Discovering Your Hardwood Floor, Part 1

or cracks between boards can be filled, but may show when the floor is refinished or may even come loose. If the floors have been sanded before, there may not be enough wood left to allow for a complete refinishing job. If sanded too much, the top edge of the groove becomes too thin and may splinter along the edge of the board.

If you feel your floor may take too much time or money to refinish, you might look into painting it. A paint job on a hardwood floor can be made to look like an old linoleum floor...without the asbestos hazard.

Floor Prep: Your floor will need to be prepped before sanding. I recommend that you hire a professional to sand your floors. The sander is very heavy and bulky and can ruin your floor if not properly used. Check around and ask if doing the floor prep yourself will save you money on the final bill.

First you will need to remove the shoe molding and baseboard. The shoe molding is a quarter round molding which makes a clean transition between the floor and wall. Run a razor knife between the baseboard and the shoe molding to break the paint seal, then carefully pry it loose. If you plan on reusing the molding, use a pry bar to remove the molding and a screwdriver to hold the loosened molding away from the baseboard. Work slowly and carefully to avoid breaking the molding. Then remove the baseboard the same way. Use a thin scrap of wood behind the pry bar to protect the wall.

Unless the shoe molding and baseboard are made of hardwood, my opinion is to just remove it as best you can and replace it with new if needed. If you are able to save some, use a pair of vice grips to pull the finish nails through the board from behind. By pulling the nails out at a 45 degree angle, the nail head will be pulled through the board and prevent splintering the wood. Number the boards on the hidden side to make replacing them in the right spot easier.

Next, take a wide bladed putty knife and go over the floor, loosening up dirt and grit and feeling for nails or staples sticking up. If there isn't enough sticking up to grab hold of, you will need to sink the nail or staple about 1/8" below the

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