Can Bamboo Flooring Be Refinished?

Bamboo’s arrival to the flooring industry to alternate the hardwood is a huge revolution. But people are often confused about the quality and other factors of bamboo flooring. This is why the question is often asked ‘can bamboo floors be refinished?’. 

Bamboo flooring comes with exquisite designs that hold a unique appeal to the house owners but when it comes to refinishing, a big ask is if bamboo flooring can be refinished. The good news is bamboo flooring can be refinished but it depends on some factors. 

Don’t worry! This article will guide you thoroughly to the process of how you can refinish your bamboo flooring. Keep reading till the end to know about how bamboo floors can be refinished.

7 Steps To Refinish Bamboo Flooring: The Easiest Way

If you make up your mind to refinish bamboo flooring, all you need to do is to follow the things below that I have discussed step by step about how bamboo flooring can be refinished in the easiest and best way. 

Step 1- Things You Need To Refinish Bamboo Flooring:

The following things will give you the upper hand while refinishing the bamboo flooring. Before you refinish, you need to prepare your floor first by doing away with the scratches and dents. The following equipment would help you get started refinishing. So, make sure you have all the required equipment below:

• Brush
• Electronic Floor Sander
• Bamboo Floor Cleaner
• Polyurethane Burnish 
• New Finish
• Wood Stain
• Fine Grit SandPaper
• Medium Grit Sandpaper
• Bucket of Warm Water 
• Soft Clean cloth
• Dust Mask
• Safety Goggles
• Pry Bar

Step 2- Sand the Floor:

Bamboo flooring needs to be sanded before refinishing. Sanding floors help you get rid of the old scratches and dents. Firstly, you should remove the existing finish on the floor using sanders with medium grit by applying equal and gentle pressure. Once the sanding floor is done, you can apply the new finish that results in a smooth surface of your floor.

Step 3- Sweep:

After sanding the floor, you need to sweep and clean the areas of the floor where there may have splinters and dust to be able to see scratching areas and then wash the floor with the bamboo floor cleaner. You can also use a vacuum for cleaning the floor. 

Step 4- Guided Search Filters:

To do away with the small spots, you can sand mild bamboo floor cleaner with fine-grain sandpaper to get a smooth surface. Once you get rid of the particles and dust, cover the surface of the floor with polyurethane.

Step 5- Put Fillers:

You should refinish the holes first using the wood filler that resembles the texture of the bamboo once the scratches are removed. Use the wood filler to the scratching holes where needed and do away with the wood fillers on the ground to get a smooth surface. Give enough time to dry and then sand it with grit sandpaper.

Step 6- Apply Uniform:

With the effect of sanding, the floor forms into two colors, and the refinished places turn into light colors. While refinishing the areas, you can use a light wood coat to have a uniform look and then seal the floor after getting it dried.

Step 7- Apply Finish:

In the final step, you have to pick the best-suited finish and apply it. Then, you can seal it with polyurethane once it is dried.

Polyurethane is a coating that helps the floor protect from damage. To make the finishing thicker, you can apply the second coat once it is dried.

Things You Need To Consider Before Bamboo Flooring Refinishing:

Before refinishing your bamboo floor, you must take account of the following things. These things will ensure how long this refinishing will take and how to approach the action in the best and easiest way to refinish the bamboo flooring. 

Test For Oil:

Before refinishing the bamboo floor, you have to test for oil. With soap oil, you can clean or wax your floor. To do so, first, you need ammonia gas with a water mixture or industrial cleaner that can help to remove the finish of your floor.

Next, you need sand to apply a little finish to your bamboo floor as a test. Once it looks good, you are all set for the sanding process.  

Services:

Are you confused whether you need to hire a professional for your bamboo flooring refinishing or you intend to do it yourself?

DIY brings to you its online programs to educate yourself with the solution of home renovation. But, it’s quite challenging to refinish bamboo flooring. Doing yourself would save your penny but not the best option! The choice is yours!

If quality matters to you, it would be better to hire a professional for refinishing your bamboo floor instead of doing it by yourself.

Rented Or Purchased Equipment:

The foremost thing that you need to refinish your bamboo flooring is the equipment. You should make sure you have all the equipment that is handy to refinish. You can either rent or purchase the equipment. Purchasing would be better because you don’t have to purchase the equipment over and over again once you have them. 

Sanding Process:

A little scratch that doesn’t dent the bamboo isn’t necessary to sand the floors. You need one or two coats to apply for refinishing once you are done with buffering to scuff-sand. It is a time-saving and inexpensive method.

