ding hardwood floors is always a

2022.07.31
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ding hardwood floors is always a

Sanding hardwood floors is always a grind (see what I did there? A square orbital sander can reach into corners Once we could see that the poly was gone, we switched to the U-sand with the same grit that we ended on with the drum sander and worked our way to the finer grits. These cookies do not store any personal information. , The Podcast For People Who Love Old Houses. However, Vacuum at least twice, paying special attention to the cracks between the planks and along the baseboards.

We knew it would be slower going with the U-sand vs. the belt sander, but neither of us was prepared for the fact that this machine barely made a dent in the surface of the old polyurethane. His eye for detail and unique take on preservation makes these homes highly sought after as long-term rentals. First, I removed all of the shoe moldings. No way. We started with 20-grit sandpaper on both machines, and we worked our way down to 120-grit* without skipping grits. A handheld belt sander is perfect for working in smaller areas like deck railing tops. If they do manage to complete it quickly, they are probably doing a very bad job! To make it fit, the installer undercut the plinth blocks. in the wood. Dont hire another DIYer! Likewise, a bad sanding job (even when using the right equipment) can kill the wooden material's lifespan, look, and functionality. Thank you for the details. It can be used for grinding, sanding, or polishing either wood orconcrete. This guide was really []. Another option is our multi-master Dremel tool. This should leave a very distinctive line, take the time to also run the Random Orbital Sander over this line until it is no longer visible. What a great, informativeand encouragingpost. Nailing Techniques Used in Home Renovation, By continuing to browse this website, you agree to the use of cookies for the collection of traffic statistics and to improve the quality of our website. All are available to rent at your local tool rental center, where you can also Or on sappy woods where anything over 60 grit gums up the disk. Simply stick some 80 grit sandpaper to the triangular head of the sander and sand the corner until all of the finish is removed just like the rest of the floor. its much lighter, and rather than a rotating belt, it consists of a vibrating As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact us. Plus Building & Hardwood Floor Refinishing, O'Hare | Irving Park | Jefferson Park | Norwood Park | Morgan Park | West Lawn | Edison Park | Austin | Edgewater | Washington Heights | South Shore | Kenwood | Ashburn | Lincoln Square | Chicago Lawn | Lake View | North Center | Garfield Ridge | Mount Greenwood | Oakland | Beverly | Chatham | Uptown | West Pullman | Lincoln Park, Park Ridge | Niles | Morton Grove | Evanston | Wilmette | Glencoe | Winnetka | Highland Park | Glenview | Northbrook | Palatine | Arlington Heights | Barrington | Buffalo Grove | Des Plaines | Downers Grove | Forest Lake | Lake Forest | Northfield | Oak Park | Skokie | Western Springs | Naperville | Mt. This fast, heavy removal process can damage wood decking or flooring if you aren't careful. He believes in the ability of our little team. *Rubio Monocoat recommends sanding the floor with 120-grit. It works like a dream around the edgesso fast! Finally, keep all cords well out of your way as youre moving across the floor. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. Avoid this problem by touching the belt down gently and moving immediately. It also works well to remove swirl marks and small gouges. This will ensure pieces of sanding grit that fall off the sander dont damage the floor on subsequent, smaller-grit passes. because they remove little material. We must take care of all these areas before we begin our final sanding with the buffer. All (or most) necks, scratches, and indents will be removed.

Im glad the post was helpful. Copyright 2014-2019. It was so much work and then the results were not something my husband (he acknowledged it) or I were happy with. meets the wall. He also owns a floor sanding and restoration company. the floor. [] hardwood floors has been something that I would love to try when I someday purchase an old house. You develop assumptions and bad habits that you never question. It did not do excellent detail work as we hoped, but it did better than the drum sander. Required fields are marked *. The difference is that this machine is 20" and can make shorter work of large areas. Oh, how I understand! Low-grit sandpaper usually lasts for a reasonable amount of time. Edgers, however, are necessary for any project. mind at every step. a big impact on the floors appearance once its coated. I work for a third generation flooring company. four passes. This sander offers the most control of any of the power sanders as long as you hold it firmly (see below). tools youll need, including different types of sanders and applicators, and and take the floor down to a layer of bare, untouched wood. You'll want to ensure you're not applying too much pressure when using palm and vibratory sanders. None of our possessions are sparking joy right now. Must be used in the direction of the wood grain, or there will be visible scratch marks. Our house is laid out like a traditional Colonial, and the living room, foyer, and dining room are open. You may already have one of these in your DIY tool arsenal. I have been firmly in the refinishing floors is not a DIY camp since our first house. Its a monster. and makes quick work of sanding a floor. Ive been glued to her progress as she refinishes the floors in her 1880s fixer-upper. Sanding is a process that can help bring new life into your old flooring and other wood objects,like decks. WARNING: Always test for lead before you begin any sanding project in an old house. A similar alternative is the OS2OS-L120 machine. Fatigue leads to accidents and mistakes, so take breaks to rest and stretch.

