Polishing Floorboards - My Experience

[Gooner]

I recently bought a house and been doing many restoration jobs, big and small. I have relied on this web site a lot and the wealth of information it contains, and so I have decided to "give something back" and describe my experience in polishing my floorboards for those who have never done it before and are contemplating doing it. Hopefully someone out there will find it useful and informative.

When we bought out house there was a combination of carpet, lino, tiles, and very scratched "polished" floorboards in the back rooms with an unknown finish. The carpet was in VERY bad condition, the lino quite ugly, the tiles straight from the 70's, and the exposed floorboards needed re-doing.

With a limited slush fund for various big renovations, I decided to do many renovations myself. This included polishing the floorboards. I have never polished floorboard before, so I did a lot of research and reading before I started. Let me say from now that it paid off as I believe the floors I have ended up with are as good as anything I have seen, (even if I do say so myself). Attention to detail and A LOT of elbow grease also played a large part.

I totally underestimated how long this job would take. I had about 90-100sqm of flooring to do. About 30% of that floor space consisted of ripping up carpet, 30% lino, 30% floorboards and 10% tiles. Ripping up the lino was VERY time consuming for reasons I will outline below. Overall it took me almost 3 entire weeks working solidly to finish my floors entirely. I think if I did it again with the experienced I gained, I think I could do it in 2 weeks. This is considering I did it all 100% myself.

I should point out that in the end I did not save all that much money doing it myself. By the time I rented the equipment, bought the tools and various bits and pieces I needed (or more to the point, THOUGHT I needed), I probably didn't save that much money. However, I am satisfied the job was done very well, proud I did it myself, and lost 5kg in the process!

Ripping up the carpet was easy. This can be completed within a day or two. If laid reasonably well, there will not be that many staples to remove and the tack strip comes off rather easily with a pry bar. The only problem we had was that after ripping up the carpet there were some very bad looking stains underneath. I fretted and fussed over these stains for a day or two. I wasted money on all kinds of bleaches, including various forms of oxalic acid that did virtually nothing to lift the stains. In the end, almost all of these stains managed to be sanded out, and those that remained are virtually unnoticeable once the rooms are furnished. So my advice would be that unless the wood is "stained" to the point where the wood is rotted, don't worry about it too much, they will probably sand out. If you are like me and think that you will not be able to live with a few dark spots in the finished floor, then I would say that in the end when the house is furnished, you probably will. If interested, I can email photos of the initial stains in the floor vs the finished result.

Removing the lino was another story. Although the lino had protected the tassie oak floorboards from stains, the wooden board it was glued to was stapled to the floorboards using THOUSANDS of 2cm long staples that almost penetrated the entire thickness of the floorboards. It was a nightmare to get them all out. After initially failing to remove a handful of these staples, I went all around town looking for some special tool to remove them. I found nothing. In the end I bought an expensive hammer (made from good quality steel) and ground the "nail pulling" end down to a point and used this with a rubber mallet with reasonable success. (The method I used actually involved 3 tools. I would be happy to explain it further if someone else experiences this problem). In all, it took me the best part of 2 days to remove all the staples and another good part of a day to putty all the little holes left by the staples. (I hand-applied all floor putty as opposed to applying it like a slurry).

Another job which took a long time was punching all the nails down 3-4mm deep. I decided quickly that I did not enjoy this job and so went looking to hire a "pneumatic nail punch". I found only one place in Melbourne, (in Heidelberg), which hired one, but unfortunately they did not have it there on the day, so I continued with a hammer and manual nail punch. Sitting on a floor punching in one nail at a time all day sends shudders up your spine and into your skull. I felt like my brain was floating in my skull by the end of the day. Not very nice. Use a heavy hammer and your arm gets tired quickly. Use a light hammer and the job takes too long. At the end of the day it is a time consuming job that just has to be done……and once again it takes a long time to putty up all the holes.

By this stage I had spent about 1 week and not even started sanding yet. This was the next bit of fun.

