how to sand timber floor (3)

How To Sand Timber Floor?

Sanding a wooden floor properly is something of an art form; if at all possible, use a professional.

The first step is to assess the current state of your floor. I'm curious as to the species of wood used. Has it been painted? How substantial is the coating? How often has it been refinished before? These details are essential for choosing the appropriate grit (or sander coarseness) for your floor. Here’s what you need to know before you get started. Hitch Property Constructions offers carpentry services Melbourne for residential and commercial projects.

Ask for guidance from the staff at the hardware store from whom you rented the sanding equipment if you have any queries regarding the optimal range for your floor. The floor's finish needs to be stripped away before you can sand out the years' worth of dings and dents.

There are two types of sanders you'll need for this job: a walk-behind sander, such as a drum floor sander, and a floor edger, for getting into tighter spaces. Hardware and home improvement stores typically offer them for rent.

Take everything out of the room and vacuum it before you start sanding. You can't just sand a small patch of the floor; you have to do the whole thing. It's important to cover electrical outlets and shield light fixtures from the dust that will be generated when sanding the floor. Take out the wood shoe moulding that was installed where the wall met the floor. You need to move this so the sander doesn't harm it, and you need to move below it so you can work.

Resources And Equipment

The first thing to do is to get the floor ready for sanding. Do away with any protruding nails by pounding on the top of the board. This will keep the sandpaper intact while you work.

The next stage is to use a drum sander to remove some of the floor's top layer. You may rent these stuff from your neighbourhood hardware or home improvement store. It is recommended that you sand your floor along the direction of the grain.

Next, employ a slightly finer grit edging sander to get into the corners of the floor. Next, you'll need to acquire a detail sander so you can sand straight up to the walls' edges and the baseboards.

When wooden floors start to seem worn and outdated after years of usage, sanding and refinishing them can give them a new lease on life.

Scratches and gouges mar the beautiful aesthetic that hardwood gives any room and can happen accidently depending on the protective coating applied at installation, the nature of the wood used, and the ordinary wear and tear that occurs with frequent to continual use over time.

Read on to learn everything you need to know about sanding a timber floor to renew your flooring and increase your home's resale value.

You're either building a new house from the ground up or giving an old one new life by laying down timber floors, and both projects are excellent choices.

To remove it, you might use a crowbar or pry it off with a spackle knife and razor blade. If you don't want to end up with a jigsaw puzzle when it's time to reinstall, name each piece as you set it aside using a pencil, painter's tape, or sticky notes.

Before you start sanding, make sure any squeaks are eliminated and any loose floors are tightened.

Put on a dust mask before turning on the drum sander, and safeguard your eyes and ears before you begin. It's important to be aware that drum floor sanders can be very noisy and create a significant amount of dust cloud when used.

To avoid gouging the floor, begin with the coarsest grain of sandpaper. Rather of starting the sander with the front of the tool flat on the floor, it is preferable to first tilt it back. Choose a large piece of plywood or the area of the floor that will be hidden by furniture and practise using the sander there until you are comfortable with its controls.

Sand the floor in a figure eight pattern, beginning in the middle and ending at the beginning. This process will be repeated multiple times, one for each sandpaper grit. Remove dust and debris from the floor in between acts.

Sanding requires constant motion. Even though your floor may tolerate more sanding than you believe, a drum sander is designed to remove a lot of material and can cause serious harm if you aren't careful. Keep the sander in constant motion; there should be no pauses.

The edge sander is used after the drum sander has been used to sand the majority of the floor. Before applying the stain, wipe the floor down to remove any debris.

  • Close-up sander
  • Sanding drums
  • Safety goggles
  • Earmuffs
  • Hammer
  • Sandpaper for the Hands
  • Tackle boxing
  • Protective eyewear

Frequently Asked Questions About Home Renovation

Old houses can be bought for less. If you're looking for a true fixer-upper, you'll likely pay less than you would for a new home. And if you do the renovations yourself, you can save thousands of dollars in the long run and you'll end up with a great investment. Here are 32 ways to save during a remodel.

