floor sanding & varnishing in Kilcock

DoesNotCompute

Hi there. I've just bought a house in a new estate in Kilcock. Our builder has offered to have his floor specialist sand (and possibly varnish) our upstairs floorboards. I don't know what type of wood the floorboards are, but it's around 50 sq m of floorboards (3 bedrooms and landing). Myself and the wife haven't decided what finish we want (i.e. oiling, lacquer, varnish, etc), and we're pretty clueless when it comes to DIY tbh. I presume different types of finish are more expensive/less damage resistant than others?

Any ideas how much this is likely to cost?

Kashkai

More than likely the wood is white deal which is a softwood.

I sanded and varnished the wooden floors in the bedrooms of my last house. Its not rocket science but it is a bloody filthy job as the dust gets absolutely everywhere, no matter what precautions you take.

However to save yourself a few quid, have a go and hire a sander:

1. Get a nail punch and knock the nail heads below the surface of the wood or they'll rip the sanding paper.

2. Get a dust mask and goggles to keep as much dust out of nose/mouth and eyes.

3. Sand across the wood and then with the wood with intermediate grade paper and then again with a fine grade.

4. Hoover up dust and sand again. Repeat hoovering.

5. Allow dust to settle again overnight and hoover. Then use a clean cloth and white spirit to get the last of the dust up. You have to do this or else the dust will get covered by the varnish and the surface will feel rough to the touch - like sandpaper - instead of silky smooth.

6. Decide if you want to just varnish or stain. I used clear varnish and the boards were slightly yellow in colour at first but darkened in time to a rich honey colour. You'll need several coats of varnish which will have to be sanded down in between coats with white spirit to mop up the dust.

Its a hard laborious job but do it right and all it'll cost if the price of hiring the sander and the varnish.

650gs

Don't forget to add the cost of your time to that.
Much much cheaper, cleaner and a better job to get someone in who knows what there doing.
1 no dust
2 no effort
3 use of granite or similar
4 most important guarantee

Joey the lips

Although i dont know the answer i am prity sure you too guys above have not answered the question correctly....


Hi op... my suggestion would be to ring a floor sanding crowd in the book and get a price...The thing about asking builders to do it is....

Jack of all trades...master of none....

Kashkai

But why pay someone to do a job (even a dirty job like sanding) when with some preparation, you can do it yourself. I would have thought that in these economically depressed times, people would want to try and save themselves a few quid

Of course the flipside to that is that you might get a cheaper price from a floor sanding company than you might have previously, though not as cheap as doing it yourself

Finally, I agree with Joey, don't have any dealings with the builder or his trades. They'll do a quick and nasty job for "cash in hand" and therefore no come back.

west101

If you are doing it yourself dont keep the sander in a stationary position for long periods of time or you will get a dip in the floor, remember to hand sand the the parts where the sander cant get into.

when finished hoovering wipe the floor with whatever the reducer of the paint maybe water/white spirits/thinnersn this will remove any remaining dust and grease which might react with the paint.

durability wise a two pack varnish/stain is the the best bet but these are difficult to use and have a short pot life. do not be shy with coats give at least 4.

PS. fill any nail holes with a natural wood filler before painting even if you stain the stain will cover the filler. flush the filler by giving it a wipe with a damp cloth.

650gs

Funny I thought you said a flooring Specialist not a jack of all trades would have thought you would 100% have a come back and 100% guarantee