I found that most books/forums/websites that talk about sanding floorboards always emphasize how using the drum sander should be left to a professional because it is tricky to use and can quickly damage the floor. Yes, it can quickly damage the floor, as I found out only once when I did not lift the sander properly after stopping the machine, but other than that, it is quite easy and effective to use once you get the hang of it. After doing a small 3m x 3m room, I was quite acquainted with the operation of the drum sander. I had a drum sander with a good vacuum and hand-lever operated lifting mechanism. It was a piece of cake to use.

The edge sander was different story. Not only did I find it difficult to use, but also back breaking due to the fact that you have to bend down and use it. I first hired an edge sander from a company in Bayswater, Melbourne. I struggled with it for half a day. It would constantly run away from me and gouge the floor. I though this was due to my inexperience, but by the end of the day I refused to believe I was so incompetent using this tool. To test this, I went down to Bunning's and hired an edge sander from there. The Bunning's edge sander was 100% better and I obtained a very good result immediately. I believe that it is very important to ensure you obtain an edge sander with adjustable rear wheel height. This is important to control the contact area with the floor. As you progress from coarse to fine grit, you will want to control this.

At this stage my advice would be not to underestimate the cost of the sandpaper required to complete this job. I sanded the floor using 40, 60 and 120 grit paper using the drum and edge sander. The drum sander would consume one roll every 9 sqm. For 90 sqm, that is 10 rolls for each of the 3 grits at around $8 each. That's AUD $240 worth of paper for the drum sander alone. The edger also chewed through paper and cost about another $80. Therefore, take this cost into consideration as well as the cost of the equipment hire. All up, I spent about AUD $400 on sand paper.



....continued below...

[Gooner]

In a way I found that the edger had more potential to damage the floor than the drum sander. The drum sander, (if done properly), leaves a nice consistent finish. The edger can leave swirls that can be difficult to remove. Remember that the edger actually removes a lot of material in relation to it's size. Therefore, take care with the edger. Try to keep it under control and not leave swirls. Remember that the only way to remove swirls left by 36-40 grit paper is to use 60-80 grit paper afterwards. If you jump from 40 grit to 120 grit, the 120 grit will not take out the scratches left by the 40 grit. It is for this reason you must progress up the grit scales.

After sanding with 120 grit paper I was still not entirely happy with the finish as I could detect some swirls in the floor. (I am quite fussy). I hired a large rotary buffer and used 120 grit paper. I'm not sure if it was me, the sander, or the paper, but I found this to be a waste of time and money. After buffing, I could still see some swirls left by the buffer! In the end, I went over the entire floor using a small orbital sander using 120 grit paper. This got all the existing swirls out of the floor. It was hard work and required a good eye for detail and some elbow grease, but I think this final step in preparation went a long way in achieving the very good finish I achieved.

For all corners I bought one of those small "mouse" orbital sanders. I bought the Bosch PSM 160 sander for $100 at Bunnings and let me tell you it was worth its weight in gold. I used this EXTENSIVELY (and still do for other jobs) and it was the sander I used to go over the entire floor as described in the previous paragraph. I also used this, along with a chisel set, to do all corners. It takes a while to get the corners level and looking good, but the mouse sander does a good job.

At this point I noticed a problem with a handful of boards splintering. I only detected it while walking around with socks. Attempting to remove a splintered section revealed that the splinter would go deep into the wood and quickly become a large chunk of wood, rather than a splinter. I mulled over this problem for a while and contemplated replacing these boards entirely. The last thing I wanted was splinters in my feet after polishing the boards. Being tongue and groove boards, I was slightly hesitant to replace them. In the end I sanded the areas down, watered down some putty (not too much water) and applied the watered down putty over the affected area. I also used a small quantity of polyurethane glue in some areas I was particularly concerned about . I waited for it to dry and then sanded it down again. I repeated this between the first 2 coats of finish, and I haven't had a problem at all with splinters or the wood lifting.

