Can you sand engineered wood flooring?

One of the most popular flooring materials for use in modern and traditional homes alike, engineered wood is loved not only for its ability to capture the warmth and comfort of regular hardwood flooring, but for its durability and longevity as well!

However, even a floor as tough as engineered wood can be damaged from time to time, and no floor is immune to the scuffs and scratches that come from the daily wear-and-tear of walking around the home and moving your furniture about.

So, if your engineered wood floor is a couple of years old and in need of a refresh, you might be wondering how best to go about this. Can you sand engineered wood flooring or is it better to replace the damaged planks? And is this something you want to be doing yourself or should you hire a professional to do the job instead?

Take a look at our detailed guide on how to sand engineered wood floors below for everything you need to know on this topic!

Can you sand engineered wood?

As you might have already guessed, yes, you absolutely can sand engineered wood floors – however, there are a few caveats you need to be aware of before doing so, especially if you’re looking to refinish your engineered wood floor multiple times.

In most cases, all engineered wood flooring can be refinished at least once. But after this, the number of additional times you can sand your engineered wood floor will depend on the overall thickness of your engineered wood’s wear layer – the thicker the wear layer, the more refinishes you can do.

On top of this, how damaged your floor is will determine how many times you can sand it. Light scuffs and scratches can be removed very easily, but more serious damage that goes deeper into a plank may force you to sand down more of your wear layer – reducing how often it can be refinished in the future.

Why might you want to sand your engineered wood floor?

There are many reasons why you might want to consider sanding your engineered wood flooring, with the most common being to remove surface-level scuffs, scratches, and flooring imperfections that have built up over time or to simply freshen up an older floor that’s a looking a little haggard.

Alternatively, it may be that you’ve just moved into a new home, and you want to breathe new life into its current floor rather than laying down a new one – here, sanding down engineered wood flooring can be a budget-friendly decision until you can afford to replace your old planks.

What to consider when sanding engineered wood flooring

When it comes to sanding engineered wood flooring, there are a few important things you’ll want to consider before starting this sort of DIY project:

• Floor damage – to start with, you’ll need to assess how damaged or marked your engineered wood floor is. If it’s only top layer damage, then sanding your planks should be enough to remove any visible imperfections. However, if your planks are gouged or you need to remove water stains from engineered wood, then you might want to replace them entirely instead.
• Sanding area – next, you’ll want to work out how much of your floor you intend to sand. If it’s only a few planks, then it likely won’t take you too long to complete the project by hand. However, if it’s an entire room, you’re probably looking at a full day or more, likely with the use of an electric sander.
• Feasibility – finally, before sanding down engineered wood flooring in your home, it’s best to think about whether or not this is a DIY project you feel capable of doing. While simple in principle, it’s easy to make mistakes in the process of engineered wood flooring sanding. So, if you’re not confident in your DIY skills, then it’s best to seek the help of a professional.

Should you use a sanding machine when sanding engineered wood floors?

Although something like an orbital sander or floor sander can be used when sanding down engineered wood flooring, particularly if you need to sand a large area, unless you’re trained in the use of these machines, we wouldn’t recommend using them yourself.

Put simply, hand sanding gives you far more control over how much of the wear layer you remove and reduces the chances of you accidentally damaging your planks – personally, we’d leave the use of electric sanding machines to the professionals.

Essential tools for sanding down engineered wood flooring

Okay, now that we’ve covered all the top-level stuff around whether or not engineered wood flooring can be sanded, let’s get to the specifics of how to sand engineered wood floors – starting with the essential tools you’ll need to complete this sort of DIY project:

• A sanding block (or an orbital sander if you’re confident using one)
• Coarse, medium, and fine grit sandpaper
• A vacuum cleaner
• A brush
• Wood cleaner
• A flooring finish that matches your current planks
• Safety gear (goggles, gloves, knee pads, etc.)

How to sand engineered wood floors correctly

Got your tools to hand and a free weekend to get started on? Alright, here are the four core steps to follow for how to sand an engineered wood floor correctly:

1. Prepare your floor

To start with, before you can do any sanding, you’ll need to clear the entire room of furniture and décor and then hammer down any exposed plank nails (if relevant to your particular engineered wood floor) – this is also the time to remove any skirting boards if you need to replace a board or two.

From here, thoroughly dust and hoover the space so you’re working in a clean area, put on your safety gear, and get ready to start sanding your planks into shape!

2. Sanding your engineered wood floors

The most labour-intensive part of the process, sanding your floors properly requires several passes over the same area using sanding paper of varying levels of coarseness – this part cannot be rushed, and you should take your time doing it to ensure a satisfactory finish.

Beginning with the highest coarseness of sandpaper (a grit level of 40-60 is ideal), start from one corner of the area you want to refinish and sand in the direction of the wood grain using short, steady motions until you’ve gone over part or all of the area. Then check to see if another pass is required and repeat the process until all imperfections are gone.

Once you’re satisfied with your first round of sanding, your second set of passes should be made using medium coarseness sandpaper (80-100 grit) – this will smooth out the area and remove any scratches left behind by your coarser sandpaper. Do as many passes as required and then swap to a final fine grit sandpaper (120-150) for a final smoothing run.

Alternatively, if you’ve decided to use an orbital sander to take care of your floors, move the sander slowly over a small section of your floor at a time, then stop to check if another pass is required – rinse and repeat until you’ve sanded all your planks to be mark-free.

3. Clean your boards again

Having completed the entire sanding process and double-checking that there are no remaining scuffs and scratches on your planks, it’s time to take out your hoover again and give your floor a thorough vacuuming to suck up all the dust left from the sanding process.

Then, once this is done, take your wood cleaner and follow the instructions for the product to clean your sanded planks of any remaining sawdust so that they’re ready to be refinished.

4. Apply the preferred finish

Last, but not least, with your engineered floor sanded and clean, take your preferred engineered wood finish (such as an oiled or lacquered engineered wood coating) and apply it to your sanded planks as instructed to do so by the product.

When you’re finished, wipe away any excess and leave your planks for a minimum of 24 hours to dry before going in, checking your work, and moving your furniture back into position.

Invest in a brand-new floor today

And there you have it; that’s everything you need to know about the engineered wood flooring sanding process. Hopefully, you now have a much better idea of how to do this DIY project yourself, but don’t worry about hiring a professional to do so instead if you don’t feel confident following the sanding process yourself.

Of course, if you’ve finished reading and decided that refinishing your old floor might not be enough to save it, then why not have a browse through the Flooring King collection to find your new floor today?

From standard plank-engineered wood to elegant herringbone engineered wood floors, as well as laminate and LVT tile options, we’ve something for everyone in our range. Get in touch today to find out more and order your free samples, and don’t forget to check out our flooring blog as well for more floor laying and maintenance advice guides like this one!