Stripped Floorboards

Mrs7ones

Hi
has anyone stripped their own floorboards before? Or had it professionally done?
I'm fancying having my through-lounge/diner done, but have no idea as to how much it will cost to either do it myself(:eek: ) or pay someone to do it......

Kitikat

I had a company in Newcastle strip mine and was amazed at how cheap it was. Can't remember the exact price but I had a large lounge done and hall done for about £400 or £500. I thought it would cost a lot more than that.

Sobraon

You can hire a floor and edging sander package (example and guide at http://www.hss.com/g/5412/Floor-Sander-240v.html) . For a 4m* 5m area reckon on a weekend. You have to add the costs of the belts and disks so total cost about £100 + your time.

Floor sanders are moderately heavy to operate so if you are under 10 stone or small framed IMHO best to find a suitable 14 stone youth to do the job. The job is made a lot easier if the operator is reasonably strong.

The results (if you take your time ) are great though !

floyd

My friend and I did a 25 foot through lounge diner in 5 days with a large floor sander and the smaller edging sander from HSS. Including sandpaper it cost about £150 but was really hard work. If you do decide to do it yourself, make sure you do a really thorough job of countersinking and nails or screws as they can tear the paper to ribbons.

It took us alot longer and cost more as there was a sticky black carpet backing all over one of the rooms which kept clogging the sandpaper.

Peartree

I sanded floors in my old house with a hired sander and didn't have any problem at all with the 'big' sander - although the one I hired had a big turning circle and would have been difficult to use in a small room. Actually, it was one of the easiest and most satisfying DIY jobs I've done myself.
I did have a problem with the edging sander I also hired to do the areas the big sander couldn't reach. I'm well used to DIY and power tools but found it hard to control - it kept skittering off in its own direction and marking the floor! I think you would need to be pretty strong to control it. In the end, I found my own B&D Mouse (actually my No 1 recommended DIY tool!) just as good for the corners. I think you can hire better versions of the sanders now though. When it comes to finishing the floors, that's not hard work either if you use floor varnish with a roller on an extension pole. An hour spent crawling around the floor banging in/removing any nails/tacks/sharp bits will save money on sanding paper and wear and tear on the nerves reloading the machine with paper.

Sanding floors, with the right equipment, is one of the most straightforward DIY jobs. However, if I was doing it again, I'd get a quote first and make a time/cost comparison on it. If it were less than £200 for a room, fully finished, I'd hire someone. If I were to do it myself, I'd go to a few different hire places and check out where I was getting a really good quality machine for my money as I think that makes a difference. Also, check out the places that the trade would go to for the varnish - like Johnstones/Leyland or others - rather than the DIY sheds as it can be pretty expensive.

Mrs7ones

Some fantastic advice/info here - thanks to you all :beer:


Can I ask something else?? How are stripped floors for comfort/warmth?
We are looking into having our floors done through practicality (3 kids + 2 kittens = lots of spillages/mess etc!!!!!!!), but don't want to miss out on the cosyness of fitted carpets. I know we can have rugs to warm things up a bit, but what about drafts from the cellar through the floorboards??

What are your experiences on comfort??