I decided to use the Wattyl 7008 2-pack polyurethane finish. In retrospect, I regret using this product for one reason only - Once the job is completed, it cannot be recoated. As already mentioned the floor looks great, the 7008 adhered very well and is a tough durable finish. But when the time comes to redo the floor because of wear and scratches, the 7008 has to be totally removed. I.e. We will need to sand down to bare timber again. There are other single pack products that can be lightly sanded and recoated. Not the 7008. This annoys me, because if the floor has a few annoying scratches, I can't simply re-coat.

Another thing about the 7008 is that it is painful to use and, once opened, part B has a very short shelf life. I bought 2x 20 litre drums of part A and B (40 litres in total) and one tin of reducer. All up it cost $650 from Bunnings. The reducer is the only thing that gets the 7008 off and is required for clean up. Mixing the stuff is mildly annoying, but cleaning up is downright painful. I also found that once you get the 7008 on your sink, taps, floor, walls, or paint brushes, it is very difficult to remove. After a few days, it is impossible. I had to throw away all paint brushes I used for the job, even after I thought I cleaned them well. Besides all of this, I wouldn't hesitate to use the 7008 again, if it wasn't for the fact that it cannot be recoated. Next time around I would probably investigate some other single pack products that can be recoated, and that can be shelved after opening.

To apply the finish I used a lambs wool applicator. I split the finishing job into 2 sections of the house which I completed consecutively, as it takes a little while to apply the finish and the 7008 has strict re-coating time frames. I learnt after a while that the best way to apply the finish is to pour it on the floor and then smooth it out using the lambs wool applicator at the end of the broom-length pole. Make sure to maintain a wet edge at all times. My floor required strategic planning to ensure I maintained a wet edge. For example, if you must stop coating a hallway to complete an adjacent room, then stop in the hallway a few feet before the room door. While completing the room, go back into the hallway periodically and do an extra foot at a time in order to maintain a wet edge. This is what I did and it worked out well. I cannot see any "dry lines" in the hallway.

Also do not underestimate how much work applying the finish is. Using the 7008 involves mixing, applying, and a painful cleanup of all equipment. It also involved applying 4 coats, instead of the "standard" 3. Another thing is that between coats, light sanding is recommended/required. I used 180 grit paper and the Bosch mouse orbital sander. If doing a large floor area, this can take time. After sanding you need to vacuum the area thoroughly and then go over it by hand using tack cloth. Even after careful vacuuming, the tack cloth picks up a significant amount of dust, and so this step should not be missed. Tack cloth is recommended as it has minimal chance of causing adhering problems with the finish due to contamination. At this stage of the job, the LAST thing you want is for a coat to peel or flake off!

I would also recommend using a shop-vac rather than a regular vacuum cleaner. After all was done, I ended up with 9 large garbage bags of saw-dust. With the sheer quantity of saw dust this job involves, I think a regular vacuum cleaner would quickly die. A shop vac costs around $100 from Bunnings.

3 solid weeks later, (3 weeks of my "holidays"), I completed my floors and was very impressed with the result. So are others who have seen them. In retrospect it probably would have been much more cost effective to get it done "professionally" but I am hoping that my attention to detail compensated. I also feel like I earned a DIY "stripe"… if not a medal!

Although this post is very long, I feel like I have skimmed over a lot of detail. I would be more than happy to share more information if you want to email or PM me. I will finish saying that even if you have never done it before, you CAN polish your own boards, but you must do your research, not take short-cuts, and pay attention to detail.

However, do not underestimate the amount of work it takes. I believe that paying someone around $22-$30 per sqm to do your floorboards is actually quite a bargain in comparison to doing it yourself….unless you really want to.

Cheers.

[Dusty]

Top effort.

I only detected one mistake, as I speed read your post. It's back breaking (the edge sanding)

All you need to do now, is get the entire process down to within a week, get your materials cost (not including the 2 pac) to below $50, learn to handle-with diplomacy- home owners, builders,designers and I believe you will have your self a small floor sanding & polishing business.

However, you will need to get your head 'round the punching of the nails.

You can post photo's here, on this BB. No need to email them.

[obee60]

Great post Gooner.:2tsup:
The only bit that really scared me as I gear towards laying and sanding about 80m2 of boards, is the sanding of the whole area using a "mouse" sander.:C

Cheers.....obee.

