Sanding flooring boards

Limana68

Hi there,
We are busy re decorating our lounge at the mo and are considering either sanding our floorboards and varnishing them which are in good condition or getting laminate flooring, just wondering what you think the pros and cons of both are, re costs, labour etc. We would do both ourselves.
Any advice or experiences would really help before we take the plunge!

L

[Deleted User]

I'd sand and varnish the floorboards, they'll look beautiful and personally I don't like laminate. You can hire a sanding machine and do it yourself.

The only disadvantage is that they can be a bit drafty, I have a lovely rug under the coffee table to keep my feet warm.

flang

the best way to sand floorboards is by using a Belt Sander.
Rent one or buy one they are very cheap nowdays.

NickMidgley

Laminate flooring is probably a little easier and less messy.

As long as your floorboards are reasonably sound, I'd go with sanding, though - just my preference. It looks more natural. Hire the kit and get them to supply the varnish too.

Bear in mind that:

1 - Even sanders with built-in vacuums will still chuck a lot of dust around. Keep as many doors shut as possible, although that won't stop all of it!

2 - You'll be without the rooms you're doing for a couple of days at least (moving furniture, removing whatever floor covering is there already, sanding which usually needs 3 or 4 passes using a finer grade paper each pass, waiting for dust to settle, cleaning, varnishing & drying).

3 - You'll probably need to tidy up the paintwork on your skirting boards when you're done.

4 - The main floor sander is very heavy! (Usually you'll need two sanders, a big one for the main floor area and a smaller one for edges, corners, nooks & crannies).

We did the ground floor of our last house, as it had fabulous oak floorboards, and the results were superb.

a-builder-A1

punch nails to below the surface before you start, sand diagnaly from two apposing directions before using edge sander. unless your boards are close boarded, ie very small gaps, I would consider over laying a real wood strip floor or laminate for hygene reasons.

mondeo_2

Even though the quality of laminate flooring has improved vastly over the years, you still can't beat the look of original flooring, and if it hasn't been butchered by a careless plumber putting your central heating system in, I would recommend this every time, plus it's cheaper - cost of hiring floor and edging sander + sandpaper is approx £50 per day + varnish - approx £30 = £80 for a quality floor that will last years. However, I echo the previous point in that makle sure any protrusion from the floor is put below the surface or taken out - or else you will spend a lot of time and money changing the sanding sheets !

Limana68

Thanks guys,
We are going to see how much it is to hire a sander and price it all up, thing is we dont intend staying here for too long so we are thinking maybe laminate may make it more seeable in the future(?) so will have to see what hubby thinks he would rather do as we have 2 kiddies, and several pets, to make disappear while it all goes on!


Cheers
L

tawnyowls

flang wrote:

the best way to sand floorboards is by using a Belt Sander.
Rent one or buy one they are very cheap nowdays.

Unless you're very used to one of these, I would suggest getting a rotary sander. A belt sander needs a very even movement and pressure, otherwise you can take gouges out of the floor. A rotary sander is rather like those floor polishers with two orbital brushes, only with sanding discs instead. They are harder to find in hire shops, but they give a much better finish, especially on a soft wood such as pine.

FirstClassMale

flang wrote:

the best way to sand floorboards is by using a Belt Sander.
Rent one or buy one they are very cheap nowdays.

I will echo the other comment on this. Do NOT use a belt sander. I think Flang may be referring to a "flooring sander" which uses a large belt and is designed specifically to be used on floors. A hand held belt sander will take irrepairable gouges out of the floor. I know from experience when I first hired a sanding pack and was given a hand held belt sander instead of a proper edging one.

I have done a lot of floors and a staircase (now that's fun!) and have found it easiest to hire a sanding pack or just an edging sander for rooms smaller than about 16M square (on small rooms you end up turning more times with the floor sander than actually running it when using on the diagonal) The pack price from the likes of HSS is about £50 for a weekend but try local independants as they can be much cheaper. Don't forget to factor in the prices of belts and discs. The best varnish is the stuff that does what it says on the tin. It may look expensive but you will get a long hardwearing result.

You say you may not be staying in the house for too long. It may be worth mentioning that recent surveys have shown that laminate flooring can reduce the value of a property.

If you need any more advice, feel free to PM me.