Refinishing Maple Floors

Maple floors are a popular choice for many homeowners, as their light coloring and unique grain patterns add a touch of sophistication to any room. However, over time, high traffic, everyday wear, incorrect installation, or improper maintenance can cause maple floors to show signs of aging.

Refinishing maple floors can help restore its original beauty and give your home an updated look.

Refinishing These Maple Hardwood Floors

Recently, I had the opportunity to work on an amazing refinishing project where we refinished the maple hardwood flooring throughout the entire first floor of a house. From start to finish, it was a wonderful experience seeing such a dramatic transformation take place in just a few days.

Some of what you may not see is how worn the floor actually was and how cloudy the finish used to be. Some of that is from the old finish that was on there from 20 years ago.

The fastest way to hardwood floor damage

They also used a Murphy's soap that leaves a residue, which builds up over time. That's why you want to use a neutral pH cleaner that's specifically designed for wood floors. There's a few that I recommend that are good options that aren't going to leave a residue and are non-toxic.

The other issue is that there were sanding imperfections in the floor. The grit sequence on maple is a little different than on other floors. On oak floors you may be able to skip the grits here and there, but on maple it really shows up. So it wasn't sanded properly.

Low grit sandpaper for an aggressive cut

We used interesting processes to resolve these issues when refinishing these maple hardwood floors.

We started with a 24-grit sandpaper which creates a really aggressive cut. This removed the old coating. The existing flooring was only 20 years old, but the combination of improper maintenance and the cheaper water-based finish that was on there led us to start with more of an aggressive sandpaper.

Once we got the flooring down to bare wood, there were some spindles that we had to work around. I would have liked to remove these, but we couldn't, so I just worked around it.

How to refinish hardwood floors at any angle

The layout of the wood made it a little trickier to coat the floor. The wood wasn't going perpendicular to the wall, so with the wood running into the wall at an angle, we had to feather it up and went out further past the wall. We kept a wet edge on that finish just to make sure it laid down really nice.

A beautiful, airy look

In my product video, you can see how this space turned out beautifully. The light maple tones give an airy look throughout. Refinishing maple floors in this home gives a comforting and spacious appearance for an amazing home.

For more information on similar projects, check out my refinishing guide and refinishing service.

The project turned out great!

Restore the Beauty of Your Maple Floors

Refinishing your maple floors with Signature Custom Flooring is the ideal way to bring out the natural beauty of your hardwood floors. My combination of quality materials and a dedication to customer service make Signature Custom Flooring the perfect choice for any refinishing project. I am committed to helping you create a unique, high-quality floor that will last for years. I can help guide you through the entire process as you choose the right color and finish for your home. Contact me for a free consultation!