Things to Remember in Sanding Your Floor
Reading the title may give you the shivers. When you use the wrong wood floor sander, it could spell the end of your wooden flooring. I always have apprehensions when I am about to tackle a wood sanding job. Sanding the wood is done by the way to prepare the wood for staining. There are some who can appreciate the natural designs of the wood easily enough. With this, the finish can be easily applied to the wood. However, there are some who wants to have the stains in their wood flooring customized. For example, one would prefer black and white stains on the wood. The finish can only be applied after that. Sanding is also used to restore the wood that has been applied with flooring finish.
Sanding can be done with the hands but these days, electrical wood floor sanders are commonly used. Even with these, sanding hardwood floors is no easy feat. But before I talk about the processes involved in sanding a hardwood floor, I will tell you where you can find electrical wood floor sanders. They can be found in agencies that offer rental services. Some of the home centers and paint stores also sell wood floor sanders.
The Process
Before everything is started, all the dust, debris, and dirt that can be found in the floor should be taken away. Then do the following processes:
- make sure that there are no nails protruding on the baseboard or on the floor. This will prevent the wood floor sander from being damaged.
- for uneven floors, more cuts are necessary. The usual though is two or three cuts. When doing the first cut, use a course or medium abrasive sander.
- for a smoother finish, use a disk sander or a floor polisher. To achieve an even more smooth finish, use finer paper.
- The type of floor that is being sanded is not a matter of concern when using an edger. For each pass, use an edger to finish the areas that were not previously sanded.
- a thorough inspection of the floor should be performed before applying the finish. Defects can easily be exposed in low angle lighting.
- if the wood has some old finish that cannot be remedied, then the whole area must be sanded.
- for delicate sanding, a sandpaper can be used.
- if the wood is ready, then apply the finish.
Important Things To Remember
Sanding the floor in order to return its natural state, which means you intend to remove the finish or reduce the cuts and defects requires a lot of things. First, remember that the number of cuts by a wood floor sander will vary depending on the defects or thickness of the finish at hand. Finish can also be removed without sanding. I used a varnish remover, a non aqueous one and it worked. The finish was removed without the need for sanding. Be careful when sanding hardwood floor. A small mistake could lead to unrepairable damages.