Published on 14 March 2011

Posted in Floor Sanding Tips

After a few years of enjoying the comfy feeling of a well fitted carpet under your feet as you venture down the stairs first thing in the morning, you may be looking for a change both in look and feel of your property, without losing any of the warmth offered by a carpet. A way to guarantee this is to sand your floorboards, to create a smooth finish which you can be proud of and enjoy for years to come. However, to get the very best result when sanding down your floor, it isn’t as simple as hiring a floor sander from us here at Floor Sander Hire and being let loose on the wood. For this reason, we’ve created this beginner’s guide to ensuring perfection when sanding.

As with all areas of home DIY, there are various stages that you need to go through before you end up with the perfect finished product. The first is the preparation of the room itself– ensuring it’s completely empty – and the sander (with the correct grit paper). When you’re satisfied the area, yourself and the sander are fully prepared, the work can begin.

One of the best ways to think about sanding is as though you’re painting – after all when painting a wall, you don’t slap paint here and there, going in any direction, hoping for a smooth perfect coat. Instead, you’d start at one end and work your way across. Sanding the floor is exactly the same.

Start against the wall in one corner and go with the grain – this way you can be certain of a smooth finish. But before you turn the sander on, ensure the drum is elevated and never leave the sander on one area for too long; otherwise you’ll end up taking chunks out of the wood.

To keep a smooth finish to all areas of the floor, move your floor sander at a gradual pace until you reach the opposite end of the room from where you started. Once you get here, tilt the drum upwards, and switch the sander off. You should now be left with a smooth surface which, once thoroughly swept, is ready to varnish.

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