Floor restoration on the cheap :)

[paul_h]

Hi, been reading around here and the 'net in general for a few tips.
First off, I don't have the cash for a professional job as all my money is going into the mortgage, $2500 per month, and I'm demolishing the house in five years anyway.
I've just bought an old house that has wood flooring which has seen better days. The floorspace is about 129sqm so a professional job would be a bit costly for me, and it all needs redoing.
I have a belt sander , 1/3 sheet and a random orbital sander, also heaps of time before we move in (3 weeks). I'm a tradesman used to getting my hands dirty, but have done nothing like house renovating before.

here's some photo of the lounge room.
http://img46.imageshack.us/my.php?image=loungeie0.jpg
http://img117.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lounge2ao9.jpg

here's some of the dining room
http://img105.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dining1pp4.jpg
http://img111.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dining2jt3.jpg

Front hallway
http://img162.imageshack.us/my.php?i...allway2di9.jpg
http://img107.imageshack.us/my.php?i...allway2ua1.jpg

dining hallway
this has boards running across it. I plan to hire a drum floor sander, but I can't use it here can I? I mean due to size and that boards should be sanded along the plamk not across it with a drum sander. Should I just buy a belt sander and do this section?
http://img122.imageshack.us/my.php?i...hallwayyh9.jpg
http://img156.imageshack.us/my.php?i...allway2xc4.jpg

The kitchen has some stick on lino tiles. Some are loose and it looks like water damage to the unsealed boards underneath. Is this salvageable? Or should I just recover with some other lino?
http://img114.imageshack.us/my.php?i...itchen1km5.jpg
http://img106.imageshack.us/my.php?i...itchen2ww7.jpg


Finally, the wood is probably jarrah or karri, what should I seal it with, whats the best way to apply it?
Thanks for any advice.

[Dusty]

Seeing as the house is going in a few years don't even bother trying to sand it with your belt and orbital sander, it'll be like pushing ????? up hill with a knitting needle, kind of pointless.

Just simply vacuum, wash and then apply three thick coats of 2-pack polyurethane. This won't look any better, or any worse, than if you had of mucked about sanding it first.

[SilentButDeadly]

I'm with Dusty. Give the sand a miss if you are simply going to pull it down. Just give it a good wash with a timber cleaner. Forget the 2 pack though. Just use a flooring oil and then a floor wax. It'll hide most of those scratches and is easy to look after - just wax every 12 months or so.

[paul_h]

Seeing as the house is going in a few years don't even bother trying to sand it with your belt and orbital sander, it'll be like pushing ????? up hill with a knitting needle, kind of pointless.

Just simply vacuum, wash and then apply three thick coats of 2-pack polyurethane. This won't look any better, or any worse, than if you had of mucked about sanding it first.

Yeah, I didn't mean do the whole floor with them. I meant I had them for the corners and I would hire a drum sander at $65 per day to do the main lot.
The only other bit of info is I bought this house to demolish in 5 years, but don't want to be tied to it or having to develop it, it may turn out the property value and building costs make it unworthwhile to knock down and build or sell the lots .
If I did stay for the whole 5 years with a ?????? floor would be annoying, I've lived in a ???? hole for 8 years just to save up enough to buy a decent place.
Also I may move and rent it out in a year or so, which means better presentation, higher rent. Alternatively another loan for building costs might be unaffordable so I might have to sell it as is.
I've had a close look at it recently, the master bedroom has a very uneven floor, and one of the bedrooms out the back seems like it's been polished. ie. I've done stuff before I got any replies here and attacked the floor with the belt sander to see what's up
the bedroom out the back has a resiny/burning/sandpaper clogging up stuff going on that none of the other floors have, and the master bedroom definitely needs a sand down.
It's not like I have anything else to do in my spare time except drink and spend too much time on the internet So I'm giving this a go, will post back with progress reports, the floors do seem to have settled a bit and are needing of a sanding afterall. I don't really want to polish every year or so, so sanding an polyurethane is what I'm after
So far I'm looking at $130 hire for a drum sander, $100 for 10l of BP polyurethane, and another $100 for assorted sandpaper and lambswool pads to apply.
Wish me luck even if I attacked the floor before waiting for sane advice...sorry about that, when I tried to post it gave me an invalid thread error, so I gave up and hadn't come here for replies because I thought the thread didn't get posted.

edit: I would prefer to sand it back, even if I make a mess of it, it's a learning experience, and my mess which I can look upon every day
At the moment, where it's OK the floor is a dark stained jarrah, I much prefer the lighter natural state of the wood, plus the different colours. the bit I sanded back already has a few light coloured sides and streaks.

