Sanding a floor

zoobizoo

Hey there,

Planning to sand a wooden floor and polish it. My girlfriend has moved in and has asthma and the dust on the carpet is affecting her chest.

Was going to hire a sander and sand and polish it myself. The room is about
12 x 12.

How difficult is it to do this oneself? Are there any pitfalls to look out for? Does it matter the condition of the boards themselves or what type of wood it is?

There are gaps in between the floor boards too. Do I just fill these in?

Thanks a mil.

richiek67

Hi There Zoo,

Well, its not that difficult. I did it myself about 15 years back in my first house. I did all the bedrooms and they looked pretty good.
Its possible to Hire industrial sanders for this kind of thing. They are heavy but not too big and they do the job ok, providing you go slow at the beginning. Reason being, they can 'take off' if your not careful. The sandpaper on the sanding drum can be quite course and can 'gouge' the floor if your not careful. I'll get back to that in a minute.
First thing you need to do though is to make sure you have NO nails sticking up. You MUST hammer these home with a good 2 pound hammer and steel bit. This is quite easy but time consuming. The nail must be below the surface to prevent the sandpaper from being torn.
Second, I wouldn't go filling any of the gaps. I would assume they are tung and groove so I'd leave well enough alone here. Anyway, personally I think the gaps look ok. The boards , not sure here, taking a guess here but is the house fairly new here or what? Probably white or red deal for the flooring. These are easy enough to sand.
Going back to the sander, if you get one, you should practice on a part of the room that will not be noticed too much. A place where furniture may rest. I say this because you'll need to get the feel for the way it handles. You should be moving at a slow walking pace and then apply the sander to the floor to prevent gauging and tearing on the floor.
Around where the wall meets the floor could be tricky but there are plenty of cheap hand held sanders on the market for this kind of thing.

Lastly , on the finish, I wouldn't go with Polish. Ronseal diamond coat which is a very hard lacquer would be the way to go. Though its up to you if you want to stain the floor first. That depends on the wooden planks you have as the floor.
If your going to have heavy traffic, so to speak, then you'd need a hard wearing finish to prevent small knocks and dints from showing up. Red and white deal floors are quite soft.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll get similar expert advice,

good luck for the moment

Rich

richiek67

O, and sand in the direction of the board no matter what, do not go across. Unless some of the floor in places is quite 'cupped' then perhaps but you must finish by sanding along the length.

zoobizoo

thanks for that.... haven't DIY'ed in ages.

zoobizoo

It's an old enough house.... just looked at the boards and they seem to have been painted over a bit.

richiek67

Those sanders are pretty good and should bring up any floor to its original without much of a problem....