Many people aspire to have beautiful wooden flooring in their residences, which can necessitate having their current hardwood flooring restored. Sanding hardwood floors is a necessary step in any project, but it takes more time and effort than most people anticipate. Sanding takes time; hurrying through it can wear you out physically and even harm your floor.
Sanding and refinishing wood floors by yourself will undoubtedly save money. Once you grasp the fundamentals, patience will be more important than anything else in producing a perfect floor finish. Also, the experts of this industry can take care of the job for you. They’ll not only do it the right way, but they’ll also save you time and effort as they get it done in a timely manner. If you want new hardwood flooring installed quickly, be sure to hire professional contractors in your area.
But once the ridges between the boards have been smoothed out to prevent tripping, it’s all about looks. Your floor will be a work of beauty when it is finished, something you can be proud of and show off, but as soon as your kids or dog enter the room, it will revert to being a wood floor that you must mop or vacuum once a week.
Have you always wanted to refinish your hardwood floors but are afraid of sanding? You can restore your floors without the hassle and mess of sanding.
Sanding Process
Step 1: Take Off the Base Shoe
Your crown moulding’s bottom half is known as the base shoe. All of the baseboards in the room should be carefully removed. It must be taken down so you don’t unintentionally scratch it; once the job is over, you will reinstall it.
Step 2: Clean the floor
Try your best to remove any stains with a professional floor cleaning product. Pet stains are frequently irreversible, therefore you won’t be able to get them out off the floor in most cases.
Step 3: Understand Your Floor Sanding Equipment
To complete the majority of the work if you are doing it yourself, you will need to rent a drum sander. You will also need to rent an edger to finish the corners and sections around the wall.
Step 4: Set Up the Space
This phase involves doing the obvious things, such as taking out all of your furniture, laying down plastic, driving any protruding nails into the wall, lifting any low-hanging light fittings, etc.
Step 5: Start sanding in the Area
Sanding can be started with the drum sander. Try to maintain consistent pressure while moving from left to right. Never let the sander remain stationary since doing so could result in a floor burn.
Step 6: Start edging
Once the room’s main area is nicely smooth, use the edger to work the floor next to the walls. Even though this tool appears to be straightforward to use, mastering it will require some effort. Move gently and make an effort to maintain balance.
Step 7: Scrape the Corners
Start working the corners with a carbide paint scraper to remove the previous finish.
Step 8: Cleanup
In addition to cleaning up after finishing your sanding, you should also clean up in between grit papers. Make sure to clean up when switching from a 40-grit to a 60-grit, for instance. If you don’t, you can end up severely scratching your floor.
That’s everything you need to know about sanding. You will be prepared to screen, buff, and complete the rest of your floor at this point.
Sanding hardwood floors: How Long Does It Take?
When it comes to sanding hardwood floors, this is one of the most frequently asked questions by homeowners. Since most people are ignorant of how long it will take, they ask this so that they may make plans in advance. Due to inadequate preparation, they had to postpone the project.
A variety of variables determine how long it takes to sand a floor. There are many factors to take into account, including who is in charge of the project, the size of the room, the type of finishing coat, and the condition of the floor.
Size of the Room
Although it may seem obvious, sanding the floor takes longer the bigger the room is and the more rooms you have. You may finish sanding a large area considerably more quickly than you would if the space were divided into several smaller rooms if it has an open floor plan.
The state of the floor
Depending on how the floor is doing, sanding might be required. One contractor who specializes in installing and repairing hardwood floors says this. If your surface is heavily scratched, screening or polishing can be enough to get rid of them.
Unevenness
To restore the floor to a clear, flat surface, you will need to remove a lot more material if it is uneven. You could leave it uneven, but you would need to use a hand sander to smooth out the dips. You won’t gain any time by doing that. This category includes floors that include cups.
Damage
A good example of this would be if the wood’s polish has faded over time and has become grey with time, which is likely given woods natural tendency to fade.
If the old finish is covered by it, it can take longer to remove it. Similar to UV damage, this also penetrates very deeply, but it’s brought on by being around water and air. It must also be well sanded in order to be clean.
