Sanding and waxing wooden floors...
Discussion
I'm considering sanding and waxing the wooden floors in a Victorian flat conersion, instead of laying a new flooring. I ather I need to:
1. Ensure all nails are below the surface of the wood
2. Sand floor using an industrial drum sander and get teh edges wih a belt sander
3. Apply a wax or varnish
Has anone done this and if so, how long is it likely to take to do a 15 by 12 foot room? Am I talking hours or days of work?
1. Ensure all nails are below the surface of the wood
2. Sand floor using an industrial drum sander and get teh edges wih a belt sander
3. Apply a wax or varnish
Has anone done this and if so, how long is it likely to take to do a 15 by 12 foot room? Am I talking hours or days of work?
Sarah_W said:
I'm considering sanding and waxing the wooden floors in a Victorian flat conersion, instead of laying a new flooring. I ather I need to:
1. Ensure all nails are below the surface of the wood
2. Sand floor using an industrial drum sander and get teh edges wih a belt sander
3. Apply a wax or varnish
Has anone done this and if so, how long is it likely to take to do a 15 by 12 foot room? Am I talking hours or days of work?
We did this a lot in our house renovation. I would guess the morning for the sanding (you should make several passes using progressively finer grain sandpaper eg 40, 80, 120).1. Ensure all nails are below the surface of the wood
2. Sand floor using an industrial drum sander and get teh edges wih a belt sander
3. Apply a wax or varnish
Has anone done this and if so, how long is it likely to take to do a 15 by 12 foot room? Am I talking hours or days of work?
We used 3 coats of vitrificator (English?), 1 coat every 48 hours (to dry) with a light sanding (120 paper) between coats.
I don't know whether this applies to waxing or not.
Sanding a floor really isn`t that hard (Depending on condition)
As stated above use rough sand paper first and then move onto smooth.
Also I found you sweep up at the end to get the dust created, then don`t vanish it straight away, give it 24 hours and sweep up again. I found that if you varnish straight away the dust sticks to the varnish and gives a grainy finish.
I don`t know how much a professional charges but I would be shocked if it was only a little bit more expensive ?? Cost wise I would say £80 for sander and edger + £20 sandpaper. Then 2 or 3 coats of a good floor varnish is about £40 a tin. I suppose it depends where you live and who you know.
As stated above use rough sand paper first and then move onto smooth.
Also I found you sweep up at the end to get the dust created, then don`t vanish it straight away, give it 24 hours and sweep up again. I found that if you varnish straight away the dust sticks to the varnish and gives a grainy finish.
I don`t know how much a professional charges but I would be shocked if it was only a little bit more expensive ?? Cost wise I would say £80 for sander and edger + £20 sandpaper. Then 2 or 3 coats of a good floor varnish is about £40 a tin. I suppose it depends where you live and who you know.
There's more to it than simple cost though - sometimes it's a nice project to do if you like doing it and have the time. I recently ordered a new window and although it was only £85 for them to fit it, I chose to do it myself - much more satisfying.
Coincidentally my studio floor gets its final coat of white paint today - I hope it sticks!
Coincidentally my studio floor gets its final coat of white paint today - I hope it sticks!
Im in the SE, Kent, medway area and if they can do it for £250 all in, then yeah I agree with you. A handyman round our way costs £100 a day and it must have taken them a least a day and a half, just because the coats of varnish needs to dry. But then they wouldn`t need to hire the sander I suppose. It has to be worth getting a quote if nothing else.
I have done a couple of floors now, and I must admit I quite enjoy the job...kinda of theraputic and looks great when its all finished.
I have done a couple of floors now, and I must admit I quite enjoy the job...kinda of theraputic and looks great when its all finished.
I did my dinning room, living room and hall....main sanding took about 4 hrs (would have been less, but the dust bag came off 
) the edging took another few hrs.
As for the waxing....we I varnished ours. Took maybe a hr, since I used a sponge 
) the edging took another few hrs. As for the waxing....
Edited by Penny-lope on Thursday 3rd December 12:09
I sanded the front room and hall in a morning and it took about 1 hour to wax (all 3 coats).
Do not underestimate the mess and noise that sanding the floor creates. Plus if you use wax it can take 7 days to dry! I waxed ours late at night once the nipper and dog was sleeping, it was still wet in the morning even though I spent extra to get the quick drying wax.
If you can get someone in for £250 bite their hand off and go on holiday whilst they are doing it
Do not underestimate the mess and noise that sanding the floor creates. Plus if you use wax it can take 7 days to dry! I waxed ours late at night once the nipper and dog was sleeping, it was still wet in the morning even though I spent extra to get the quick drying wax.
If you can get someone in for £250 bite their hand off and go on holiday whilst they are doing it
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