Help- sanding floor

cb101

Hi

I have hired a sander from HSS to resand my kitchen floor but I'm having problems with stripes appearing across the boards I'm sanding.

I'm not sure if it is a problem with the sander itself or the way I'm doing it.
The sander seems to race across the floor very quickly so I'm wondering if it isn't heavy enough or what.
I'm using medium paper and I don't know how many times I should be having to go along to remove the old varnish.
I don't think it is a problem with the bar securing the paper, that seems to be down far enough.

Any thoughts. suggestions . I've done less than a quarter of the room and I'm loath to continue if it is going to mess up the floor.

Thanks

C

phill99

I run maintenance company and sanded a floor once against my better judgement. Never again. the machines are heavy and will runaway from you and you need to have a firm grip on them. Its not for the faint hearted. What kind of stripes are appearing? You need to sand it a few times to get the the varnish off. For what it cost my customer to have the floor stripped, I could have laid laminate flooring for much less. Maybe this is a job for a stripping company?

liitleblackcat

You have to keep at it for a whole day with gradually finer sandpaper. Don't worry about it while you are doing it - it will look fine in the end.

And don't listen to phill99 - laminate flooring always looks cheap and nasty compared with proper wide floorboards after they have been varnished.

salbot

Hello, I have just sanded 2 rooms in my house and I am planning on doing the rest. It looks amazing once you have varnished it.

I followed the instructions from a diy book. It said go diagonal one way, diagonal the other way, staight one way and then straight the other way. Just keep doing this until it is done. I started with the course sand paper, and then gradually worked to the fine one. It took about 3 or 4 hours but it looks just great. The sander does go fast but you just have to hold it back a little and go a bit slower.

I had sore shoulders for a good few days after doing it. It is a hard job but really worth doing. Much better than laminate!

I really hope it works out, keep going! It only cost me £80 for the sander for the weekend and all the sanding paper and £16.99 for the tin of varnish.

Thanks
Salbot

phill99

liitleblackcat wrote: »

You have to keep at it for a whole day with gradually finer sandpaper. Don't worry about it while you are doing it - it will look fine in the end.

And don't listen to phill99 - laminate flooring always looks cheap and nasty compared with proper wide floorboards after they have been varnished.

Some laminate ie the nasty cheap stuff from B & Q looks cheap and horrible, I agree cpompletely. A good brand, well laid, particularly if it is V Grooved looks excellent. I'm just not a lover of sanded floors - over the years most people have had holes cut into them for plumbing and electrical works and what most people end up with is a jigsaw of bits of wood all over the place, and, to me, it never looks neat. Good quality floor boards well sanded and finished can look excellent - but most houses don't have good quality floor boards!

cb101

Hi

Thanks for all the advice
I have been soldiering on. I went back to a coarser sheet which seemed to slow it down and get rid of the stripes but I'm a bit concerned that they may show up again when it comes to varnishing.
I'm shattered now and I've decided to stop for the day and continue with the medium and finer sheets tomorrow
I was following the instructions I'd been given and just going in one direction, I'm a bit concerned about going diagonal as I fear may not be able to get rid of the marks across.
I think the wood is reclaimed maple that was varnished before and had become a bit worn in places.
The edging sander I've hired is a complete nightmare and has a mind completely of it's own and doesn't do the edges very well at all. I'm going to have to go and buy some sheets for my little hand held Bosch one and do the edges with that.

Thanks again

C

cb101

Oh Dear

I've just read on the internet that maple floors are really difficult to do with a hired sander as you tend to get roll marks on the floor.
Looks like I may end up having to do all 25sq m by hand !!!!

C