Are you considering putting your house on the market, but worried about old, or stained carpets? Before you start wondering “how much is new carpet?” you might want to consider an alternative. Did you know that hardwood floors are generally considered more aesthetically pleasing, and tend to improve the value of your property? While you may have to put in some elbow grease, and spend some time researching wood flooring information, installing hardwood floors may beat the price for carpet installation, and help you to raise your property value in the mean time.
According to the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service, (also a great resource for finding wood flooring information) the average annual net growth for hardwoods is greater than average annual removals.
These days, installing wood flooring is relatively straight forward. Wood flooring information suggests that wood flooring originally came in two varieties: plank, and strip. Plank floors were common in rural areas, while strip floors were seen in better homes. Now, they are the standard.
To begin installing your hardwood floor, you first need to sand down the original flooring. You need a walk-behind floor sander. If you don’t have one, you can rent them at most hardware stores. Depending on the shape and size of your room, you may also want to rent a handheld power edge sander to help you sand tight spaces against walls and in corners and doorways. You might want to spend some time researching additional wood flooring information to help you decipher what types of hardwood floors your home has, which can make renting a sander much easier.
Once you have finished sanding, it is important that you fill any nicks or gouges in the floor. Use wood putty and a broad knife to fill any spots. Once the putty is dry, use standard sand paper to sand over the putty.
Now comes the clean up. Use a damp rag to clean up dust from the floor, walls, and molding. Let the dust settle, and then vacuum. A standard shop vacuum with a dust filter will do the trick, and these too can be rented at local hardware stores.
Finally, comes the finish. This is where you may want to spend some time researching wood flooring information – as the finish you choose depends on how you want your floor to look. Finishes can either give off a shiny, or a flat matte look, so spend some time doing your research to pick the proper finish.
After the finish is dried, your final steps are to buff the floor using steel wool, vacuum and wipe the floor AGAIN with a cloth, (this is critical in between coats, or else your floor will be rough!), finally apply the final coat, and repeat. Be sure to wait at least 24 hours before putting carpets or throw rugs on your new floor.
Read more about this topic at this link: www.classicfloordesigns.info