Sanding and varnishing a wooden floor

[rondeco]

I've been told by the mental terrorist that I live with that I have to sand and varnish the floors in the kitchen and hall. Having never done this it looks fairly straight forward. That is my problem. I'm guaranteed to make a bollox of it so. Any hints or advice you legends can give me about this?

[Einch]

Three things.

 

1. Get the lass in your avatar in to provide moral support.

2. Do the sanding first.

3. Rent a large sander as doing it by hand is not a good idea.

 

The first piece of advice is the most important.

[Bjornebye]

If she is struggling with it ask her to hire a cleaner. at her expense.

 

 

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[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Right-a-circle, left-a-circle, right-a-circle, left-a-circle. Breath in, breath out. Right-a-circle, left-a-circle.

[Lurtz]

Rondecorate

[chrisbonnie]

easy, get a professional

 

they'll do it one day and it will look brand new.

 

If you do it you'll make a balls of it, then still have to hire a professional to fix it. 

[sir roger]

Relatively straightforward even for somebody hopeless like me.

 

Depending on the size of the space involved it is really helpful if you hire an industrial sander.

 

This doesn't take too long ( you have to make sure there are no tack-heads or nails sticking up at all ) & once this is done, you simply sponge the varnish on. It is quite dear but does cover quite well ( some of them have the sponge & handle already as part of the tin )

[Champ]

easy, get a professional

 

they'll do it one day and it will look brand new.

 

If you do it you'll make a balls of it, then still have to hire a professional to fix it.

 

Absolutely. Definitely. It is the shittiest job ever to do yourself. Get the experts to inhale all that dust so you don't have to

[sir roger]

Absolutely. Definitely. It is the shittiest job ever to do yourself. Get the experts to inhale all that dust so you don't have to

 

Ha Ha , Champ

 

Despite Paul's best attempts in starting the ' I am man, hear me roar ' thread, most of the forumites on here would seem to make the members of the most louche French court seem a bit horny-handed.

[Paul]

Tips:

1. Remove or knock deep into the wood any nails or tacks as they'll rip the belt.

2. Start off across the grain to rip the top layer off and then go with it.

3. Use a coarse belt first and then a fine one to finish.

4. Deffo wear the mask and googles or your eyes, nose and throat will be truly fucked.

[Champ]

Ha Ha , Champ

 

Despite Paul's best attempts in starting the ' I am man, hear me roar ' thread, most of the forumites on here would seem to make the members of the most louche French court seem a bit horny-handed.

 

And on this occasion they are not wrong. The sander and the amount of paper you will use will be only a few pounds less than paying someone to do the job properly in half the time. There's no decision to make

[rondeco]

Brilliant advice here lads. I've already got a quote for 975 quid for approx 450 sq feet of flooring. THat is f*cking extortion so I'll make a balls of it myself and she can be happy with it..

[General Dryness]

Champy and chrisbonnie have called it right. Theres being a man and roaring, and theres fucking something up and having to pay a shitload to put it right. I believe the prescient Jack Dee once did a routine about floor sanding. Funny, and correct at the same time. Can't link to youtube as I'm at work, but if I can find it later I'll link it up.

 

Sanding our beautiful solid matai floor is one of the things we've got planned as part of our renovations. We will be paying a professional.

[md1892]

Tips:

1. Remove or knock deep into the wood any nails or tacks as they'll rip the belt.

2. Start off across the grain to rip the top layer off and then go with it.

3. Use a coarse belt first and then a fine one to finish.

4. Deffo wear the mask and googles or your eyes, nose and throat will be truly fucked.

This ^^

 

and 

 

This

http://www.hss.com/g/5412/Floor-Sander.html

[Champ]

Brilliant advice here lads. I've already got a quote for 975 quid for approx 450 sq feet of flooring. THat is f*cking extortion so I'll make a balls of it myself and she can be happy with it..

 

Get another quote

[russ1979]

This is what I do for a living. Dust free

 

You need to hire a professional belt sander not one of those hss hire ones or your house will be covered in dust and it won't sand the floor properly there to light weight.

 

You need to sand your floor on a 45 degree angle and start with rough sander 24/40grit sandpaper.

Keep doing this untill your floor is clean and flat with no imperfactions then you need to follow with

Medium sandpaper 60grit and then fine sandpaper 100grit.

[russ1979]

This is what I do for a living. Dust free

You need to hire a professional belt sander not one of those hss hire ones or your house will be covered in dust and it won't sand the floor properly there to light weight.

You need to sand your floor on a 45 degree angle and start with rough sander 24/40grit sandpaper.

Keep doing this untill your floor is clean and flat with no imperfactions then you need to follow with

Medium sandpaper 60grit and then fine sandpaper 100grit.

 

You are better with an oil based finish for floorboards

[Tossed and blown]

What you use depends on the state of the floor at present.  If it's rough as fuck, then you need to cross grain / 45 degree flatten it as posted above.  Those industrial walk behind sanders will go through the floor if you don't keep them moving.  If it's really pretty flat then I'd buy a sixty quid 1/2 sheet orbital sander and a 60m roll of something like 40 - 60 grit paper from screwfix. Sand it with loads of pressure and be prepared to change the paper every 4 minutes.  You may well burn the sander out, get an Erbauer or similar and they happily take it back within the guarantee.

 

Use a dust mask and sheet up as much stuff as you can

 

Last little tip - don't leave the dust bag full of the very fine dust overnight.  Your house might burn down (true story)

[stringvest]

it may be easier and cheaper just to divorce her Ron

[Scooby Dudek]

The most important thing is to get every nail head flat into the wood.

Hire an industrial sander.

Cover every orifice possible as you will be picking dust out for months.

 

Tossed and blown has it covered in relation to buying a small hand sander and to get as much pressure on as possible.

 

Get russ1979 to quote and do the job.

[Paul]

Fucking hell boys - I am proper cack-handed at DIY but this is a piece of piss. There is literally no skill involved; just hard work. It's perfect for people like me who like wrecking stuff because you simultaneously rip shit up and make it look ace. How good is that?

 

We've got a Victorian double-fronted semi with rooms by the bucketful and I reckon I sanded three quarters of them for about five hundred quid all in. Even pissy cheap carpet would have been four times that, minimum.

[russ1979]

If you are doing it yourself drop me a pm with some details; type of wood, required look etc I will tell you what to do and get, regards finish and equipment

[MokTheAfflicted]

www.whitegates.co.uk

[Stouffer]

Tips:

1. Remove or knock deep into the wood any nails or tacks as they'll rip the belt.

That is gonna sting.

[moof]