- Introduction
- Tools, required materials and tips
- Renting the proper equipment
- Tips and tricks before you begin
- Choosing the initial grit
- Sanding 101
- Operating a floor sander
You will need at least two devices in order to properly sand your floor: A sanding machine that will be used to sand most of the surface of your floor, and an edger, which will allow you to tackle the edges around walls and other difficult to reach places. A buffer/polisher can also be used for the final stages of sanding to ensure a perfect finish, but you can still get excellent results if the first two devices are used properly. Let's take a few minutes to familiarize ourselves with these different types of equipment.
Sanders used to sand most of the floor surface
There are different types of sanders that are used to sand hardwood floors, and they all have their pros and cons. We will briefly explain how they work here and make recommendations according to your level of ease with this type of equipment.
Drum and Belt Sanders - Big caliber, but be careful!
These big machines are the type of sanders normally used by flooring professionals. If learning to sand a floor is like learning to drive a car, then you could say that choosing to sand with a drum and belt sander is like learning to drive a heavy truck with manual transmission, on a 65 degrees slope, blindfolded, with a metal band playing directly into your brain...
Drum and Belt sanders operate using a rotating belt and allow for extremely fast and efficient sanding, provided they are in the hands of an informed and / or experienced user. Why? Because they are very powerful devices and can be difficult to master. Therefore, they have the potential to cause considerable damage if misused, such as furrows or deep grooves all over the floor.
In short, if you opt for this equipment, it is very strongly recommended to test the device on a plywood board beforehand. You'll get a better idea of how powerful the tool is and how quickly it removes material from the surface. There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing to rent a Drum and Belt sander:
- First, do not forget to check with the rental shop if it is a device operating on 120v or 240v. This will have an impact on the power of the appliance as well as whether or not you need to get an extension to plug the appliance into a 240v outlet which should be in either the kitchen or the laundry room.
- Furthermore, it's important to always make sure that the sanding belt is not in contact with the floor before you turn it on, because once the drum is lowered and the belt is in contact with the ground, the sander will immediately start to move and pull you towards it. This behavior forces the operator to pull towards him, rather than pushing, which is very counter-intuitive for a beginner who can panic at this unexpected behavior, especially when using a massive sander operating on 240v.
- In addition, to get a decent finish quality on your hardwood floor, it's very important for a belt sander to be constantly in motion. If it stays in place while running, the abrasive belt will quickly start digging a hole in the floor that will be difficult to repair later on.
Orbital or vibrating plate sander - Ideal for beginners, but slower
Orbital sanders, also known as vibrating plate sanders or jitterbug sanders, are much simpler and easier to operate than drum and belt sanders. Furthermore, it's very difficult to damage a hardwood floor when using this type of equipment. Although these devices are designed for light to medium sanding, it is possible to use them to completely restore a floor, as long as you are patient, because they work much slower. For this reason, these devices are never used by professionals, who prefer belt sanders. That being said, due to their ease of use and the near impossibility of damaging a floor, they are the most popular units in rental centers.
While drum and belt sanders cut deeper into wood, orbital floor sanders work more superficially. The sandpaper is attached to an oscillating plate, and when the device is in motion, the plate wobbles in a random pattern, which means that the sander does not need to be used by following the direction of the wood grain. On the other hand, if you want to remove a stain that has penetrated deeply into your hardwood floor, or if you have grooves or damaged areas more deeply, it will probably be necessary to make several sanding passes in the same area and the sanding process will be considerably slowed down.
In short, if you have never sanded your floors before, and you don't have a tight deadline, we strongly recommend that you use an orbital sander. This device usually works on 120v, so you can plug it in anywhere in the house. You will find by using it that an orbital sander allows you to sand very close to the walls, but unfortunately, it's usually not enough to have to do without an edger. If you're in doubt, speak with your equipment rental professional for further information.
Edger
Edgers are small circular sanders designed for use on areas that traditional large floor sanders cannot reach. They are therefore used around the perimeter of a room, in closets, stairs and other small surfaces. Although these devices are small in size, they are relatively powerful and can be complex to handle. A person who has never used this type of equipment should absolutely perform tests on a plywood board before undertaking a floor sanding project, to fully feel the machine and become familiar with its behavior when it is in operation.
Particle and dust management
Most floor sanding equipment is equipped with bags to collect sanding dust. This serves both to prevent dust from spreading all over the room and to filter the air circulating in the device, so that it does not overheat and operates optimally. Keep in mind to always check the condition of the bag and make sure to empty it when it has reached its full capacity (usually about 1/3 of the bag), so that the sander does not overheat. Some devices connect to a vacuum cleaner, others have a built-in dust collection system. Make sure you understand how the system works on your device before you start your project.
