The Affordable Way To Give Outdated Wood Floors An Upgrade (Without Replacing Them)

Living in a dated house oftentimes means dealing with wood floors that carry the overly red or orange stain popular from decades past. Though they may have sentimental value if the property has been with the family for multiple generations, these old-fashioned floors tend to be an eyesore once you have upgraded your home with more modern furniture and design elements. It also doesn't help that removing them altogether and swapping for new flooring costs a fortune these days. If you are dealing with this situation right now, the best advice you can follow is to refinish your hardwood flooring with a new stain.

Refinishing hardwood may be laborious, but it doesn't cost as much as an overhaul. Among the tips for refinishing hardwood floors that interior designers often recommend is to neutralize those dated warm hues with cooler, ashy stains. A semi-transparent, quick-coat penetrating stain can give hardwood floors a brownish-gray color with a soft, satiny sheen.

Unbeknownst to many, hardwood can be sanded down numerous times throughout its life, making it one of the most durable and sustainable wood flooring options. So by refinishing your outdated floors instead of replacing them, you are extending their lifespan. The same is true when you refurbish wooden furniture.

Before you sand down your floors and begin the refinishing process, it's important to identify the type of wood your flooring is made of and confirm whether you indeed have real hardwood or a synthetic alternative such as laminate or vinyl. Natural hardwood and engineered hardwood can be sanded down and re-stained, while laminate and vinyl, which were quite popular from the late '90s up until the early 2000s, cannot. Attempting to do so will only damage these faux wood materials, leaving you with a bigger problem.

To determine if your floor is made of real wood, look closely at the boards themselves. The easiest way to tell authentic from faux wood flooring is by checking the variation in the knots, grain shifts, and streaks on the surface. Real wood should have natural variation, which means no two panels must share the same patterns. On the other hand, since laminate and vinyl only sport a printed wood design, expect to see a repeating pattern across multiple boards.

Another way to distinguish real wood from faux wood materials is to test their durability. Real wood tends to be softer and more prone to dents or scratches. Meanwhile, laminate and vinyl are designed to resist physical wear to a certain extent. If your floors show scratches, stains, or dents, they're likely real wood. Spotting nails and staples is also an affirmative sign that your flooring is made of real wood, as synthetic wood floors are typically installed as floating surfaces with click-lock systems or glued down.

Once you have confirmed your dated floors are real wood, it's time to bring your hardwood floors back to life. The first step is to sand them to remove the old stain and imperfections and create a smoother surface that will readily absorb the new coating. Depending on the size of the area you are working on, you may need to rent a drum or belt sander for bigger coverage since an orbital sander is too small for large spaces. You will also need an edger and a detail sander for tight corners. When sanding, start with a coarse grit, then work your way through medium and fine grits to ensure that the resulting surface will be ultra-smooth and blemish-free.

After sanding, apply the new stain to your wood flooring. Use more neutral or cooler-toned stains. You can try Weathered Oak stain by DuraSeal, which is only available through wood flooring supply stores. A 32-fluid ounce can of this penetrating finish is available for $23.95 on Wood Floors Unlimited. You can also opt for other brands available on Amazon, such as the Varathane Oil-Based One-Step Stain, or the DEFY Extreme Wood Stain and Sealer. Be sure to follow the instructions on the packaging when applying the stain. Finally, after the stain has dried, apply a protective topcoat to seal in the color and protect the wood from daily wear.