If you own a home with hardwood floors, you probably know firsthand how much maintenance they require. They accentuate your decor but since they receive regular use they are quite prone to wear and damage. The good news is that this damage does not need to be permanent. There are several methods of rejuvenating a hardwood floor, one of which is recoating hardwood floors.

Some people confuse recoating hardwood floors with refinishing hardwood floors, but they are not the same process. Refinishing hardwood floors is a much more in depth process than recoating and involves extensively sanding the floor until the wood is exposed. Recoating floors, by contrast, only involves applying another coat of finish.

Not all floors can be recoated. If a floor has ever been waxed, you cannot recoat it and will need to sand it. In addition, if any part of the floor is worn down to bare wood, recoating is not an option. To be safe, before you start, inspect all parts of your flooring carefully and make sure you know what the finishing material is made of. For example, polyurethane is a common substance used in finishes.

Once you start, the first step in recoating hardwood floors is sanding the floor lightly, a process known as "screening." This sanding is not as rigorous as the sanding required for refinishing a floor; it simply primes the surface. After screening, apply new finish to the floor's surface, preferably of the same kind that was used before.

If all of this seems a bit beyond your capabilities, don't fret. There are many professionals who will do the hard work for you. They charge varying fees, but are trained to get the job done correctly and can save you a lot of stress if you do not know how to recoat hardwood floors and will not feel comfortable trying for the first time.

Recoating hardwood floors may seem like a lot of work, but it is far preferable than having a damaged floor. In addition to being unsightly, scratches and wear can and will deteriorate. Once they do, you will have to do even more work to restore them to good condition. It's better to start now and recoat.