[Gooner]

Thanks dusty for pointing out my typo :)

Once again, I think the hardest thing about doing it yourself the first time is that it is a learning experience as you go. I wasted money and time because of my lack of experience. I had some hired equipment laying around for a day or two idle while I figured out the best way of handling an intermediate step. I also spent around $150 on wood bleaches that simply did nothing to lift stains.

Obee, by no means do I suggest doing 80-100sqm of floor with a mouse sander. I did it this way because it was what I had available to me at the time and didn't want to go and spend the cash on a bigger orbital sander. In retrospect, I should have. A bigger orbital always comes in handy. If I was to do it again, I would definitely sand the entire floor again with a hand orbital sander before finishing.

[Gooner]

..one more thing... Polishing the floors yourself has one large downside. After 3 long hard weeks of work I now find myself absolutely paranoid about my floors. I am constantly looking at the floor at different angles looking for new scratches or imperfections. When I find one, my heart sinks. When someone comes into the house I make sure to ask them to check if they have stones embedded in their shoes. If I am watching TV, my attention is often diverted to the floor to conduct a quick “scratch scan”. I am hoping that one day I will lay off the paranoia!

[obee60]

Gooner. Yeah I've got a Bosch PEX 400 AE sander and will use that if I need it. I will however buy a small mouse sander for all the other fiddly bits that will more than likely need a spruce up. How are they, price wise for new pads?

And I know what you mean about the paranoia thing.
I spent a lot of time and money last January doung a complete kitchen makeover and it has taken this long for me to stop looking for problems.
I think that's probably a good trait - as long as you can eventually let go !!

[scooter]

Terrific post, Gooner :2tsup: :D

Could you elaborate on the method & the modified hammer (pics?) you used for pulling the lino staples, and any other tips & tricks you can think of. Threads like these are invaluable for others looking to follow in your footsteps & tackle their own floor.

I also think you should post up pics of the finished job for us all to ooh & aah over. :)

More info for the thread - these (http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://toolmonger.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/grippliers.jpg&imgrefurl=http://toolmonger.com/2007/05/09/hot-or-not-extractor-nail-puller-pliers/&h=226&w=450&sz=14&hl=en&start=2&tbnid=tCl25OSwaJFP7M:&tbnh=64&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcrescent%2Bnail%2Bpliers%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG)are available locally & could be the go for a lot of nail pulling.


Cheers................Sean

[chrisb691]

An excellent post...thank you. :2tsup:

[Gooner]

......small mouse sander for all the other fiddly bits that will more than likely need a spruce up. How are they, price wise for new pads?


A pack of 10 pads cost around $8.

[malb]

Had most of a small house done professionally this time last year, about 9-10 squares total. Cost was $1600 with bare floors laid in the late 50's then carpeted over. Sanded and punched/filled on friday, first coat Monday, second coat Tuesday, back finishing interior on Thursday. Found about 4 raised dust spots and 1 insect print when finished, otherwise perfect. About 200 litres of collected dust, all machines had there own extractors built in, probably vacuumed about 10 litres (loose) of the floor before coating.
Hardest part was getting into the schedule for the contractor. Can pass on contact details if people PM me.

[Classical Dj]

Gooner, what year was the house built, in which you sanded the floor? Having no experience in the field whatsoever, I am cautious about sanding the hardwood and pine floors of my 1917 house, as I have heard on numerous occasions that sanding will do more harm than good... Any advice?


cheers

[Gooner]

Gooner, what year was the house built, in which you sanded the floor? Having no experience in the field whatsoever, I am cautious about sanding the hardwood and pine floors of my 1917 house, as I have heard on numerous occasions that sanding will do more harm than good... Any advice?


The house was built in the late 1970's. Most of the house has had carpet, lino or tiles the entire time.

I am not qualified to give you advice on your floors. I did do a lot of reading but did not go specifically looking for advice on polishing old floors.