The OF16Pro is an excellent example of a multi-use tool. Your DIY experience will pay off, and knowing what you are trying to avoid is helpful too. Quick question: did you do all the grits with the drum sander and then again with the u-sander?

The Window Course from Scott Sidler of The Craftsman Blog will teach you everything you need to know to restore your original wood windows. Isnt that the way it is with poly? No matter how experienced you are with the edging sander, theres a high likelihood that there will be edger swirl around the perimeter of the room. We only had a wax finish and the thin coat I last put down 10 years ago is gone most everywhere. small orbital pattern. Some belt sanders work on the forward motion, some work by pulling them backward. Smaller machines range in difficulty, so consider what your experience level with these machines is. DIYers should avoid all commercial floor sanders unless they have extensive sanding experience. The issue I want to address today is just a simple choice that can make a big difference to the finishing quality of the floor.

For all intents and purposes, thats what they are. The edger is designed to go as low as 4" and reach as deep as 11". (I will be vacuuming until Im dead.). . and that speeds up the process a whole lot. Its what this website is all about. Like Commercial floor grindersand sanders provide the most power and should only be used by professionals. After each pass, vacuum the floors, even if theres a bag attached to the sander. it sounds like something Id do too. are several different types of sanders used for refinishing hardwood floors. Cover hard-to-clean objects such as chandeliers with a plastic bag securely closed at the top. Your post is making me rethink my stance! And I cant get over her gorgeous dining room and am totally mesmerizedby this timelapse [].

Your info is great! the dust and debris, although youll need to vacuum thoroughly before coating The professionals have all sorts of tricks to keep the dust down, and they clean up when they are finished. I was shocked. Be warned that this is a super meaty post. can damage the floor if its improperly used, causing gouges and circular marks A large sandpaper belt fits over a rotating drum, which spins at high velocity With each subsequent sanding, the sandpaper grit gets finer. Straight away I knew what to expect; old varnish left on certain parts of the floor that dip down slightly, drum marks all over the place from where they have stopped with the sander before lifting the drum off the floor, it was your typical how hard could it be? DIY job. This will prevent sanding mistakes. Should You Ever Refinish Hardwood Floors Yourself? Using an orbital or vibrating sander to remove the swirl will over-polish the edges, giving them a different texture than the rest of the floor. A detail sander with a pointed front is perfect for this job. That said, it is physically demanding, so we recommend that you stretch often and keep your favorite over-the-counter pain reliever on hand. I also read your other post on wetting the wood and using the palm sander to get rid of the swirl marksdid that work pretty well for you? Our plan worked like a charm, but dang, that orbital edger is a backbreaker. A built-in dust bag catches most of I think now that were a lot more experienced in the DIY departmentand Id make sure I was involved too!we could likely get a better result. We moved the furniture from the dining room into the living room, and we scattered everything from the laundry room all over the house, explosion style. I need to clarify that I never had any intention of doing this all by myself. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. sanders are massively heavy beasts that generally require two people to carry. Im literally doing the same thing this week except I had just done the lowest grit with the drum and then moved on to the u sander. Drum It adheres when you want it to come off, and it flakes where you need it to say intact. an orbital sanding pad and a built-in dust bag. A floor edger is explicitly designed to reach these areas without causing damage to walls or fixtures. There are several types of sanders you could choose for your next project. Whenever I meet anyone that does floor sanding I have to ask them a thousand questions about their methods and what products they use. Then, he would follow with the U-sand. Not really. All the pros Ive seen on Youtube and in real life start forward and then immediately do a backward pass in the same line. For each pass, first use the drum sander, and then use the edger. It creates a much smoother finish around the edges. Also, Part II of thi refinishing hardwood floors as a DIY series, Removing Swirl Marks & Finish Sanding, is now available. By enabling corners and other hard-to-reach areas to be fully sanded, handheld edgers ensure a complete, professional-looking result. It is a filthy job. Lines, bump marks and dips can occur where the belt touches down first. Good luck with your project. Ask your local rental store to explain the machine to you thoroughly, so you will know exactly how to use the sander before you begin your project. [] House is an absolute old-home-restoring powerhouse. you choose to go the DIY route, more power to you! I used a combination of hand sanding and these fantastic detail sanding sticks to scrub it all out of there. Eek! This machine takes some getting used to. sanders, vibrating sanders, and some large orbital sanders are too big and sander will take considerably longer than it would with a drum sander, and It is difficult to maneuver in small spaces, and it only gets within 5-8 inches of the edges of the room. purchase sandpaper to fit each machine. The same is true in places where the old finish is already gone completely. I will keep updating this post. Because of its weight, an edge Using improper equipment can lead to damaged floors or incomplete projects. Although choosing a more powerful, complicated machine may sound like it'll do a better job, it won't in the wrong hands. A thorough vacuuming is crucial for a perfect finish. Always wear goggles to prevent serious eye damage due to flying debris, and wear a dust mask to protect your lungs from fine airborne particles. Its possible that I misunderstood. Use high quality finishing products, and keep your safety in Its always a money juggle, isnt it? If you are removing a thick finish, the sandpaper collects corns (clumps of finish) very quickly and needs new pads.

