Floor Sanding
Floor sanding is not something we want to think about doing. It's a big job and most of us would prefer to leave it to the experts. Some brave souls however, would rather do it themselves. More power to them, literally.
There are three steps to floor sanding. The first step is to rent drum sanders. It is a massive piece of equipment that cannot be handled by one person. This first step is a two-person step. This machine consists of the sander, a large dust bag and a drum where you attach large sheets of sanding paper. You won't find this type of sandpaper at your local hardware store; you must buy it at the tool rental yard. You will need to buy three different grades - coarse, medium and fine and be sure to buy more than you think you will need. Some tool rental yards will buy back unused sanding paper, but it would be wise to check first.
The drum sander takes off all the bad spots, the rough spots, paint splatters, stains and anything else that might be on the floor. It takes the floor down to bare wood. The only bad thing is if you're not careful, you could carve permanent grooves in the wood. It would be easy to strip off too much without even noticing it. This is one disadvantage of doing the floor sanding yourself.
The next step is the vibrating sander. It's about the same size as a drum sander but weighs much less. It also comes with a dust bag and there is much less danger of hurting the wood. It is easier to move across the floor because of the vibrating motion. You could also use an orbital sander which will also take your wood floor down to its smoothest finish.
The third step is the orbital sander. This gets to the hard to reach areas that the other two sanders can't get. It is hand held, has a dust bag and has an orbital motion. This is not an ordinary orbital sander that you might have in your garage. This one is heavy, has lots of power and is expensive. You could opt to rent it. It will prepare your hardwood floors for refinishing.
The whole process of sanding your hardwood floors in preparation for refinishing is a hard job. In step one, you must be sure not to take off too much, in step two, you need to make sure the finish is completely smooth and in step three, you have to be sure the floor is completely ready to be refinished. This is why most people leave floor sanding to the pros.
