How To Tell If You Can Sand Hardwood Floors

You ll need two kinds of sanders for the process.

How to tell if you can sand hardwood floors.

As i have said many times before sanding hardwood floors by hand can be a lot of hard work. This method of determining if your floors are hardwood or engineered is also a great way to tell if the boards are thick enough to refinish. It is the only re sandable part of a floor sand past the wear layer and you get to the plywood core. So the first step to take is to determine the sequence of the grit of the sandpaper.

A walk behind sander like a drum floor sander and a floor edger to get into the corners and smaller nooks and crannies. You can also usually perform this check at an exterior doorway where you can remove the metal saddle from the floor. But when you have a lot of unsightly scratches especially if it s not an area you can cover up with an area rug it s time to sand the floors. Hardwood floors are commonly 3 4 inch thick tongue and groove boards.

A thicker wear layer means your floor can be sanded and refinished more often increasing the lifespan of the floor. So it is only right that i do an article about sanding wood floors with hand sanders. That way you ll get a heads up on and hopefully the knowledge to avoid some of the problems you might encounter and some of the mistakes beginners make. Refinishing a wood floor can give it a new life but it s wise to check your flooring material before you start or you may ruin it by sanding it.

You need to sand the floor at least four times using a finer level of sandpaper each time for getting a smoothly nice hardwood floor. Peek inside the opening to look at the type of wood that lies in the gap. How do i know if my wood floors can be sanded. Hard work that can be alleviated with the use of a floor sander.

Most scratches are topical and will come out with a simple sand and refinish same with paint that has dripped on the floor. For refinishing a hardwood floor you will have to sand over that floor multiple times. 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. Buffing mainly addresses damage and imperfections in the sealant layers protecting your hardwood floors.

Most wear layers on today s engineered hardwood floors vary between 5 to 6mm. Sanding a wood floor is a multi step process. Remove a floor heating vent with the screwdriver. None of it is rocket science but it will help you to read through all the sanding pages including first things first working with sanders and edgers and the sanding faq before you begin.