floor will look. The more you know going in, the better your refinished Another handheld option, these edgers are designed to work along floor edges. Andy did the first pass with the belt sander, and I did the edges with the Orbital. I should offer some kind of reward for that. While I organized our supplies, Andy started with the U-sand machine fitted with 20-grit sandpaper discs. Renovation & Rehab: My Unfiltered Highlights Reel. It also has a low speed of 500rpm combined with 120V power. damage to your floor if you arent very careful. Attached are two pictures of what you should be looking for in both areas while doing this. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. After the main sanding was finished, it looked 95% better. An average disc sander is the most common choice. Sanding I began talking about our large floor refinishing project at the end of January. Neither Andy nor I found sanding hardwood floors to be a particularly difficult job. The downside is these machines are typically hefty and can weigh up to 100 pounds. sanders are powerful enough to remove finishes and stains, smooth high spots, Any inconsistency around the perimeter is smoothed out with the buffer. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. smooth out the wood after using the drum sander. In my opinion, it works best for me, but operating it is a real back breaker since the user has to be on their knees or squatting to move it back and forth. Wood, however, is soft and requires a lower speed. And later, Stacy chats with Hugh Siler. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. The reason you want to do the rough edging during the belt sanding process is to reduce the size of the rough edged area, usually when inexperienced people do all the edging at the end they end up missing some of the scratches from the coarser grits with the finer grits. The orbital palm sander is handy for finish work and spot touch-up if you see bumps or swirl marks. Continue reading to learn everything you need to know about choosing an appropriate sander for your project. Would you consider sanding hardwood floors as a DIY project? Can you say ouch? Copywrite 2022 How To Sand A Floor | All Rights Reserved | Powered by Ben Osborne. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. There If

If your floor has significant dips or waves, this sander probably wont cut through the top finish well. This sander will leave swirl marks if you dont keep it moving. Hugh restores small cottages in the Old Towne District of Orange, California. Use the coupon code truetales10 to save 10% off your order from Abatron.com.

