Is it hard to use a floor sander? If your hardwood floor has major problems, such as deep discoloration, protrusions, and grooves and pits, the only way to restore the floor to its original glory is with a drum floor sander. With an orbital floor sander, it's hard to go wrong, since it's difficult to take off too much wood.
Can you use a floor sander on wood floors?
Along with staining and top-coating, sanding your wood floor is a major component of refinishing the floor. Floor sanders are special tools designed for floor use only. Most homeowners will not have these types of sanders in their workshops.
Is sanding floors hard work?
There’s really no getting around it – sanding your floors is hard work and physically tiring. When you first start sanding you’ll almost instantly see a huge difference in your floor but once you’ve removed most of the varnish and dirt progress will seem so much slower.
Will a drum sander ruin my floors?
Let the fact that drum sanders are often used by flooring professionals to artificially distress floor planks point to drum sanders' potential for ruining floors beyond repair. Massive gouges are possible if you let a drum sander rest in one place for too long. Personal injury is possible if you fail to follow all safety considerations.
What happens if you don't use a Sander properly?
If you’re not experienced with this type of machine, you can quickly cause serious, permanent damage to your floor if you aren’t very careful. If the sander isn’t positioned just right and properly operated, it can grind deep grooves and valleys into the wood.
Is it easy to sand your own floors?
Sanding wood floors is a time consuming but relatively easy procedure. Sanding wood floors & refinishing yourself will definitely save money, and even an inexperienced homeowner can likely do a better job than the lowest bidding handyperson who quotes on it.
What is the easiest floor sander to use?
I have found that Clarke-American random orbital sanders on are the easiest to use of the models available for rental at most home centers. (View example of a Clarke orbital floor sander on Amazon.
How long does it take to use a floor sander?
Don't underestimate the amount of time it will take to sand your floor. The professional floor sander guy took around 2-3 hours to sand our living room floor – it took us a lot longer!
How easy is it to sand a wooden floor?
1:514:47How to sand & varnish floorboards part 1: preparation & sandingYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipStart by aligning the machine diagonally to the floorboards raise the drum. And when it reaches fullMoreStart by aligning the machine diagonally to the floorboards raise the drum. And when it reaches full speed lower it and start sanding. The purpose of this stage is to smooth any irregularities.
Can you sand floors by hand?
However, for some reason, some people still prefer sanding their floors by hand. They swear that sanding the floor by hand will provide you with flawless results. They consider sanding the floor by hand as a true form of craftsmanship, considering how detailed and more complex the whole job is.
How long does it take to sand a wood floor?
It can take 1-5 days for a professional and 2-15 days for a DIY enthusiast, depending on the size and condition of the floor. For planning purposes, it would take 1-day per room for a professional and 2 days per room for a homeowner doing DIY.
Can I stay in my house while floors are refinished?
If your hardwood floors have been sanded and finished with Bona Mega Clear HD, it is safe to sleep in the home about 2-3 hours after the project is finished, but again, only if there are other rooms that have not been robbed of their furniture – furniture should stay off floors for at least 24 hours after ANY project ...
Can you walk on sanded floors?
Your floor can be walked on with stocking feet in 3-4 hours and furniture can be placed back on the floor (not dragged) in 48 hours. Area rugs can be put down in one week when the finish is fully cured.
How many times should you sand a floor?
I doubt they re-sanded to the bare wood. Hardwood flooring can be re-sanded up to 10 times, depending on how bad the floor is and how skilled the person doing the sanding is. It costs about $2.50 per square foot to refinish a floor, plus $50 an hour for patching and thresholds.
What is the cheapest way to refinish hardwood floors?
Applying a revitalizer gloss is the simplest and cheapest way to refinish hardwood floors. This approach works best on floors that only have surface-level scratches and other minor wear and tear issues. You can get the job done without the need for equipment rentals or hard-to-find materials.
What is the best way to sand floors?
5:3028:04How To Sand and Finish Wood Floors - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThe rotary sander is an aggressive machine that you can also use to flatten your floor. And can beMoreThe rotary sander is an aggressive machine that you can also use to flatten your floor. And can be used from floors that aren't in great shape.
How often should wood floors be sanded?
Depending on a floor's thickness and the experience of the flooring professional, a floor can be sanded around 4-6 times in its entire life. Hardwood floors can be refinished every 7-10 years, making the 4-6 refinishes more than enough.
What kind of sander to use for corners?
A smaller orbital palm sander, combined with a scraper for corners, can be used around the floor perimeter. For large jobs, consider renting a professional floor sanding edger. Photo: Joe Provey.
What is the best machine for floor sanding?
I've found that Clarke-American random orbital sanders, outfitted with large rectangular pads, to be the easiest to use. They are available at most home centers in the rental department.
