Cheap Floor Sanding Tips For Easy Sanding Of Soft Wood Floors
Cheap Floor Sanding Tips For Easy Sanding Of Soft Wood Floors, is an article that will walk the average homeowner through the task of sanding and refinishing a soft pumpkin pine antique wood floor.
Take a few moments to read this insightful informative article and learn the basics before you begin. Learning these tips can save a lot of time and money.
To start out with you will need to have an idea of what the floor will look like when your done. This will let you know if your floor can be refinished to a good looking product.
Most floors will become a work of art, just by removing the top layers of paint and grime and oxidation from years of use.
Some questions to consider are;
- Is your floor painted? If so then extra effort will be required when sanding this floor to remove enough wood to get rid of any paint. Smell is an issue if the floor was painted with lead paint and a resperator and gloves and goggles should be worn for this operation. This type of job presents great health risks and all safety precautions should be followed.
- What type of wood are you dealing with? Knowing the type of wood you have on your floor will allow you to look on line or in sample pics at the paint store or flooring store to see what that type of wood looks like refinished. This can help to decide if the floor is going to produce a finish product we'll enjoy having in our living space.
- Is it hardwood or softwood? Hard wood floors will take a bit more work to refinish then soft wood floors for exactly the reasons their names would suggest. Sanding hard wood is more time intense. Softwood floors require great care to not sand them down to far. The floor could be damaged beyond repair with a little slip of the machine.
- Do you have water stains? If there are dark water stains on a floor. Usually these areas will require replacement wood as water stains are normally absorbed directly into the wood adding a black stained look no matter how deep you sand. Unless your looking for an aged distressed look then a perfect finish will be hard to obtain on a water damaged floor
- Do you have holes or rot in the floor? Holes in the floor can be plugged with the same type of wood. Sometimes a round hole saw can be used to drill out the damaged area if it's small enough. Then drill a new piece of the same wood and plug the hole with the blank you produce. A little glue and allow it to set over night prior to sanding. Larger areas will require new boards to be installed to replace the damaged areas. All repair work must be done in the preparation stages to sand a fine finish on everything once the damaged areas are repaired.
Once all of these questions have been answered we're ready to start thinking about what type of equipment we will need to accomplish the project. If this is a soft antique pumpkin pine or yellow pine floor, a drum sander will be used to bring the main areas down to the desired hight.
An edge machine is used to get the last 4 or 5 inches against walls. The corners are finished with a very sharp wood chisel and then hand sanded. Each operation is repeated with finer and finer paper until 100 grit sandpaper leaves a smooth surface we'll be happy with.
This machinery is available to rent at all larger home improvement store and they will give you basic instructions on how to operate the tools. They are usually available on a daily or hourly basis. Drum sanders and edgers are very expensive. The large unit can run into thousands of dollars to purchase and this is why most homeowners and even some contractors will choose to rent the equipment rather then buy.
Keeping your dust bags cleaned out by emptying them when they are half full will keep the dust from this operation down to a minimum. All sanding Debris like used paper and sawdust should be bagged an placed into a fireproof container and removed to a dumpster or other area where safe from ignition. This refuse can spontaneously combust without a flame source due to the paints, stains and other chemicals that exist in the sawdust.
Once your floor is sanded smooth to the touch and sight, you're ready to apply any finishing colored stains you may like. If a natural finish is desired then no stain will be required and polyurethane will be your only finish.
If you are staining the floor, you will need to decide on the application method. Experimentation is the only way to get the desired look. Use a piece of the same wood as your floor for sampling application methods until you find the right one to get what you want.
Some methods are using a rag to wipe in the stain. Using a brush to apply your finish or a lambs wool applicator. All methods are right for their respective results. Stain should always be allowed to dry for at least 24 hours before proceeding to the final coats of clear finish
Now we must choose the desired finish. They come in high gloss, semi gloss, satin and flat. Those are the different polyurethane options. Each one results in a slightly different look and again personal opinion will make this decision.
Once we've chosen what type of finish we'd like it is recommended to use one coat of prime sealer for wood and then at least three coats of finish poly. Sanding in between each coat with 100 grit sandpaper. All dust should be swept up and the entire floor vacuumed completely including any cracks or nail holes in old floors. Then the whole floor should be wiped clean again with a tack rag. Doing this between each coat will result in a nice clear finish that will last for many years.
This type of restoration will give you a virtually maintenance free floor. Mopping lightly with a damp mop is all they require. Adding a great deal of value to any house floor finishing is a great way for a homeowner to build some sweat equity into a property.
Hopefully Cheap Floor Sanding Tips For Easy Sanding Of Soft Wood Floors, has enlightened you slightly to the things you need to find out before you begin sanding your soft or hard wood floors.
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Comments
This is a great much-needed article. Are you familiar w/ the "screen & coat method? It is used with a buffer...screened w/ sandpaper attached? Will take to home-improvement store as suggested. Thank you.
Yes this is another type of floor sanding technique, It works well for soft wood floors like the pine and fir floors in older homes.
A little more technique to operate the buffer but if you can run a floor buffer then you can do it that way. Same process for finishing basicall as the drum type machine. There is also a pad vibrater method this machines advantages are the square design completes the corners where the other two require a different machine.
Good luck wth your project and you know how to get me if you need any more remote help.
THank you.
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