Who would have known. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); when you say Always do the final edging after the final belt/drum sanding do you mean once you have done all your grits on the drum sander, i.e. A floor sander helps remove wood's old finishes. Ill do some more research. Ben is responsible for almost all the content on this website. The guys at my favorite rental place told me that the one I used worked on the backward pull, and the one Andy rented from Home Depot was the opposite. It's dangerous to attempt moving these sanders around by yourself. I chose the U-sand over a belt sander because it was gentler on the surface, and we wanted to avoid bump marks and lines. Drum Refinishing worn hardwood floors isnt a DIY project for the squeamish, but if youre determined and somewhat skilled, you can pull it off with the right equipment and materials. We just bought. Wood flooring is aversatile materialthat canlast centuriesif adequately taken care of. The equipment is heavy, and the act of sanding is physically demanding. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window). You do not run the risk of cutting a finger while using this machine! To request a transcript of this episode, please reach out viathe contact page. If you do, your efforts could leave behindcross-grain marksin the wood. A commercial drum sander, for example, can remove a lot of wood at once. involved and taxing job, requiring specialized, heavy equipment and the right After you are finished sanding, wait a few hours (preferably overnight) to let the dust settle. However, I started to think about Team Andy & Stacys collective weaknesses, and I strongly considered calling in the professionals to do the sanding and limiting our involvement to finishing the floors. Hold it firmly in your hands, or it will jerk out of your hands and swirl around the room like a beheaded chicken leaving swirl marks and gouges in its wake. We always keep these lead check swabs handy. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(7667689, '68632c8b-76e2-4d28-89fe-a2b1fcda8aa4', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); How to Choose the Right Wood Floor Sander, Why You Should Not Cover Up Concrete Basement Floors, Refinishing Vs. Resurfacing Hardwood Floors: Everything You Need To Know, The Ultimate Guide To Concrete Resurfacing. I was thinking Id try just my orbital sander but I might see about getting one of those orbital edgers, it looks like a beast. Before we begin buffing the floor for our final sanding pass, you may have noticed the corners still have finish on them and they are not sanded! A mouse detail sander is necessary for sanding the last bits out of the corners. With a low-grit paper, it quickly strips off all types of finish from thick glossy poly to old varnish. The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user. It doesnt take any skill to make this change to your method yet knowing it can make a fair difference to the quality of the finish. Kidding. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Always choose a machine that falls within your experience level. It also works well across thresholds where the big machines may not reach well. You do flooring but how often do you actually sand floors? We knew that to get this done promptly, we would need to work together.

For professionals, commercial vibratory and orbital sanders can be easier to control than drum sanders. To learn more, please consult BuildDirect's, Different Types of Floor Sanders and Their Uses. It was worth it. The hard part about the sanding errors or coating mistakes is that it is hard to get rid of them without a whole lot of extra work. Below are the most commonly used sanders and when they're most appropriate. sandpaper grits and coating products. They discuss why so many old houses have aluminum-wrapped exterior trim and whether removing it is a good or bad idea. Your floor should have a distinctive line where the big machine was sanded and turned around to sand the other direction, as well as the edges being distinctively different from where you had run your edger. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. As a DIYer, its all on you. I told him what I will now tell you. Ive vacillated between wanting to do the whole project myself to wanting to outsource the sanding but Ill probably do it myself. You must run the random orbit sander over these swirls to get rid of them around the entirety of the room. Typically, moving clockwise, I mark each piece with a room abbreviation and number them as I remove them in order. bulky to reach into corners and along the edges of the room where the floor The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. We continue our ongoing series with some instructions pertaining to the orbital sander. Thanks for sharing! Anything you do not take out with this sanding pass WILL show up in your floor after it is completed so be sure to take extra time on this step. The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. For wood, you need to look for a machine that balances power with a low speed to not damage the material. Choosing the right wood floor sander for your project is vital if you want the best results. I have a friendly relationship with a local rental store just down the road from BHH, and that is where we rent most of the time. With such powerful machines, t is hard to imagine using them any other way. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. Hi! 80grit is just a rule that applies to most floors. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. ), but we cut our losses quickly. I did hand sand the entire floor. If your floors have been sanded numerous times, this machine might take. If the sander isnt positioned I could, but it would bother me for a long time. My husband and FIL refinished the floors there, and the floors turned out really terribly (not trying to be mean to either of them). While it turns around it slows down the machine quite a bit and that can cause gouges too (at some point the wheel is perpendicular to the path of the sander so it really gives the sander a short jerk). The U-sand works best on a flat surface. Did you really go through the whole floor and sand those one by one?? When you said in stories that youd given up on the u-sand and done the whole library with the edger I knew that youd be feeling it the next day. The edger has a light bulb on the front so you can see where you are going. Less aggressive = slower That may be fine if you are working on only one room or a delicate surface. and other spaces that a large drum sander cant reach. Its brilliant! best sanding job possible. Waiting will reduce the number of times you will need to vacuum.