[Larry McCully]

Go for it Paul, You wont get the results that a pro will give you, but if you take your time and concentrate on its finish, then you may get a job that will pass until the big day 5 years down the track. Start of with a 40grit paper to get all the existing poly of, Use the same grit on the edger you will need to hire with the sander. Then the next cut will be done with the floor sander will be a 60grit, this grit will get all the deep cut left from using the 40 grit. After you have used the 60 grit you will need to edge the perimeters again, but this time use a 60 grit on the edger, Then go around the edges again straight away using a 100 grit. That will be your final cut with the edger. After you have finished with the edge sander, then final cut your floor using 100grit paper on the sander machine. All of the cuts should be in the same direction as the boards run. Take a nice steady pace, no stopping , go from wall to wall. allow the machine to do the work, Those hire machines are very light and are not as accurate as the pro machines, but with a little patience you will be fine. At the end of it all, Put 80grit paper on your orbital sander and get down on your hands and knees and sand out any marks you see. Then vacuum up and apply 3 coats of tung oil or polyurethane. You will need to lightly sand with the orbital in between each coat using 320 grit. It will take you 2 days to do the hardcore sanding and then over the next couple of days to do all the rest of the hand sanding and coating. HAVE FUN

[Larry McCully]

Dont use a lamswool. their crap. Use a mohair roller. In between coats, keep it soaked in metho as well as the brush you will use to cut in with. Go buy a wooden pole and screw it into the roller cage. It is easer to stand up and coat.

[paul_h]

I went hard at it on the weekend with a drum floor sander. I've still got to sand the doorways and down in the corners where the floor sander left a groove and couldn't reach.
There's one or two planks per room the sander couldn't reach as well which have to be done by hand to best match the sanded floor.
What polyurethane should I use (eg. type/brand)
Any say in whats looks best, gloss or satin with dark wood?
Cheers for the advice.





more here
http://users.tpg.com.au/adslr0s3/floor2/fronthall.jpg
http://users.tpg.com.au/adslr0s3/floor2/masterbed.jpg
http://users.tpg.com.au/adslr0s3/flo...erbedloose.jpg
http://users.tpg.com.au/adslr0s3/floor2/backhall.jpg
http://users.tpg.com.au/adslr0s3/floor2/bed2.jpg
http://users.tpg.com.au/adslr0s3/floor2/dining2.jpg

[paul_h]

Dont use a lamswool. their crap. Use a mohair roller. In between coats, keep it soaked in metho as well as the brush you will use to cut in with. Go buy a wooden pole and screw it into the roller cage. It is easer to stand up and coat.

I went hard at it on the weekend with a drum floor sander. I've still got to sand the doorways and down in the corners where the floor sander left a groove and couldn't reach.
I've got to do the best i can with some of the planks the sander couldn't reach as well.
What polyurethane should I use (eg. type/brand)
Any say in whats looks best, gloss or satin with dark wood?
Cheers for the advice.
photos here
http://users.tpg.com.au/adslr0s3/floor2/lounge.jpg
http://users.tpg.com.au/adslr0s3/floor2/dining.jpg
http://users.tpg.com.au/adslr0s3/floor2/fronthall.jpg
http://users.tpg.com.au/adslr0s3/floor2/masterbed.jpg
http://users.tpg.com.au/adslr0s3/flo...erbedloose.jpg
http://users.tpg.com.au/adslr0s3/floor2/backhall.jpg
http://users.tpg.com.au/adslr0s3/floor2/bed2.jpg
http://users.tpg.com.au/adslr0s3/floor2/dining2.jpg

[Dusty]

Great Work, Paul. Well done.

See what can get done when the drinking and internet time gets pushed aside. A lot.
It also looks like you made good use of larry's fine sanding advice.

As for the polyurethane, I'd suggest Wattle 2pack (7008). Not only is it the best coating on the market, it's also the one that's readily available at Bunnings, paint stores and the like so it won't be a hassle for you to find.

Post a few more pics of your coating process and the final result.

[paul_h]

Thanks, I've been to a few bunnings and other hardware stores, can't find this wattle 2 pack.
They all had regular wattle, cabots or british paints, with the BP one being half the price of cabots and 3/4 the price of regular wattle.
Obviously my budget matters, but I don't want to do all this work and have it stuff up for the sake of $100 either.
Will keep looking in the meantime in other places, bunnings is the only place open after 6pm here so that's mainly where I've been looking so far, I'll try other hardware stores on saturday.
Also larry, thanks for the tip, but do know of any place where I might find large mohair rollers?
Bunnings only had 270mm ones and I was hoping for larger ones with all this floor to do. Can you get bigger ones? I might start hitting up specialist stores if you can get them bigger.

Ahh, I figured it out, this site hates mozilla. All my posts either haven't shown up for a day or two, or just disapeared and gave me errors, which is why a did some double posts.
Looks like I'll have to change my PC to this one when I post here

[Larry McCully]

Paul . if you cant get 2 pac then a well known brand name single pac will do fine. Most polyurathanes are the same . The only difference is the amount of solids. Feast watson is a fine brand . Try the larger paint shops for the 2 pac . A 270 mm roller is fine.