What I do recall reading is that sanding using a big drum sander can be quite "traumatic" on floorboards and can sometimes cause the wood to split. This may subsequently result in surface splinters that run deep into the wood. I would imagine that older floorboards may be more prone to this. I would think that it may be better to sand older floorboards using a smaller sander… but I am only guessing.
Nothing that a professional could not answer properly…….

[Clinton1]

Well done Gooner.

After reading that I think I've a lot more understanding of how a professional really earns their $, and why there seem to be a lot of cowboys that do it cheaper and stuff it up so badly.

I've heard of a really good floor sander/finisher that does the whole area on their hands and knees with a Festo orbital sander... only!

The attention to detail of a good floor guy must be quiet something.

[jags]

grooner thanks for the informative and great post

I am in or should i say still in the process of renovating an old 70 s homeswest house with jarrah boards and have removed walls and a concrete floors and added 13m2 of recycled boards to create a bigger kitchen .
some of the old floor was covered in particle board and lino that had been nailed down with small nails every 5cm apart . the best way i found to remove these was to use vice grips and a spare floor board to roll the side of the vice grips on to create some leverage if needed ...

i was going to do the sanding myself .but after doing a lot of research and reading your post i have desided to get the pros to do it ...the one problem that know doubt is the reason you and most people do the job themselve is you really don't know how good the person you are getting to do the job is and if they really care about the finish as must as you do . and how many sands and coats they will do

any references for the best jarrah board sanding company in perth would be apreciated At present i am leaning towards using a company called Dempsey and using a water base semi gloss ...

thanks again

[arimar]

Thanks gooner, I wish we had you around when we did our boards. We got a professional in who showed us his photos of previous jobs, all exceptional, he also showed letters from previous customers. Our floors however did not look anywhere near as good. He left circular marks in every room, the gloss levels were uneven all up i would say a very shabby job. We had a baby on the way and so did not ask for him to fix it. We are now about to do a major renovation and will do a great deal of research as to who does the job re our floorboards this time round. Its great to hear that there are people out there who take real pride in what they do.

[Gooner]

some of the old floor was covered in particle board and lino that had been nailed down with small nails every 5cm apart . the best way i found to remove these was to use vice grips and a spare floor board to roll the side of the vice grips on to create some leverage if needed ...

i was going to do the sanding myself .but after doing a lot of research and reading your post i have desided to get the pros to do it ...the one problem that know doubt is the reason you and most people do the job themselve is you really don't know how good the person you are getting to do the job is and if they really care about the finish as must as you do . and how many sands and coats they will do



Heyya Jags.

Just two comments to make to your response.

Firstly, I did try the vice grip method you describe. The problem is that because so much of the staple was in the wood, most of the time the staple would break off at the top. When this happened it was very hard to get it out.

Secondly, it seems like I have put a few people off from sanding their own floors. This wasn't really my intention as such, but did want to point out that it is not an "easy weekend job".

If I was to get a "professional" in next time to sand the floors then I would definitely do one of two things;

1. Get them to only sand the floors and apply the finish myself. This would give me the chance to get down on the floor and inspect the job properly and fix up any imperfections I could see. (Or get them to fix it). Smallish imperfections tend to show up even more when a gloss finish is put on a floor. However, I would like to point out again that applying the finish is no walk in the park either. It is not hard to apply the finish itself if you follow a good application method, but the -entire- floor must be lightly sanded between -each- coat, thoroughly vacuumed, and if you want to make sure a good job is done, go over the -entire- floor between -each- coat by hand using a tack cloth after vacuuming. This all takes some time.

2. Get them to sand and finish, but not to progress with the application of the finish until I had a chance to inspect the floor preparation first. I think this would give me a good overall indication of the quality of their work. If I was thoroughly unimpressed, I would pay them what the floor sanding was worth and ask them to walk away from the finishing job and then do it myself.

[Gooner]

Thanks gooner, I wish we had you around when we did our boards. We got a professional in who showed us his photos of previous jobs, all exceptional, he also showed letters from previous customers. Our floors however did not look anywhere near as good. He left circular marks in every room, the gloss levels were uneven all up i would say a very shabby job. We had a baby on the way and so did not ask for him to fix it. We are now about to do a major renovation and will do a great deal of research as to who does the job re our floorboards this time round. Its great to hear that there are people out there who take real pride in what they do.

