subject: Increase Your Home's Value With New Hardwood Floors [print this page] I have bought quite a few older homes over the years, so I have had occasion to refinish a lot of different wood floors. Fortunately, a good crew has been a key to our success in selling homes through our company. Refinishing wood floors generates a lot of dust, that's the first thing to know and to think about. Fine dust particles can cover the walls and countertops and even get into cabinets during the sanding part of the process, so enclosing each space, room-by-room, with heavy plastic helps to contain the dust and allows other jobs to be going on at the same time. Wearing a dust mask over your nose and mouth is a necessity as well.
Rooms in which wood floors have been sanded will need to be washed down with one of the tri-sodium phosphate products commonly available, and you will want to take precautions while using the wash water. Wear your dust mask during the washing process as you did for the sanding process, and be sure to wear rubber gloves to avoid skin contact.
Although selection of a particular color of wood stain is certainly your personal preference, we've learned that darker wood stain works better if there is any discoloration in the wood caused by water damage. Especially in older homes that may have been carpeted, when the carpeting gets removed old water damage may be revealed. Discoloration caused from water damage that seeped deep into the wood won't necessarily disappear as a result of sanding, so we've found that a dark wood stain comes in handy to blend the varying wood colors into a good-looking floor.
But we usually choose light oak and maple wood stain colors to lighten up a room, colors that blend well with the neutral wall paint we use. I see the floor and walls like an artist's blank canvas waiting for new homeowners to paint to in their own style and colors. Our choice of light colored wood stain and off-white walls is the most popular formula to please the majority of buyers who look at our homes for sale.
But that's not all - you have to select a finish in order to seal a refinished wood floor. Making the decision about the finish of a wood floor sealer is based on appearance and expected use. I normally select a satin wood finish before a home goes on the market because I find it's not too glossy and yet it is inviting and pleasant to look at and to touch. We always make sure that our refinished wood floors enhance the home as much as possible when selling a house.
