The dining room chairs were scratching and wearing the finish off the hardwood floors because chair legs had hard plastic pads that made a dry scraping sound when the chair moves. The hard plastic chair leg pads are replaced with soft felt pads to protect the floor.
Install Felt Chair Leg Pads to Protect Wood Floors from Scratches
There are number of after-market chair leg pads available – felt, teflon, plastic that can be nailed, screwed or stuck-on. Teflon and plastic products are unsuitable because sand and grit will catch under the pad and scratch the wood floor. Felt pads are soft and won’t scratch. The disadvantage of felt is it tends to pick up dog and cat hair but this easily vacuumed off.
1-Inch Nail-On Felt Chair Pads
I bought several 8-packs of 1-inch nail-on felt pads. The 1-inch pads are slightly larger than the original plastic pads but small enough to be concealed from view. I liked the way these were made with the sharp metal ring which won’t fall off the chair leg. Pads are available in variety of styles and colors.
Compare the factory stapled-on plastic pads (left) with the new felt pads (right):
Remove the Old Plastic Pads
The factory-installed plastic pads were stapled on to the chair leg and had to be pried off. A tap with a hammer got a screw driver started under the edge of the pad. This method works if the original pads are nailed or stapled on. If yours are screwed on, just unscrew it to remove.
The chair is set upside down on the table. The chair cushion protects the table from scratches and dents. If your chair has arm rests, place towel on the table.
The old plastic pad is pried off with a screw driver, taking care not to mar the corner of the chair leg. If your chair leg is very slender try twisting the screw driver instead of levering it up and down:
The wood staple often broke through the plastic pad and remained in the chair leg:
Pliers make quick work of extracting the staple from the chair leg:
The new 1-inch felt pads have a sharp circular base that is hammered into the chair leg:
Center the felt pad on the chair leg:
The nail-on pad attaches easily with two or three moderate smacks with the hammer:
Nail-on felt pad mounted to the chair leg:
The felt pads work well and glide quietly on the wood floor:
Hardwood Floor Refinishing
The oak wood floors were over 10 years old and the finish was wearing off in the high traffic areas. Not long after installing felt pads on the chair legs I had the floors refinished by a professional flooring company. The wood floors were sanded, sealed with Bonaseal and Bona Traffic premium finish. Bona Traffic is a two-part system with a hardener and finish that are mixed together before applying.
I choose Bona Traffic after an extensive study because it’s used for commercial and residential flooring. I had to ask the flooring companies to quote Bona Traffic in the bids because it costs more than the competitor’s products and most homeowner’s are looking for low price without much attention to quality and durability.
The wood floor refinishing steps are:
- Hang plastic sheathing over the entrances and kitchen cabinets/countertops to out the fine dust.
“Dustless” floor sanders still generate a small amount of fine dust. - Sand the wood floors.
- Apply one coat of Bonaseal water-based wood floor sealer.
- Apply three coats of Bona Traffic floor finish over a 2 day period.
Sanding the old finish off the dining room floor:
The drum sander requires a 30Amp 220Volt electrical outlet; it was plugged into the clothes dryer outlet:
The first of three coats of Bona Traffic floor finish is applied to the oak floor:
The dining room wood floor after refinishing with Bona Traffic. It was mirror smooth with no bubbles and great for skating around with sock feet!
Cost to Refinish Wood Floors with Bona Traffic
775 square feet of oak wood floors were refinished with a total cost for labor and materials of $2593.75, which equates to $3.35 per square foot. The cost includes $75 for moving the refrigerator with an air cushion device so the wheels don’t mar the new floor finish. Emperial Hardwood Floors did a fine job on my floors if you’re in the Atlanta, GA metro area and need your floor refinished.
Take care,
Bob Jackson
