Refinishing pre-finished hardwood flooring

[cbc58]

Has anyone ever re-finished prefinished hardwood flooring?   I am wondering what it looks like after it's done... because the flooring we have is Bruce oak with a beveled edge, and I was reading that the prefinishing they put on at the factory is very thick and hard to remove and that will certainly take the bevel away.   

Additionally it will drop the floor level down a tad so that it impacts baseboard and trim.

Anyone have any experience with this??  Anything to watch out for or potential issues?  Tks.

[a1953mdl]

I have, twice.

It really depends on the specific flooring, Bruce or otherwise. The top layer of lamination is different thickness with different mfg and even different series of flooring within the same mfg. Some make laminated that is designed to be sanded once (carefully). Most are thinner and not designed to be sanded.

Most of my post assumes the prefinished Bruce you have is laminated or engineered. Some mfg and I think Bruce also made or makes some prefinished that is solid wood, not laminated (think plywood). If yours is solid then no problem, sand and refinish like traditional hardwood floor.

So if yours is truly laminated and fairly thin on the first layer......like most.

All floors have areas of high and low. Sanding tends to try to level this out and will cut more off the highs than the lows. Most prefinished is fairly uniform in thickness , but life (spills, etc) may make a few edges or corners rise up some. These will be sanded off quickly down into the second layer.

If you are only wanting to refinish, you don't have to sand the floor, you can just "screen" it and mop a coat on. You will need to make sure the bevels are cleaned and prepped also....by hand. Even with screening you may burn thru some of the factory satin and even go thru some of the top lamination. You will have to touchup stain those areas before applying the finish. You could "screen it by hand also if you are determined and if the area to refinish is not too large.
The trick to screening is to not get too aggressive, you are just prepping the factory finish to receive the new finish. It needs a little tooth to hold on to or it will peel off easily. You will not be able to change the stain color with this process as you are leaving most of the factory finish on and hopefully all the stain.
Be sure to pay special attention to the bevels, they tend to hold crud, etc in them and need to be prepped as well as the flat surface.
This method may not work well if you have waxed the floor or used a polish with silicone in it as either tend to keep the new finish from bonding. It is a good idea to do a test in an inconspicuous area.

If you decide to sand the floor, you will almost always sand thru the top lamination in some areas. This is just part of it. It is still wood underneath the top layer, so it will stain nearly the same as the top layer. But will be visible upon closer examination. Your floor will not look as uniform as original. The second layer is nearly always cross grain to the top layer. One of the refinished floors I did was like this. I burned thru in several area and the bevel did not come out consistent or even, in some areas the bevel was nearly non existent. I stained the floor dark walnut and had an area rug over much of it, the furniture hid the rest.....so it was acceptable. In other circumstances it would not have been.

Hope this rambling helps.
Lee

[cbc58]

Hi-

Tks for the response.  We actually have solid hardwood with a pretty good beveled edge to it and i guess the finish they put on at the factory is thicker and harder than normal.   My concern was how tough it is to sand and how much you have to take off as well as the impact to the bevel which probably gets taken out.

Your post was helpful.  Tks. 

[a1953mdl]

Are you just wanting to put some new clear finish on your floor or do you need to sand the floor for some reason?
For the first you simply screen the floor to prep it for the new finish and scrape the bevels for the same reason. Check for proper adhesion. Then apply your new finish.

For sanding, you will loose some of your bevel and your bevel will not be even/uniform. That is unless you sand it completely past the bevel completely, not recommended. Unless there is some specific reason you need to sand your floor, I would not recommend it.

Lee