I have to lightly sand the surface first or could I just apply the polyurethane after a good cleaning?

I have not closed on the house yet, so I haven't' been able to test the current surface for water absorption, wax, etc.

Thanks in advance for any help

[JimL]

Lightly sand would be nice.

If you have some imperfections, Start with 80 grit, move to 150 grit and finish with 220 grit. Use a tack cloth to remove dust between sandings.

Then finish off with 400 grit and remove all dust from the room and lay down your poly.

[basscadet75]

What is your definition of "expensive"? As home improvements go, it is about as cheap as it gets to have anything done professionally.

How much square footage are you talking about? It's usually about 50 cents a square foot in my experience to sand and refinish. It cost me $350 to have my entire first floor refinished.

[m Ransley]

Dont recoat without sanding the old finish, it is hard, the new finish may not bond to it. It would be fairly cheap to hire out the work, a floor buffer is used with sanding screen to roughen it up. You must check and remove any old finish or wax.

[TCG]

I heard that it was more like $2-$3/sqft. What type of professional did you get? A hardwood specialist, handyman, other?

[Not]

It is certainly a good idea to do the floor before you move in, as you won't have to worry about dirt and dust, nor moving furniture.

I would defer a decision until you have removed the carpet and padding, so you will know if there are any problem areas that might affect your decision.

My c> My wife and I are moving into a house with beautiful hardwood floors

[dkarnes]

if the carpet needs replaced, have a pro do it. it should not cost to much more if at all than new carpet. remember you don't know how the whole floor looks till the carpet and pad are gone.

[basscadet75]

Local hardwood specialist.

$2-$3 per square foot just to refinish? That's the labor charge to install and finish a whole new floor, not to refinish.

[TCG]

That's great news! I wasn't even considering professionals when I originally posted.

Thanks everyone for your comments :)

[basscadet75]

Yeah, just shop around a little bit. 50 cents a square foot is probably on the low side but that's about what I paid - my first floor is about 750 square feet and it was $350 to refinish (so even less than

50 cents). The guy I used was just a local wood floor contractor.

We had new wood installed upstairs and it was $7 total per square foot, which included $4.50 for the materials. So $2.50 for the labor and that includes installation, sanding and finishing. The installation is obviously the hard part, so anybody you hire just to refinish should be a lot less than $2.50.

[m Ransley]

If it is in good condition and you like the color now, having a pro screen and recoat is the cheapest way , sanding to wood is more.

[steve]

[blueman]

Here in Eastern Massachusetts, the cheapest you can find is $1.50-$2.00 for somebody who basically just rapes your floors and splashes down a layer or two of poly.

For good quality jobs and multiple coats, people pay as much as $4-5 per square foot and more...