Age and condition. Typically, homes that are newer appraise at a higher value. The fact that critical parts of the house, like plumbing, electrical, the roof, and appliances are newer and therefore less likely to break down, can generate savings for a buyer.

Colonial-style homes have the highest resale factor when all other elements are equal. These two-story homes that often have a boxlike appearance are popular because of the amount of functional living space that they often have. Many homeowners also prefer their minimalistic design.

Ranch-style houses are followed in popularity by traditional-style homes, which are largely found in the Southeast and Central U.S. Colonial homes are popular in New England, while contemporary homes are the West Coast's favorite.

Part of the reason renovations are so stressful is that they can really do a number on your daily routine. Whether it's putting your kitchen out of commission or pushing you to sleep in the guest room, the added stress of being out of your regular groove is enough to seriously raise your blood pressure.

Getting Ready to Sand the Floorboards.

how to sand timber floor (2)

Get the floor prepared for sanding first. Make sure all of the nails are hammered into the ground so the sandpaper won't catch and tear. Nails that are sticking out of the wood should be driven home with a hammer and nail punch.

Make that the sander's drum has a sandpaper belt installed.

The drum sander must be placed on its side. Raise the drum's cover and feed the paper in. Sandpaper is sometimes difficult to apply because of how tightly it is wound. In such a case, you can get the belt back on more easily by wiping the inside with some fine sawdust. You should begin sanding your floor with 40-grit paper if you anticipate doing a lot of work. A lighter 60- or 80-grit is preferable for a floor in better condition. On the second pass, go to a finer grit, like 120.

Put a drum sander to use on the floor.

Make sure the drumhead is resting on something other than the floor, and then draw back the lever to lower it to the ground. To get the best results, move the drum sander in a forwards direction following the grain of the floorboards. Make sure the sander leaves a uniform finish by moving slowly and steadily. Each row must have its drum raised off the ground by depressing the lever at its end. The sander must be moved to the next row, and the process repeated.

Use an edging sander to smooth the floor's perimeter.

If the drum sander can't get near enough to the skirting boards, use an edging sander. These sanders require finer grit paper than the drum sander did because the disc they use sands across the grain.

Detail sand the nooks and crannies.

If you need to sand in a confined space, such as a corner or inside a cabinet, a detail sander is your best bet. They are able to penetrate areas inaccessible by the other, more potent Sanders. Use a slow and even motion to get the greatest results when sanding. We have a wide range of Melbourne timber repairs for your home renovations. Check out Hitch Property Constructions.

Figure out the order of your grit tests.

Did you know that when you refinish a floor, you have to sand it down several times? Some novice sanders think that a single pass with a single grain of sandpaper will leave their floors looking brand new. The flooring shall be spotless, level, and polished.

Unfortunately, sanding is not like renting a Rug Doctor; most ancient floors will require at least four passes with increasingly finer sandpaper before they can be considered refinished. Choosing the appropriate grit for the initial pass of your floor sanding project will be the most challenging aspect of the work. But, we will be able to assist you in solving this problem.

Those unfamiliar with the process sometimes assume that floors of all types are sanded using the same progression of grit sizes. There have been several customers who have asked that only three grit passes be used on the floors. However, the process of sanding your floor will depend on its current state.

And you can't even begin sanding unless you determine the appropriate initial grit. Although though Pete's offers seven different sandpaper grits, not every floor need that many.

The first pass of sanding will be rougher and more aggressive the more damage there is to the floor and the harder the wood species.

What each grit level accomplishes can be roughly described as follows:

  • 12 grit (available for edgers only) (available for edgers only) Floors with numerous layers of paint or glue should begin with this grit.
  • 16grit This is the recommended grit for use as a primer on thick shellac-finished or painted floors, as well as on very old, hard maple floors (this is an unfortunate but common starting grit here in the Twin Cities).
  • 24 grit Used as a primer before sanding floors that are at least 30 years old and still have finish.
  • If there is a sander defect in the floor from earlier stands or if there are evident foot-soiled places where former finishes have worn through to the wood, 24 grit is a good starting grit.
  • 36 grit Floors with no or very little finish should begin with this grit. With this grit, you should be able to completely remove the finish from your floor.
  • 60 grit Never use a grit lower than 60 on wood or finish, as it will eliminate scratches made by a grit of 36.
  • 80 grit Removes scratches up to 60 grit without damaging the wood or finish -Most American hardwood floors have reached their last grit stage.
  • 100 grit Removes scratches as deep as 60 or 80 grit. Use this last grit on any stained wood floors, especially birch and maple.