The Time It Takes To Complete The Project:

You need to consider the fact how long it takes to refinish the bamboo flooring. To be sure of that, you must know if your floor needs sanding or not. Because you need to seal the floor on the following day of sanding to protect the bamboo plank so that moisture cannot get into it.

The time to complete the project depends on how long you want to take to dry the finishing. You can let the finish dry after sealing the floor. Once it is dried you can get back to the furniture to set into the room.  

Types Of Bamboo Flooring That Differs On Refinishing:

In the following table, bamboo flooring types have been demonstrated with their refinishing status whether they are finishing friendly or not. 

Types Of Bamboo Flooring	Refinishing State
Carbonized Bamboo Flooring	Carbonized Bamboo is soft and easy to refinish the bamboo flooring. As it’s processed bamboo flooring, its color is black and it holds the same color even after refinishing.
Non-carbonized Bamboo Flooring	Non-carbonized bamboo flooring is of a lighter color that facilitates the floor to hide the scratches and dents in the refinishing process.
Solid Bamboo Flooring	Solid bamboo flooring is super hard like hardwood flooring but before refinishing, solid bamboo flooring needs to be sanded to do away with the scratches and dents.
Engineered Bamboo Flooring	Engineered bamboo flooring can be refinished if its veneer is thicker than 2 mm. but it can be refinished once and its durability isn’t guaranteed either.

Related Questions About Refinishing Of Bamboo Flooring:

Can Solid Bamboo Be Refinished?

Solid bamboo flooring can be refinished by expert refinishers. Refinishing is put into action when some scratches or dents need to be removed from the floor. Solid bamboo has solid planks that are glued to the subfloor that making it more durable. Solid bamboo is safer than strand-woven bamboo in terms of outgassing. 

How Do You Refinish Prefinished Bamboo Floors?

To refinish the bamboo floor you need to do away with the leftover finishing using a sander with a medium grit and a gentle pressure that would help remove the shallow scratches. Wood stains can be used as well.  Finally, seal your floor with polyurethane. 

Can You Refinish Engineered Bamboo Flooring?

Engineered bamboo flooring cannot be refinished because of its vulnerability. Even if it is refinished, it won’t be durable. So it needs to be changed quite frequently. 

Can You Refinish Bamboo Flooring That Has Been Carbonized?

As carbonized flooring is processed bamboo flooring, you can refinish your bamboo flooring quite easily. Carbonized bamboo offers your floor a dark shade. It’s soft and easy to refinish due to its scratched-resistant feature and is also different in color than the other types of flooring. Carbonized bamboo is more durable than stained bamboo. 

Will Refinishing Carbonized Bamboo Lighten Its Color?

Refinishing bamboo flooring that has been carbonized remains the same color throughout its planks even after sanding and refinishing it. So it doesn’t lose its color. Carbonized bamboo is 3 times softer than regular ones. 

5 Reasons To Refinish Bamboo Flooring: 

There are several reasons behind refinishing bamboo floors. Among them, five reasons have been discussed below. By reading these factors you will feel more important to refinish bamboo flooring at your home. 

1. Easy To Repair And Clean: 

Using the floor over the decades can dent and make scratches to the surface of your floor but refinishing bamboo flooring can be easy to repair and you can clean your floor easily.

2. Low Maintenance: 

If you refinish bamboo flooring for your home, it is pretty easy to maintain with reasonable costing. You can use a vacuum to do away with the particles and dust at ease. 

3. Sustainability:

Bamboo flooring is eco-friendly. As it’s a type of grass, it can be renewable and environment friendly. While purchasing bamboo flooring to refinish you must be concerned about whether the product is certified or not. If the product isn’t harvested and manufactured properly, it can affect your and your family’s health. 

4. The Best Choice If You Have Allergies:

Bamboo flooring would be the best choice for you if you have allergies. Because bamboo flooring is easy to clean the dust and particles from where allergies grow. Bamboo flooring protects from bug infestation as well.

5. Versatility:

Like hardwood flooring, you have a variety of styles and colors to choose from to give your bamboo floor a new look after refinishing. You have to choose the flooring that works for your home.

How Much Does It Cost To Refinish Bamboo Floors?

The cost of refinishing bamboo flooring depends on certain factors. If you refinish it yourself, you have to cost around $1 to $2 per foot depending on the tools and the products you choose. The cost will be around $3 per square foot if you hire a professional. 

Final Verdict:

I think you know by now whether bamboo flooring can be refinished or not. Bamboo flooring refinishing depends on the bamboo types that have been demonstrated above throughout the article. To get more insight on bamboo flooring refinishing, read out more blogs on my site.  

If you have any more questions regarding bamboo flooring, leave your question in the comment box below. I’ll get to your answer soon.