Published on 17 January 2011

Posted in Floor Sander Hire

Renovating an old country cottage back into its former glory can be a rewarding job – if done correctly. Yes it may take a lot of hard work, effort and elbow grease, but the end results will be a property which you can be proud of and which oozes character. When carrying out renovating work one of the tasks will be sanding the wooden floorboards – a job which needs to be done carefully and with the right tools. Here at Floor Sander Hire, we’ve compiled this helpful how-to guide.

As with any DIY job, the first thing to do before sanding any floor is to prepare the area. This may sound obvious, but because sanding can be a dusty job, it’s important the windows are opened to allow ventilation and the doors are sealed to prevent dust getting into other areas of your house.

Before you start work, it’s also essential to tool yourself up with:

•    face masks,
•    goggles,
•    ear protectors

To get the best results when sanding timber, it’s best to follow these steps.

1.    Using a light sandpaper go with the grain. But make sure you move evenly and don’t stay to long on any area – doing so would give the sander the chance to eat the floor beyond repair.
2.    Once you’ve completed step one, the majority of any varnish / coating should’ve vanished, but to make sure (and to start to get to the new wood), repeat step 1 using a coarser level of sandpaper.
3.    For the final time, go over the timber, but this time using sandpaper with a grit level of 120.

Once these steps have been done using a drum or belt sander on the main area of the floor, repeat them around the edges using an edging sander. After that’s all been done, use a damp cloth (soaked in white spirit) to remove any leftover residue – allow this to dry before adding varnish or protective coating which is also available from us here at Floor Sander Hire.

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