Every day an enthusiastic DIYer decides its time to sand up there old
floorboards and turn there somewhat ordinary sub-floors into a classic
real wood feature, and why not, It makes perfect sense, I'ts healthy,
Its environmentally friendly, cost effective but above all, it looks wonderful.

The problem is floor sanding is seen as something that is rather easy
to do, a bit like mowing the lawn, I'ts NOT, In fact its probably one
of the hardest things to do WELL. I could build a wall, certainly, but
i think maybe the wall would not actually look very good once i finished,
but i sure could build one.

This guide WILL NOT enable you to sand a floor to perfection on your
first try, maybe after 3 months you could start to make masterpieces of
Sub floors, but it really IS NOT something that is easy to do.

This guide is for the sole purpose to give the keen DIYer a good chance
of turning something out that will look satifactory. JUST. To me and probably
a work of Art to the person that done the job,

If you have floorboards that are uneven or covered in bitchumin, please
see the guide to sanding across the grain at the bottom of this page.

Please read carefully, if you have any questions, you can contact me
via this website or post in the forum, theres plenty of us pro guys out
there that can help, This information is free as is the whole of this
website, we do not sell ebooks through paypal and we do not hide any secret
information.

If you have any alergys to hard work or do not like getting dirty then
please Hire the professionals.

The Tools listed below are what you will need the Optional tools, you
may or may not need.

Tools You Will Need

10. Pincers (Optional)

11. Filling knife

Safety

3. Steel toe caps (at least when transporting the Floor
sander upstairs)

Preparation

Remove any gripper rods using a pri or Crow bar, (Screw drivers will
cause damage.)

Take a good look over the floor your about to sand, check for loose broken
or split boards, Nail down loose boards with cut clasp nails or floor
brads (DO NOT USE SCREWS)(Try to lift a loose board to check for underfloor
pipes or wires, it's up to you if you want to risk bursting a pipe or
even electricuting yourself), Repair boards with wood glue you will fill
any joints or splits later, If necessary replace boards that are beyond
repair.

Preparation

Sweep or vacuum the entire floor, Remove any tacks or staples in the
floor using Pincers or bang down with your hammer, Also bang down any
floor nails that are pretruding, (YOU DO NOT NEED TO COUNTERSINK THE FLOORING
NAILS).

Belt Sanding

Start with a 36 Grit Sanding belt on the floor sanding machine, If the floor is uneven or covered with bitchumin or old shellack lacquer you will make life a lot easier by sanding at a 45 degree angle across the grain, work forward and backward from right to left one side then again from the otherside until the whole area is flat, once you have done this you can move on to begin sanding with the grain:

From the furthest right hand corner up and down moving along to the closest left hand corner, making sure the boards are sanded clean before moving on to the next (depending on the condition or the previous coating on the floor), you may need to use more than one 36 grit sandpaper, change as necessary, Once you reach the left hand corner turn around the machine and sand from the closest right hand corner up and down moving along to the furthest left hand corner, you will notice that the machine can not sand as close to the left hand corner as it has to the right hand corner, you will rectify this in the next stage. Once all the boards are cleaned
with the 36 grit Vacuum the entire floor and move on to the next step.

Edge Sanding (Edging)

Fit a 36 grit sandpaper to your edging machine, find a point to start
from and sand up to the edges, Push along the skirting board then using
a circular motion work back on your self, work clockwise around the room
covering about 2 feet at a time until the edge is sanded clean, you will
need to use more than one 36 grit sandpaper, change as necessary. The
left hand corners that have more unsanded area than the right will need
to be sanded off completely with the edger. Once you have completed all
around the floor and all the edge is clean, Vacuum the entire floor and
continue to step 5

Belt Sanding

Insert a 50 Grit sand paper into the belt sander and repeat step 3. Once
the entire area has been covered vacuum the entire floor and continue
onto step 6

Edge Sanding (Edging)

Fit a 50 grit sandpaper to your edging machine, find a point to start
from and repeat step 4.

You should now have the entire floor apart from the corners, sanded up
to a 50 Grit. Vacuum the entire floor and continue onto step 7

Corners

The best and easiest way to sand the corners is to use a nose belt sander
or Detail sander, although you can always use a Tungsten Scraper, Limbide
and Stanley both make these, if you have none of the above its down to
hand sanding the corners, start with a 50 grit sandpaper on the noser,
detail sander or by hand, if you have scraped the corners with a scraper
you may only need to use an 80 grit.

Once you have cleaned the corners with a 50 grit, move on to an 80 grit,
then a 120 grit to finish.

You shold now have the entire floor sanded to a 50 grit and the corners
are up to a 120 grit. Continue on to step 8

Filling heads and minor damage

Its best to fill where boards join and any minor splitting with a mixture
of sawdust and resin, Either solvent based or waterbased, A good quality
PVA may also be used instead of resin, PVA takes a lot more sanding off
than solvent or waterbased and doesn't stain as well, The choice is yours.

Mix your chosen product with 50 grit sawdust from the edgers dust bag,
make upto a thick paste and spread into all the heads of the floorboards
and into any splits or knot holes, If your using solvents you will be
able to move onto step 9 straight away if your using PVA or waterbased
resin you will need to leave the filler to dry over night. Once this is
done move on to step 9

Belt Sanding

Insert an 80 Grit sand paper into the belt sander and repeat step 3.
Once the entire area has been covered Insert a 120 Grit paper and repeat
step 3 again, Note you should not need to change the sandpapers periodically
on the two higher grits, one paper should quite easily get you around
20 m2 of flooring. Once the entire area has been sanded upto a 120 grit,
Vacuum the entire floor and move on to step 10

Orbital Hand Sanding (palming)

Place an 80 grit sandpaper onto your orbital sander and sand all around
the edges until smooth moving clockwise around the floor, Once you have
completed this place a 120 grit on the orbital sander and go around the
edges again blending into the main area sanded with the belt sander. Now
use the orbital sander with a 120 grit to go completely over the whole
area working to rows of boards at a time smoothing out any sanding marks
made by the belt sander, this will also close down the grain ready for
Waxing or Varnishing, DO NOT orbital sand the entire floor if you are
going to apply dye or stain.

Vacuum the entire floor, now you are ready to apply your finish.

If you are varnishing with waterbased lacquer you will need to apply
at least 3 coats, with either a Medium paint roller, Suitable paint brush
or a paint Pad, The paint pad is the easiest method, we show the roller
method below.

After a good vacuuming apply varnish to edges with a brush, go across the grain and then with the grain, feather out away from the skirting, a section of four to five boards at a time.		Use roller to work in varnish against the grain and then with the grain, leave wet edges to avoid overlaps showing, work the full length of four to five boards at a time, work your way out of the room...

Once the first coat is dry, you will notice thee surface feels rough (Grain raise), Smooth or de-nib with an orbital sander or by hand with a 120 grit sandpaper between coats, remember to vacuum the entire area before applying the next coat.		You may or not need to give a light sand between each coat, I like to lightly 120grit hand sand and vacuum between each coat for that extra smooth finish. 3rd and final coat of varnish should show good build (a fourth coat may be applied for extra added protection.

If you are hardwaxing you will need to apply 2 thin coats on most products,
Read the manufactures recommended application method,

Steer clear of any hardwax products that require a buffing machine,

I have found Osmo the easiest to apply by hand along with Blanchon 'Environment'
waterbourne oil which needs 4 thin coats, applied with a short haired
roller but can be recoated in an hour. Osmo takes upto 12 hours between
coats, the easiest and fastest option is Blanchon 'Environment' waterbourne
hardwax oil.