Arimar, as I just wrote in my last response, that is why I would insist on inspecting the sanded floor before any "professional" applied the finish. Getting down on your hands and knees and looking at the sanded floor before finishing at different angles to a light source will reveal any swirls.

(We also had a baby (our first) on the way, so it was the first job we wanted to get done. He was born just two days ago :)

[chrise]

Hi Gooner

Like you I did our floors, about 100sm of wonderful old 70's Cyprus Pine under the carpet and the 2 layers of Lino and then a layer of kitchen carpet on top of that again in the kitchen. Seems that it was easier to just lay more lino and then kitchen carpet over the top each time the previous owners wanted to up date the kitchen coverings *sigh*. I was lucky as the floor boards were in near mint condition underneath the carpet etc (dirty but mint) 95% nails had been punched at some stage when the house was built so not having to punch all the nails saved me a lot of time. My carpet was laid the old way not using smooth edge but folded over and stapled all around the edges and I think the carpet layer let the apprentice loose with the staple gun on the edging and underlay as well. In the kitchen I had the same problems as you with 10,000 staples in the floor many breaking off when trying to pull them out, I simply punched the broken ones that couldn't be pulled in with a very fine nail punch. As Cyprus pine is a very busy floor some extra holes with putty in them didn't matter and does not show. (A funny note, when we pulled 3 layers of floor covering up in the kitchen we could finally get our feet underneath the kick boards of the kitchen cabinets.)

I originally hired one of the Hiretech drum floor sanders (The most common brand from the hire shops like Coates and Kennards etc) as they were cheaper to hire (where I live) than the bigger ones from Bunning's with the drum control lever on it. I used the hiretech one for 1 day only and found it OK if you were very careful but like you I did leave 1 smallish sized gouge in the spare room floor (but its underneath the bed) I took the hiretech one back and went to Bunning's and hired the better sander. Should have hired the Bunning's one in the first place as I have used in the past both the Hiretech ones and the lever control ones. Way way easier to use and a far superior job even for a Bunning's hire unit. I didn't need to use the road grit 40 paper and cross cut on my floors as at some stage the floor had been sanded before the carpet was laid when the house was built and 99% of all the boards were nearly perfect although there were some previous (smallish) gouge marks in the floor and not all of them came out. I started with 60 and then went straight to 120 without an issue at all.

(A hint for anyone wanting to sand their own floors get the drum sander with the drum control lever on it well worth the extra few $ in ease of use, time and finish)

As far as the edging sander goes yes they are a pain and can be back breaking but having removed all the skirting boards before hand as part of the reno made the job so much easier. Again I started with 60 grit paper, unless the floor is in very bad condition with lots of uneven boards there is not really a need to use road base 40 grit to start with (in my opinion). A big hint with an edging sander is if you hit a nail/staple you missed or that was just under the surface replace the paper straight away if it has torn the paper as they will leave gouges on the floor quick time. The same applies to the drum sander but it doesn't seem to mark the timber as badly as the edging sander will with torn paper. I am also lucky that a great mate owns a furniture manufacturing business and he lent me one of the commercial Festool random orbital sanders with vacuum attached on the weekend when they were not needing it in the business and these just blow the edging sanders away in my opinion for ease of use and finish. Yes it does take a bit longer as they are not as powerful or as heavy as the proper edging sanders but when you are doing it your self you are not technically on the charge by the hour clock.

Something you will also find when sanding floors (and the pros can correct me here if wrong) is that no matter how careful you are and how fastidious with the drum sander you are you can get some small chatter marks in some of the boards, as the boards them selves can sometimes vibrate/chatter under the drum as you pass over sections. Very hard to stop this happening or to get the small chatter marks out. A lot of the time the chatter marks are not noticeable until you put the first coat of floor sealer on and by then its to late unless you want to start again.

