Refinishing Hardwood Floors – DIY Or Use Professionals?
If you love a bit of DIY, one of the biggest jobs you’re ever likely to handle is the refinishing of a hardwood floor. Hardwood floors are generally durable, beautiful, and mix well with any look that you want for your home.
They’re not invincible though, time and wear can cause those once beautiful floors to take on a messy look. Unlike, for example, a damaged tile floor, you will not necessarily have to replace a hardwood floor that has deteriorated as it’s possible that all the problems can be fixed with a refinishing.
DIY vs Professional?
If you’re passionate about DIY then you’ll likely take pride in a job well done, and there is no greater satisfaction to be had than when refinishing a scuffed hardwood floor and making it look almost like new again. You also gain the experience of doing the job, if you have one hardwood floor in your house, chances are you probably have another, and if not, then there’s always the possibility you’ll have to refinish the same one after a few more years of wear and tear have passed. If you’ve done it once, it will be significantly easier if you have to do it again.
Cost
Aside from all that, though, there is also the cost to consider, which is what most people worry about when refinishing hardwood floors. To have a professional job done on 500 square feet of hardwood flooring will likely cost you more than doing it yourself. By contrast, based on the equipment you’ll have to rent and purchase to do the job yourself, the cost will be far, far lower.
It makes a huge difference to your funds, and it’s for this reason that some people decide to jump on the DIY wagon. It isn’t quite that simple, though. In a lot of cases, the hardwood floors that professionals get called in to refinish are floors that were ruined by someone trying to tackle the task themselves.
Other Considerations
There are a lot of intricacies involved to refinishing a floor that might be difficult for someone to grasp, especially if it is their first time. The drum sander for example (a large piece of equipment rather like a lawnmower that you guide across your floor to sand it down), requires an incredibly precise touch to get the floors smooth and level. If you let the sander linger in one area too long, you’ll gouge the floor, and likely won’t have any choice but to call in a professional.
There are other considerations to make as well; in older homes, it is possible that a lead-based finished was used on the flooring at some point, making it a good idea to hire a lead-certified professional, as sanding it yourself runs the risk of spreading lead throughout your home.
All in all, it isn’t a simple choice to make, and cost certainly shouldn’t be your only consideration. No matter what you do, ensure that you stay safe in your home above all else, never take on more than you can manage or it could cost you in the long run.
Here at Pyramid Carpets we prove a fantastic range of hardwood flooring so that you can benefit for the superior qualities it has to offer your home.