Sanding floorboards by hand and filling holes.

rosie383

We have removed a cupboard from a bedroom and the floor area underneath needs to be sanded. The rest of the floor had already been sanded and varnished and our sander gave up the ghost literally on the last bit of that job. It is too small an area (linen cupboard size) to rent a belt sander so I have no choice but to do it by hand.

Any tips? Just go with a coarse paper then finer?

The Velcro bit on my edging sander won't hold the paper any more; it just flies off as soon as I turn the sander on. Can I do anything about that?

There are also a few round holes, approximately 50p size, where pipes were removed. As these are in the floorboards with a gap underneath, how do I go about filling them please without the filler just falling through the hole?

Any help appreciated.

Hoploz

I'd get a new sander! It's useful to have. You can get the little palm sanders for about £25-£30 and I buy the sheets from Toolstation where they are a fraction of the price at Homebase etc.

Could you cut out some little pieces of wood to glue in to the holes? Prob not good idea but a suggestion!

Silver-Surfer_2

What make of sander do you have?

Some brands sell new sanding pads or have a google about replacing the Velcro pad.

spadoosh

To fill the holes, get a piece of cardboard and pierce a string through it in the middle. Poke the cardboard through the hole and pull p so the cardboard blocks the hole and then just use a decent woodfiller (something that you mix together).

Id say get another sander, you cant have too many. Although id go witha random orbital sander as theyre better at removing material than palm sanders although will obviously struggle in corners.

If its not sticking its probably full of dust, you can try and scrap as much as you can out but normally once that side of the velcro is failed its hard to get it back again.

keith969

rosie383 wrote: »

There are also a few round holes, approximately 50p size, where pipes were removed. As these are in the floorboards with a gap underneath, how do I go about filling them please without the filler just falling through the hole?
Any help appreciated.

Using filler is a bodge. What you need to do is find a bit of floorboard that is similar, and using a hole saw (http://www.ukdrills.com/Product/index?catid=225), cut circular pieces of wood that will be a tight fit in the hole. Knock them in with a mallet, aligning the grain, and sand...

Another option would be using a cork if you can find some that are big enough, but then this won't look quite as good..

Grenage

If the holes will be visible, then using a plug is definitely the way to go - as said above. Filler will almost always look terrible on an unpainted surface.

Silver-Surfer_2

keith969 wrote: »

Using filler is a bodge. What you need to do is find a bit of floorboard that is similar, and using a hole saw (http://www.ukdrills.com/Product/index?catid=225), cut circular pieces of wood that will be a tight fit in the hole. Knock them in with a mallet, aligning the grain, and sand...

Another option would be using a cork if you can find some that are big enough, but then this won't look quite as good..

Using a holesaw still leaves you with an arbour hole to fill.

keith969

Silver-Surfer wrote: »

Using a holesaw still leaves you with an arbour hole to fill.

Mmm, but that's much smaller and can be filled, or plugged with a bit of dowel.

phil24_7

An arbour hole can be avoided my cutting a hole in a bit of wood, removing the arbour, then using the first hole as a guide to cut a second hole! I would use filler (2 part) unless you are leaving it all exposed and unfinished.

If you do fill it, push the filler around the edges of the hole first and gradually fill the hole up (you will likely be left with a sag in the middle). Let it go off before filling the hole properly and sanding it back.

I would also repair or replace your sander as you will always find a use for it!

brightontraveller

phil24_7 wrote: »

An arbour hole can be avoided my cutting a hole in a bit of wood, removing the arbour, then using the first hole as a guide to cut a second hole! I would use filler (2 part) unless you are leaving it all exposed and unfinished.

If you do fill it, push the filler around the edges of the hole first and gradually fill the hole up (you will likely be left with a sag in the middle). Let it go off before filling the hole properly and sanding it back.

I would also repair or replace your sander as you will always find a use for it!

Was going to say the exact same reference arbour hole (The manufactured ones are often called Guide Plate, Drill Plate etc ) The arbour is only needed when using a whole saw free hand, unsecured without a guide plate etc

rosie383

Thank you so much for all of the helpful replies. In the end I was able to borrow a sander so that bit of the job was sorted. The reason that I didn't want to fix our sander or buy a new one right now, is that the rest of the floors were all done and there was only this one little bit left which had been in the linen cupboard once it had been removed.

I will pass on all the info about filling the hole to my dh. The holes are over beside the wall and will be hidden by furniture, but cutting a piece of wood to fit sounds like a perfect solution.
Many, many thanks.