I didn't fill the nail holes until till I was ready to do the final finish sand. As far as filling all of the nail holes I mixed 2 different Timbermate putties together to get almost a perfect match for the floor. I found the Cyprus pine colour was to yellow and the Cedar colour was sort of to brown, about 2 thirds Cyprus and 1 third cedar was near perfect for my floor colour.

I used Feast Watson Floor Seal on my floor a tung oil based floor sealer as we wanted a more satin finish than high gloss and also its way easier to apply and can be repaired easily (unlike Poly and 2 pac polly). Being a tight ass and needing 3 X 10 litre tins to do 3 coats on my floor I went shopping for price on the sealer. Bunning's is about $160.00 per tin. Looking on Ebay (one of my fav places to get well priced items for our reno) I found dented tins for $80.00 a tin from a Sydney trader plus $10.00 per tin postage if needed. (A mate was coming up from Sydney for a weekend so saved another $30.00) There is nothing wrong at all with dented tins of paint or floor sealer etc and in most cases if you shop around you will save your self lots of $$$$'s buying dented tins. For some reason people want to buy perfect looking tins of paint etc from the Bunning's type shops of the retail world.

Gooner don't be to paranoid about scratches/marks etc on/in your floor, it is at the end of the day only a floor that used and abused with every day life. :)

[seriph1]

Any chance of some pics for those posters who have done this job? I know floors are hard to photograph but for me at least, seeing a few pics might give me a little hope if I ever decide to tackle what sounds like an unbearable job! :D:D

[aussiecolector]

I have done a few floors. I live over 200km from the nearest hire shop so I went all out and bought a second hand 12" drum sander and 6" edger. I have applied two different finishes, Tungseal ($170 per 20l) and Orange Tung oil ($530 per 20l). Both can be patched up.

I'm not all that fussy with a perfect finish but I'm getting better as I go along. I don't putty nail holes as that seems to fit in better with the old houses around here.

Photo is of a new bedroom I built on for my 16 year old daughter. I did the work myself with a little help from some mates, starting with cementing in the stumps. All the timber is finished with tungseal, two coats on the floor and one on everything else. I still have to finish the ladder to the top bunk and one draw handle which I make myself. Note the locker at the head of each bed for all those secret things.

[LegacyGT]

I hired the drum and edge sander from Kennards yesterday and what a dirty job that was. Started at 9am finished at 9pm. Was only a small 4x3m room but i am so sore.

I know your not supposed to lift the drum sander but it was more effective - i had to fight the machine constantly. Now that the sanding is done i don't think i have the strength to polish it.

How do i clean the boards in the sanded state so it doesn't feel dirty when you walk on it? i have wiped it down 4 times and vacuumed it twice.

[Gooner]

How do i clean the boards in the sanded state so it doesn't feel dirty when you walk on it? i have wiped it down 4 times and vacuumed it twice.

What grit paper did you use for the final sand? What type of timber?

After the final sand the floor should feel very smooth. You should be using at least 100 grit paper. I used 120 grit and went over it a few times to make it very smooth. After drum and edge sanding with the 120 grit it wasn't as smooth as I wanted it so I went over it again with a small orbital using 120 grit. This made it "baby bottom smooth". After that I vacuumed twice (using a small head on the vacuum cleaner) and then tack clothed.

It is important the floor is smooth before finishing or else it will show.

[Terrian]

drum sanders, bah,humbug, we did the hallways & 2 bedrooms with a 4" grinder with a triton random orbital sander attachment, finished off with a hand held sanding block about 14 years ago (2 years later we scored more than enough near new old carpet to re-carpet the whole house)
:)

[nickster]

Hi all,
have read with interest, and now i've been sanding floors for a few days I now have a few questions.

the pine wooden floors (tongue in groove) have moved slightly over the last 50 odd years, and now there are 1-3 mm gaps between all of the boards. What have other people used to fill these gaps? I read that someone mixed 2 coloured putty's to match the floor for nail holes, but am thinking this is going to be a big job if i have to putty all the joins. I have 2 rooms at 3 x 4 m and a hallway 4m long to do.