When you lower a machine to the floor, is it important to run it at full speed?
When you lower the machine to the floor, it is imperative that it be running at full speed. Also, it's important not to move it too quickly across the floor surface. Above all, never turn the machine off while it is resting on the floor. Photo: Joe Provey. Advertisement.
What is a drum floor sander?
A drum floor sander is one piece of equipment that you will not, by any stretch of the imagination, want to buy. Drum sanders are very expensive, reaching into the thousands of dollars, and they have only one use: sanding down hardwood. Home centers with rental components and rental yards usually have drum floor sanders.
How much does a drum floor sander weigh?
Drum floor sanders are unwieldy monsters that weigh over 100 pounds. You will absolutely need help from a friend or rental yard employee to lift the sander onto your truck bed or into the back of your SUV. Remember, too, that you will need help with the sander when you get home.
What is a floor edger?
A floor edger is essentially a powerful, super-sized orbital hand sander that allows you to sand next to baseboards and walls. An orbital floor sander is even larger and more powerful than the edger, but both operate by randomly and rapidly moving a single sheet of sandpaper around the wood. A drum sander is a completely different tool in ...
Why do you want to buy sandpaper?
The reason that you want to buy a copious amount of sandpaper is that you do not want to be caught short of sandpaper while your drum floor sander is on the rental "clock.". Running down to the rental yard or home center for more sandpaper cuts into your expensive rental time.
How to use a drum sander?
Following the grain of the wood, pull the drum sander in straight lines, overlapping each line the way you would when mowing a lawn. Stop frequently so that you can rest your arms and empty the dust bag.
What is the best way to restore hardwood floors?
If your hardwood floor has major problems, such as deep discoloration, protrusions, and grooves and pits, the only way to restore the floor to its original glory is with a drum floor sander. Floor sanders come in three distinct types: edgers, orbital sanders, and drum sanders. A floor edger is essentially a powerful, ...
What to use when sanding a drum?
Use a Dust Mask, Hearing Protection, and Safety Glasses. If you like to work without safety equipment, floor sanding is not the time. Even though the drum sander has a dust bag, the bag only collects the majority of dust, not all of it. Also, safety glasses are a must.
Can you turn off a sanding machine while it is resting on the floor?
Above all, remember to never turn the machine off while it is resting on the floor. For any of these different mistakes, the consequence is the same: circular scratches on the floor surface. They may not be very noticeable as you’re sanding, but they’ll definitely show up when you apply the finish. Advertisement.
Can you use a drum sander to remove old floors?
Sure, it may take longer to remove old finishes than it would with a drum sander, but you don’t need a lot of experience to operate a random orbital sander and most importantly, it’s less likely to permanently damage your floor by causing grooves or valleys that are impossible to fix.
What is an edge floor sander?
An edge floor sander is a small, hand-held sander designed to get in those hard-to-reach areas that the drum sander and large orbital sander cannot reach. An edge floor sander has a dust bag. Edge floor sanders available for rent are far more powerful than hand-held orbital sanders that many homeowners may already own.
When to unplug a floor sander?
Always unplug the floor sander when changing the sandpaper or working on any part of the machine.
What is an orbital vibrating floor sander?
An orbital vibrating floor sander is, like the drum sander, operated while standing up. The difference is that the sanding head and sandpaper do not rotate; instead, they vibrate in tight circles.
What is a drum sander?
The drum sander consists of the sander body itself, a large dust bag, and a drum on which you attach large belts of sanding paper. The drum sander rips off the bad spots, the high spots, stains, paint drips, and even some deeply embedded stains from your floor.
Do you need to refinish a solid wood floor?
If you have a solid hardwood floor, chances are good that at one point you will need to refinish it . Along with staining and top-coating, sanding your wood floor is a major component of refinishing the floor.
Can you overbuy sanding paper?
It is better to overbuy sanding paper, as most rental yards will buy back unused paper, though you should confirm this ahead of time. The drum sander is the real workhorse of hardwood floor sanding. It is a massive piece of equipment, too heavy for most people to lift—two people are required to carry it.
Can dust explode in a floor sander?
Air-borne fine dust can explode. When using the floor sander, always make sure that no flames are present in the room or nearby. Always ventilate the room well.
What is the best sander to use to remove floor material?
Drum sanders, vibrating sanders, and some large orbital sanders are too big and bulky to reach into corners and along the edges of the room where the floor meets the wall. Enter the edge sander, which is a heavy, hand-held sander with an orbital sanding pad and a built-in dust bag. Because of its weight, an edge sander is as effective as a drum sander at removing surface material, but it can damage the floor if it’s improperly used, causing gouges and circular marks in the wood.
What is a drum sander?
