How To Sand A Hardwood Floor For A Professional Finish

Some people rent an industrial floor buffer for this step but a pole sander pictured is another great option.

How to sand a hardwood floor for a professional finish.

If your hardwood floor is only lightly worn damaged or scratched you may be able to refinish it without sanding. You have to remove the finish on the floor before you can properly sand out all the scratches and imperfections that have accumulated over the years. To sand hardwood floors start by renting a drum sander and installing a coarse grit sandpaper onto the sander which will remove any noticeable damage or old finish from your floors. Buffing or abrading the existing coat before refinishing or alternatively applying a chemical etching kit.

Then sand the entire area at the same angle moving constantly as you work. Sanding a hardwood floor. A walk behind sander like a drum floor sander and a floor edger to get into the corners and smaller nooks and crannies. Buffing the floor will remove tiny sanding marks and give a completely smooth finish.

A floor drum sander is used to start the initial removal of the existing floor finish. Situations differ but you may not be able to refinish your hardwood floor more than 10 times. Flooring experts estimate that hardwood floors can be sanded for refinishing up to 10 times depending on the thoroughness of the sanding and the level of wear and tear on the floor. All of the flooring contractors who contribute to this website recommend hiring a professional when sanding hardwood floors.

Coarse medium and fine. Use a finer grit sandpaper to smooth out the work in the previous rough sanding. Hardwood floor sanding is a skilled job that takes practice and experience. Using a pole sander is a bit more time consuming but also easier to use than a buffer and more affordable.

Here are some of my most important tips on how to sand hardwood floors. A walk behind sander has a large rotating drum that evenly removes the finish if you use the correct series of sandpaper grades and operate the sander properly. There are two basic methods. Despite a background in art history and english literature she s spent 13 years sanding hardwood and teaching others to do it themselves.

There are more ways to ruin a hardwood floor than there are to sand it properly. So says our expert kadee macey owner of pete s hardwood floors in st. Store and dispose of oil soaked rags properly. The hardwood floor sanding process consists of multiple stages of sanding with sandpaper of varying roughness.