I will tackle the hardwood floors at the back of the house in a week or so but they haven't moved and don't have gaps so fingers crossed everything goes well with those ones!

thanks,

Nick

[abitfishy]

Bugger, I was actually coming on tonight to see if there was an easy way to remove all the staples I'm left with now I've ripped up the carpet, but maybe there isn't. I'm using pliers to pull them up, never thought of using the nail puller of a hammer.....will give it a try.

[seriph1]

putty doesn't really have any give in it so will fail because timber is always taking on, and giving off moisture, therefore always moving. Having said this though, you may not actually mean putty but wood filler (like Timbermate) - you can mix filler to match a wood, but you will be faced with the same problem...... I believe a flexible caulk (applied with a caulking gun) would be a far better bet and it is available in a range of colours - Pine is one of them. The one I used is still happily sealing our Baltic Pine hallway floorboards after 5 years. It was sorta messy to apply, but cleaned up in water. As I did it I thought to myself that (if there was such a thing) a really stiff sponge would be an ideal thing to wipe away the excess, as the cloth and sponges I used created a concave result. BTW to try and curb the drafts in our floors, I am going to try a bead of plumbers foam between some boards that have lost their tongues entirely. I believe there is a spray product that's denser than the regular foam but I haven't seen it. Will probably be a disaster but hey, these boards are so damaged I have nothing to lose. :D:D:D:D:D

[seriph1]

Bugger, I was actually coming on tonight to see if there was an easy way to remove all the staples I'm left with now I've ripped up the carpet, but maybe there isn't. I'm using pliers to pull them up, never thought of using the nail puller of a hammer.....will give it a try.

Not sure how heavy these staples are, but I was surprised when I used some pincers (nippers?) to remove some very fine nails - they worked a treat when the pliers kept breaking the things off.

[abitfishy]

Not sure how heavy these staples are, but I was surprised when I used some pincers (nippers?) to remove some very fine nails - they worked a treat when the pliers kept breaking the things off.


Pincers.....yeah, I think worth a try. Trouble with the pliers is gripping the staples that tend to be in deeper is difficult, sometimes taking 3 or 4 tries to pull it out - all around the border of the room this will take me tooooo long, and my hand will be flamin sore too! But gee, jarrah floorboards are so much nicer than 70's carpet. :U

[Gooner]

the pine wooden floors (tongue in groove) have moved slightly over the last 50 odd years, and now there are 1-3 mm gaps between all of the boards. What have other people used to fill these gaps?
Nick

I used Timbermate wood filler to fill any gaps that were around 2-3mm wide. I have T&G Tasmanian oak boards that were laid around 30 years ago. I did my floorboards back in October and I have noticed that over the summer some of the gaps have become wider and "cracked open" the putty in the gaps. Therefore I would probably try and find something better suited to the job than Timbermate. The pros in the instructional videos and books I have used a slurry type method to apply the filler. I don't know what it is they used but they cover the entire floor with the stuff. It obviously must be meant for the job.


Bugger, I was actually coming on tonight to see if there was an easy way to remove all the staples I'm left with now I've ripped up the carpet, but maybe there isn't. I'm using pliers to pull them up, never thought of using the nail puller of a hammer.....will give it a try.

I had zero success with pliers with my very stubborn staples. Scooter recommended the use of some "Grippliers" eary in this thread. I did not use them myself, but I have since seen something similar at Bunnings. (In fact the ones at Bunnings look better). I think they look promising. Image attached.

As I have already mentioned, I had success by grinding a point on the nail puller part of the hammer. I have attached a photo of this as well. Seeing is your staples are near the wall, perhaps you could try the same on a pry-bar if you are really having problems.

[Gooner]

This is a 10 year old thread, but came across it in my old posts.

Just a note that 10 years on the Wattyl 7008 2-pack polyurethane has held up great. Its gotten beaten around by 2 kids over ten years as well as a whole range of other abuse including furniture being dragged on it. It has shown some signs of wear in area but overall, I'm very impressed by the durability. Good product.

[lorax]

Pincer pliers are best for removing staples etc. If they are driven in hard you might need to start off with a small chisel or screwdriver and mallet until you can get a little purchase with the pincer pliers.