Evaluate in a fair and honest manner.

The most typical problem with DIY flooring is weak sanding, which leaves the surface looking dirty even after repeated scrubbing.

The more realistic you are about the state of your floor, the more open you will be to putting in the time and effort necessary to refresh it.

Your testing grit should be 36 grit; this will tell you what your floor can handle as a starting grit.

If you're confident in the condition of your floor, sand a 4 by 4 foot area with a 36 grit belt to see how it looks (pick an area of the floor that is in rough shape, not one of the spots that still looks good).

Put down the sander and give the recently sanded area a thorough once over. You have successfully identified the grit sequence for sanding your floor if the test area is absolutely bare and clean, right down to the borders of the boards.

If the spot you examined was not perfectly clean, you know that the floor will need more than the standard 36-60-80grit treatment.

To conduct a more rigors evaluation, select a different area of the floor (one that is, once again, in poor condition). If, after the initial test, you noticed that there was still some finish on the very edges and in the middles of the boards, you could try cross-cutting with 36 grit and then doing a straight pass with the same grit (for more on this, see "The Magical Exception of Cross-Cutting," below).

Have a look at the sanded area you've prepared for testing. Is there nothing there? Assuming that's the case, good for you! You have decided to sand in the following order: 36grit cross-cut, 36grit straight, 60grit, and 80grit.

Using a 110v sander on a floor in the Twin Cities will require a 24grit start because most floors were laid before 1950.

You think the condition of your floor is poor? Go straight to testing with 24grit and 36grit sandpaper instead of starting with 36grit.

Is there a plan b if it bombs that evaluation? If you want clean wood at 36 grit, you need to keep trying increasingly aggressive combinations until you find one that works.

Don't waste your time testing with 60 or 80 grit because they won't do the job of removing the finish or the wood fibres. We already know that they can remove a 36 grit scratch effectively, so any testing you do should focus on finding a good starting point.

Choose the Right Abrasive

Using a professional sander on your floor will require four passes, but the abrasive you choose for the first pass is up to you.

Abrasive grains of 16, 24, 36, 60, and 80 are all suitable for use in the drum sander.

There are eight grit settings available for the edger, including 12, 16, 20, 36, 60, and 80. A grit of 24 is an excellent starting point because the majority of flooring in the Twin Cities was installed before 1950. Use a 36-grit belt on the toughest part of your floor to see if you really need to start that aggressively if you have a newer floor and aren't sure.

It takes around 5 or 6 minutes to sand down an area that is 7 feet by 8 feet. Put a halt to the sanding and inspect the area carefully. After the board edges disappear when you run your fingers across the floor, move on to 36-grit sandpaper, then 60-grit, and ultimately 80-grit.

However, if the finish is really stubborn, a quick pass at 24grit can do the trick, after which you can switch to 36grit and get rid of any remaining finish. Remember that 60 and 80 grit sandpaper are not designed to remove finish but rather to remove scratches.

how to sand timber floor

Cross-cutting, the enchanted outlier

In contrast, if your floor is significantly damaged, uneven, water-damaged, or painted, you may want to start with a coarse grit and sand perpendicular to the grain.

The rule that you should always sand with the grain of the wood has a crucial caveat, and this is it. It's only used during the rough sanding phase, but it's a fast and effective technique to get an old floor clean and level.

When sanding off-grain, more wood is removed with the same amount of force because the wood is more likely to shred and splinter. Sanding at an angle of only 10–15 degrees off parallel is sufficient.

One drawback of this method is that after finishing a pass at an angle, you'll need to make a second pass perpendicular to the grain with the same grit. A 24grit crosscut sanding pass would be followed by 24grit diagonal, 24grit straight, 36grit, 60grit, and 80grit. Check out our range of Melbourne home renovations for your dream house.

