Floorboard Sanding

doohan

Hello people,

Looking for a bit of advice...My bedroom is nearly complete (only the rest of the house to go!!!). I want to sand the floorboards in the room after I paint the walls/ ceiling etc. The floorboards are almost perfect with the exception of splattered paint everywhere on them (from the last owners). What type of sander do you think I need to hire (how much and for how long), are they difficult to use etc, it is a totally square room save for the doorway not overly huge or anything.

Cheers,
A

squire1

Ring any hire company in your area and ask for a floor sander and an edge sander (for the bits the floor sander can't reach). Shouldn't take you more than a couple of hours. Cost maybe €60/day plus sandpaper used.

They are easy enough to use, the trick is to keep them moving 'cos if you leave them running on a section of floor they will sand right through the board. Always sand in the direction of the board, not across them. If the boards are heavily soiled start with heavy grit paper 40 or 60 and then use some 100 or 120 to give it a fine finish.

If you can, make sure the door is kept closed and sealed while you are working because even with the bag, there will be loads of dust. Noisey too so get some ear protection along with a dust mask.

dubtom

make sure all nails are firmly hammered down with a punch. I couldn't understand when doing mine why the paper kept ripping untill I found some that were only sticking up a couple of mill. Use a punch to knock them down because a hammer will bruise the floor, especially if it's very old.

davidoco

I used exactly this belt sander to sand a bare pine floor in a 10 x 13 ft room http://www.mytoolstore.com/makita/mak04-08.html It took about a day (all of it on your knees).

If you can get the paper, floor and belt sander for 100 euro for the weekend you'll be doing well and have plenty of time to get the hang of it.

http://www.samhire.ie/product_wood.htm#

hughm

agree wirh squire1. You will need a floor sander and edger. You will also need different grades of sandpaper. If new house prob a medium grain to start you off ending off with a fine grain. If old house with darkened badly dented boards then rough -> medium -> fine.

You will need to use sand paper by hand to get right in to the corners.

You will need a dust mask, and ideally goggles. It is very very messy. You will be picking dust out of your nostrils all night. Make sure room is well ventilated and if possible seal the door to the rest of the house.

Go with the floor boards, never across them and take your time.

Pick off the pain with a blade if it is in droplets, otherwise sander will just spread it out over a larger area and you may need to sand more than you wanted to. If you have built in units in the room seal them with wide masking tape unless you want the dust in them after you are finished.

Good luck.

Kashkai

You've gotten most of the advice now so I'll add the extras:

1. Hoover the boards beforehand including the grooves between them to pick up any dirt that could get stuck in the sandpaper and tear small grooves in the boards.

2. When finished, go around on your hands and knees while running your hands over the boards to feel for rough spots that the sander missed. Run some fine sandpaper lightly over these for a smooth finish. Give the room a quick hoover to pick up the heavy dust (the sander's bag will get full quickly and won't suck up the dust) and then leave the room and allow the dust in the air to settle.

3. Next day hoover again (including the grooves between the floorboards) and leave the room for another couple of hours to allow the remaining dust to settle and then go in with white spirit and a rag and wipe the boards down to pick up the remaining dust.

The reason for all this is that if you intend to stain/varnish the boards and you don't get all the dust up, it will result in a floor with a sandpaper like texture as the trapped dust under the varnish will be very evident.

doohan

Thanks for all the help guys first off I will make sure of the nails etc then do a bit of hoovering then rent out the sander and sandpaper etc.

Cheers
A

pbergin

You should also sand in between each coat of varnish\stain, it will probably take at least 3 coats so you will probably need the sander for a few days. It only needs alight sanding so a hand sander would probably do the job, just slow.

loyatemu

good luck - it is a pain in the ass job.