Floor Sanding - Belt Sander

[tcns]

Today I sanded our kitchen floor which measures around 2m x 4m.
The floor had lino over it and the floorboards had previously been polished.
The goose who owned the house previously had dropped paint all over it
and plaster when they were putting plasterboard in.

I thought I may have been able to get away with a good clean and a buff but it was too far gone. So I bit the bullet and sanded it all off today bar the edges
with a belt sander. Let me just say anoyone who has sanded more than hallways and or small rooms I really take my hat off to you - it was hard work.

I am going to hire an edge sander to clean up the edges and finish the job.
I have got to do a second and third pass with the belt with a 120 grit belt on.

For finishing I am going to use the Cabots CTP I think ? 3 coats all up with a light sand between coats (240 grit perhaps) and the last two coats with the hardner added.

That is the plan - any imporvements on that ?

So the final word is - hire a big sander if you want to do more than a small area it will be much more time/cost effective.

Tom

[nt900]

I'm impressed; sanding floors with a belt sander is hard work..... I imagine.

[ozwinner]

I have done most of the house we are in with a 4" Makita belt sander.
Hard work on the knees.

I hired a sander to do the extension I built, I didnt fancy crawling around a 8.5X10m room.

Al

[Grunt]

Al, I thought you spent most of your time on your knees?

[tcns]

Well the first coat of cabbot's CTP went on today and I am very happy with the result, I will post up a pic tomorrow, I have learned a few things with the lambs wool applicator and they are.


1. These things really soak up the product so be generous
2. Work 2 or 3 boards at a time and make sure you push the finish all the way to the end.
3. Work in one smooth motion with a light hand so as to reduce the "brush strokes"
4. Don't go back over work after even a minute - it goes tacky that quickly just put up with it and sand it for the next coat.
5. Make sure you are happy with the boards before you move on to the next lot of 3.
6. It doesn't smell that bad so it is possible to do a few rooms and not have to leave the house for the night.

The flooring is cypress pine from what I can tell and it has come up a really nice light colour - we haven't stained it so the lighter the better I reckon. I did the kitchen as a test to see if I would be happy with the results and be up for the challenge of the rest of the house - 1 or so rooms at a time though.

From what I can tell now then answer is definately - I will be doing the rest of the house myself with the right sized sander and the edge sander and the right amount of prep I believe I will be able to achive excellent results.

Tom

[ozwinner]

Ive tryed the lambs wool ones and reckon they are rubbish.

I ended up using one of the short sythetic bristle pads, much easier to use.
Just tip the polly onto the floor, and spread it out. Too easy.

Al

[Pulse]

TCNS, I wouldn't bother using the hardener for CFP, I spoke to one if the Chemists on their help line and he said it doen't actually make the final coating harder, it just speeds the hardening process, contrary to what the labels tell us.

post some photos when you're done

Cheers Pulse

[tcns]

Thanks for the info,

I did the last coat last night but there is plenty more to be done (nearly a whole house!)

I found it was harder to do the last coats with lambs wool applicator I ended up putting bubbles in the finish, for the final coat I used a 100mm filliament brush
and work carefully across the area, I think I did a pretty good job, missed one bit but I will take some photos tonight

Tom

[tcns]

Here are some photos,

Closest to a before photo I have and two afters I have

Tom

[onholidays]

My kitchen has an exact looking lot of timber under the lino and I always thought it would look terrible varnished (a lot of knots, etc) but I'm so wrong! That looks great, I hope the pain of sanding is a distant memory

[tcns]

My kitchen has an exact looking lot of timber under the lino and I always thought it would look terrible varnished (a lot of knots, etc) but I'm so wrong! That looks great, I hope the pain of sanding is a distant memory

So much so that we are lining up to do another room this weekend, I am going to hire a big sander but I have no doubt I will giving it a run over with 120 grit belts to get some marks out of it and a quick finishing sand with the orbital

The timber is cypress pine as far as I can tell, makes an interesting pattern with all the knots

Tom

[nt900]

tcns, nice! gotta love cypress