Drum sanders are powerful enough to remove finishes and stains, smooth high spots, and take the floor down to a layer of bare, untouched wood. If you’re not experienced with this type of machine, you can quickly cause serious, permanent damage to your floor if you aren’t very careful. If the sander isn’t positioned just right and properly operated, it can grind deep grooves and valleys into the wood.
How to remove swirl from floor?
Remove this by sanding the swirl by hand with 80-grit sandpaper. 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.
What is a vibrating sander?
Like orbital sanders, vibrating sanders are used primarily as a finishing sander to smooth out the wood after using the drum sander. A vibrating sander is about the same size as a drum sander, and it also has a dust bag attached. However, it’s much lighter, and rather than a rotating belt, it consists of a vibrating sanding pad. This makes it much easier to move across the floor in smooth passes. Like orbital sanders, vibrating sanders are less likely than drum sanders to damage the floor.
How many people do you need to carry a drum sander?
Drum sanders are massively heavy beasts that generally require two people to carry. A large sandpaper belt fits over a rotating drum, which spins at high velocity and makes quick work of sanding a floor. A built-in dust bag catches most of the dust and debris, although you’ll need to vacuum thoroughly before coating the floor.
How many passes does it take to sand a floor?
Sanding a floor involves multiple passes over every inch of the surface. With each subsequent sanding, the sandpaper grit gets finer. Most floors require about four passes. The more damaged the floor, or the harder the wood, the courser the starting sandpaper grit should be. Here are a few tips to help ensure the best sanding job possible.
Do you vacuum after sanding?
After each pass, vacuum the floors, even if there’s a bag attached to the sander. This will ensure pieces of sanding grit that fall off the sander don’t damage the floor on subsequent, smaller-grit passes.
What are the biggest mistakes you made when sanding a floor?
One of the biggest floor sanding mistakes we made when we sanded our floors the first time around was not changing the sandpaper often enough.
What grit paper should I use for sanding wood floors?
If your floors haven’t been sanded before, the maximum grit paper you should start sanding with is 24 grit. I know that sounds super coarse and radical but anything finer will not sand away enough of the dirt and old varnish.
What does it mean when you use the wrong grit on sandpaper?
Using the wrong grit (too fine) will also mean that your sandpaper clogs up really quickly. Clogged up paper is useless so it’s something you’ll want to avoid. Not only because it’ll end up costing you more because you’ll constantly be replacing the paper but also because of the additional time it’ll take you to keep changing it.
Where are shadows on floorboards?
This means that you’ll often be left with shadows either at the edges of the floorboards (if the floorboards are concave) or in the middle of the floorboards (if the floorboards are convex).
Do you need to sand floorboards?
You need to sand your floorboards until they look brand new, even if you’re staining the boards (unless they’re going to be black or painted). It’s what will make the difference between your finished floor looking amazing and professional or average and amateurish.
Can you be happier with how your floors turned out?
We really couldn’t be happier with how our floors turned out but we did make some floor sanding mistakes along the way. We learned the hard way that there are things you should and shouldn’t do and, more importantly, there are things you can do to make your floor sanding experience much easier.
Is it hard to sand a floor?
There’s really no getting around it – sanding your floors is hard work and physically tiring. When you first start sanding you’ll almost instantly see a huge difference in your floor but once you’ve removed most of the varnish and dirt progress will seem so much slower.
What is the most common sander?
The most common of all. The palm sander. Just like the handheld random orbital, palm sanders oscillate, but the palm sander plate is fixed straight. Without this ‘give’ the palm sander can be a little more aggressive, while still producing quite a smooth finish.
Who owns HowToSandAFloor?
Ben Osborne is the owner of HowToSandAFloor.com. He is a professional wood floor refinishing specialist with 15 years of experience. Ben is responsible for almost all the content on this website. He also owns a floor sanding and restoration company.
Should I refinish hardwood floors?
If your floor is very uneven, deeply dented or has several layers of hard polish, then I suggest refinishing your hardwood floors properly.
Can you use 40 grit wood sander?
Yes you can put a 40 grit on it and ‘rough up’ some small areas, but if you plan on sanding your wood floors by hand with this sander then you had better clear your calendar. 3. Taking third place, the palm sander. The most common of all. The palm sander.
Should you move your palm sander back or forward?
That is, if you want to create a smooth flat finish. The less aggressive the tool the less important, but even with random orbitals and palm sanders moving it back and forward will be more effective than sitting it still. So there is no reason not to keep moving!
Can palm sanders cut mustard?
The problem is with this sander is that it still doesn’t cut the mustard in terms of power and aggressiveness. Again, if you choose to use this sander, prepare for a long hard slog. 2.
Can you rub corners down by hand?
You will need this for sanding the corners, but if you really are on a budget, you can rub corners down, literally, by hand (and sandpaper of course).