Tips on Floor Sanding

There are plenty of Floor Sanding Companies specialising in restoring wooden floors and although you can do it yourself it is essential to have some idea of how the process works before diving in.  The equipment is heavy and tricky to use, depending on the state of your floor, but it is easily possible by following some simple guidelines.

The main piece of machinery is a heavy upright sander, which has a lever in the handle for starting and stopping it.  There is a very heavy roller, wrapped in sandpaper, which makes contact with the floor and does the all the work.  A secondary, smaller sander, with a revolving circular pad to which sandpaper is affixed, is used for working around the edges of the room and into the corners.  There will be a lot of noise, but not too much wood dust, because with modern machines this is efficiently collected for recycling in a bag attached to the upright.

The sandpaper is held in place with a metal strip on the drum and should be replaced regularly.  You start with the coarsest grade of sandpaper and work your way down to the finest as the wood becomes smoother.  Push the sander at an angle to the floorboards to begin with, before working in line with them, while keeping the drum lever to avoid creating gouges.

When you have finished the main sanding, use the smaller machine for the edges and finish off with a hand-held sander to tackle any stubborn details in the mouldings.  Finally, you apply stain and varnish to create an attractive and durable surface.