Rough sanding with 36 grit along the grain can be done on brand new flooring. Remember that you must sand in sequence with every grit that is finer than your starting grit, regardless of the grit you chose as your starting grit. For this reason, it is not possible to skip from 16 to 36 grit on either machine; the progression is 16 to 24 to 36 to 60 to 80. In both tools, you must progress from 24 to 36 to 60 to 80 grit if you begin at 24 grit.

Conclusion

Sanding a wooden floor properly is an art form, and it is important to assess the current state of the floor and ask for guidance from the staff at the hardware store. Sanding and refinishing wooden floors can give them a new lease on life, but it is important to be aware that drum floor sanders can be noisy and create a dust cloud. The edge sander is used after the drum sander has been used to sand the majority of the floor. Choosing the appropriate grit for the initial pass of a floor sanding project can be challenging, but Pete's can help. Grits are used to remove scratches from wood or finish, and should be used in a fair and honest manner.

Choose the right abrasive for a more rigors evaluation, such as 36grit cross-cut, 36grit straight, 60grit, and 80grit. Rough sanding with 36 grit along the grain can be done on brand new flooring, but it is important to sand in sequence with every grit that is finer than your starting grit.

Content Summary

  1. The first step is to assess the current state of your floor.
  2. Resources And EquipmentThe first thing to do is to get the floor ready for sanding.
  3. The next stage is to use a drum sander to remove some of the floor's top layer.
  4. Read on to learn everything you need to know about sanding a timber floor to renew your flooring and increase your home's resale value.
  5. Put on a dust mask before turning on the drum sander, and safeguard your eyes and ears before you begin.
  6. To avoid gouging the floor, begin with the coarsest grain of sandpaper.
  7. Sand the floor in a figure eight pattern, beginning in the middle and ending at the beginning.
  8. Remove dust and debris from the floor in between acts.
  9. The edge sander is used after the drum sander has been used to sand the majority of the floor.
  10. Get the floor prepared for sanding first.
  11. Make that the sander's drum has a sandpaper belt installed.
  12. Use an edging sander to smooth the floor's perimeter.
  13. Detail sand the nooks and crannies.
  14. Figure out the order of your grit tests.
  15. Choosing the appropriate grit for the initial pass of your floor sanding project will be the most challenging aspect of the work.
  16. However, the process of sanding your floor will depend on its current state.
  17. Your testing grit should be 36 grit; this will tell you what your floor can handle as a starting grit.
  18. If you're confident in the condition of your floor, sand a 4 by 4 foot area with a 36 grit belt to see how it looks (pick an area of the floor that is in rough shape, not one of the spots that still looks good).Put down the sander and give the recently sanded area a thorough once over.
  19. You have successfully identified the grit sequence for sanding your floor if the test area is absolutely bare and clean, right down to the borders of the boards.
  20. To conduct a more rigors evaluation, select a different area of the floor (one that is, once again, in poor condition).
  21. Go straight to testing with 24grit and 36grit sandpaper instead of starting with 36grit.
  22. Use a 36-grit belt on the toughest part of your floor to see if you really need to start that aggressively if you have a newer floor and aren't sure.
  23. However, if the finish is really stubborn, a quick pass at 24grit can do the trick, after which you can switch to 36grit and get rid of any remaining finish.
  24. Remember that 60 and 80 grit sandpaper are not designed to remove finish but rather to remove scratches.
  25. Cross-cutting, the enchanted outlierIn contrast, if your floor is significantly damaged, uneven, water-damaged, or painted, you may want to start with a coarse grit and sand perpendicular to the grain.
  26. The rule that you should always sand with the grain of the wood has a crucial caveat, and this is it.
  27. One drawback of this method is that after finishing a pass at an angle, you'll need to make a second pass perpendicular to the grain with the same grit.
  28. A 24grit crosscut sanding pass would be followed by 24grit diagonal, 24grit straight, 36grit, 60grit, and 80grit.
  29. Rough sanding with 36 grit along the grain can be done on brand new flooring.
  30. In both tools, you must progress from 24 to 36 to 60 to 80 grit if you begin at 24 grit.
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