Renovating Floors with Floor Sanders

There are so many choices available nowadays for floor coverings, that the homeowner is really spoilt for choice.  He has to choose between carpets, laminate flooring, tiles, vinyl; the list is endless. He may, though, be fortunate enough to move into a house that already has real wood floorboards. They may look a little worn and faded but, with some tender loving care, they can be brought back to life and will look better than anything else he could have chosen. By using Floor sanders to do all the hard work, this can be a quick way to give the floor boards a new lease of life.

A Floor Sander

It’s quite easy to restore old floorboards these days.  Floor sanders can be purchased outright but, for smaller projects, they can be hired at  reasonable cost. You will need to spend time inspecting your floorboards and the best way to do this is to empty the room completely and lift whatever has been placed over the boards. You will find that they are not perfect because wood is a natural  material. You will have to check and, if necessary, treat for woodworm. The boards will contain knots and visible nails, but all these add character to the wood, and certainly won’t detract from its beauty.  You may have to repair or replace some of the boards; this is quite simple to do but you must bear in mind that new wood will differ in colour from old, but there are stains available to help you get as close a match as possible.  Paint can be removed by using certain paint thinners, which will make the paint easy to scrape off. Holes and cracks will need to be filled, too, and there are proprietory fillers available for this.

Sanding the floor is the hard part but, once you have finished, you will see that it was well worth the effort involved.  The sanding process does create an enormous amount of dust, so the room must be properly protected with dust sheets and sheets, including curtains and lampshades. The doors should also be sealed up with dust-sheets and tape and, most importantly, you must wear a mask, protective eye-goggles, and ear-defenders. Hammer down any nails or screws that protrude to protect the sandpaper and will help avoid damage to the floor sander itself.

Floor sanders are heavy and take a little while to get the ‘feel’ of but, with well-prepared boards and working methodically, it should be possible to sand an average room’s boards in a day. Once you have cleared the dust, a coat of varnish or wood polish will show the boards up in all their glory, really enhancing your home. I would recommend checking the shades of different varnishes on ‘test’ pieces of wood to ensure your floor doesnt need re-sanding. Good luck!