Floor Sander question

[Stuartgb100]

Looking for recommendations for a suitable machine, please.
I have 5 rooms to renovate. No more than 16m2 each.
Some are oak boarded, some laminate strip flooring.
The rooms will be cleared, and skirtings removed.
Unlikely to need the machine when work is complete.
So could sell the machine when done,

Any suggestions please ?

 

[Inspector]

Rent.

Pete

 

[Stuartgb100]

Not so easy/cheap here in France.

 

[Bingy man]

Looking for recommendations for a suitable machine, please.
I have 5 rooms to renovate. No more than 16m2 each.
Some are oak boarded, some laminate strip flooring.
The rooms will be cleared, and skirtings removed.
Unlikely to need the machine when work is complete.
So could sell the machine when done,

Any suggestions please ?

Definitely hire it - at least a week imo, you can get the belts all from the same place - you may need a smaller machine to get right into the edges and corners .

 

[HOJ]

They must have options in France, (why don't you change your profile) these are the type of machines I use: Floor Sander as well as my hand held ones for very small areas.

some laminate strip flooring

Laminate flooring, has it got a wear layer on it? otherwise you'll trash it sanding it.

 

[baldkev]

When you say laminate...... is that engineered wood or similar?

 

[Ollie78]

I agree that rental would be favourite, or even get a price for someone to do it for you, specialists are normally pretty efficient and have all the right gear.

Or you could do what I did because I had zero money which is use a Makita 9404 and start with 80 grit belts working up to 180 grit.
I sanded our reclaimed maple badminton court flooring with it, about 6 metres by 3.5 and several other pine boarded rooms. It actually works pretty well and didn`t take too long, budget for a few belts and use a crepe rubber belt cleaner often. Used a fein saw with triangle sanding end for corners.
You may experience a small amount of back ache !

Ollie

 

[baldkev]

I agree that rental would be favourite, or even get a price for someone to do it for you, specialists are normally pretty efficient and have all the right gear.

Or you could do what I did because I had zero money which is use a Makita 9404 and start with 80 grit belts working up to 180 grit.
I sanded our reclaimed maple badminton court flooring with it, about 6 metres by 3.5 and several other pine boarded rooms. It actually works pretty well and didn`t take too long, budget for a few belts and use a crepe rubber belt cleaner often. Used a fein saw with triangle sanding end for corners.
You may experience a small amount of back ache !

Ollie

Maple badminton court?? i dont play badminton, but it sounds good

 

[Ollie78]

Maple badminton court?? i dont play badminton, but it sounds good

Came from a tennis club in London, prime Canadian maple.

 

[DiyAddict]

There's a lot more to sanding floors than just getting the right equipment, so do your research on the techniques first. Howtosandafloor dot com is an excellent resource, and he has a YouTube channel with several videos highlighting the pitfalls.

The machines capable of completing the job in a reasonably time are also capable of putting huge gouges or ripples in your floor if used incorrectly.

You need three major machines - the main drum/belt sander, an edge sander, and a finish sander - plus a small detail sander for the corners.

I have a few floors to do over the next few years, so I bought ex-rental machines off ebay, and also bought the online course from howtosandafloor, which is well worth the money. The machines worked well after some fettling, but are nowhere near the standard of the ones that the pros use. Having said that, I'm delighted with my first floor.

Have a clear think about how much your time is worth to you. When you add the cost of the sandpaper and finishes, it may be more economical to hire a professional, with less risk.

 

[XTiffy]

I agree with Ollie 78, use a beltsander, slow but controllable and the machine is still a useful tool in the workshop after . I have hired these drum machines and they do take a lot of practice and will readily scour out dips and grooves. You also normally hire an edge sander for close to skirtings. The belt sander will do all of this but stage the work as its hard on knees and back! Triangle sander great for corners.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

^^^^^ wot 'e said. I've used drum sanders, they are a nightmare if you've not had a lot of practice with them, and probably not the easiest even if you have.

 

[Orraloon]

I hired one of the big drum sanders about 35 years ago and even had been given advice by someone else that had tried it. Definitely not as easy as it sounded. You have to keep the beast moving at an even pace. If you linger it gouges. Move across the grain or diagonal. Actually dry sanded it looked fine but with the finish on faint ripples could be seen with the light at certain angles. A few strategic rugs to the rescue. At the time money was tight so diy was the way but it remained a job I never felt happy with. Years down the track when it was time to redo the floor I was not keen to repeat the process so opted for floating floor.
Regards
John.

 

[Dave Moore]

Hi,
Even a belt sander will make gouges if you are not careful.
Regards,
Dave

 

[Phil Pascoe]

My most disliked power tool.

 

[Agent_zed]

just to note the industrial drum sanders are even heavier than they look. I hired one and they wheeled it out to my car and without thinking I went to lift it by myself and almost did my back in, which wouldn't have been very useful before a wknd of sanding.

I did the pine floor boards in my house and was pretty pleased. The main problem I had was that at some point in the past the edges of the room had been painted/varnished and this became quite gummy when sanding it and ruined a few of the sanding sheets. Had to do a lot of light quick passes to get through it and even then it still wanted to gum up a bit.

The next issue is deciding on what finish to use. I dyed and varnished 2 of my floors and another that was brand new pine I used osmo coloured oil then a clear on top.

 

[Jacob]

Big floor sander best of course.
But I did same as @Ollie78 with Bosch belt sander 80grit with a frame and connection to Trend dust extractor. The frame stops accidental dig ins. Then followed with Bosch ROS with dust extractor again.
The smaller footprint gets up to edges and into dips and hollows so you have to remove less material.
Knee pads, ear protectors, dust mask, essential!
PS the frame is a brilliant piece of kit, for table tops, floors. etc.https://www.bosch-professional.com/gb/en/sanding-frames-for-belt-sanders-2868476-ocs-ac/