Floor sanding can revitalise your tired-looking wooden floors, giving them a new lease of life.
But if you're embarking on this kind of DIY project, you will need to ensure you have the right tools and materials at your disposal:
· Floor stripper
· Floor sander
· Floor edger
· Triangular sander
· Rotary orbital sander
· Floor polisher
· Woodfiller
· Floor finish
· Mop or roller
Now that you have the tools, here's more information on how to sand a floor:
1/ Remove all furniture and take up floor coverings, which may require the floor stripper
2/ Secure loose boards with a nail gun and apply wood filler to nail holes and flooring defects
3/ Cover and tape up doorways to prevent dust settling in other rooms during sanding
4/ Run the floor sander over the floor in both diagonal directions and then along the grain, starting with a course abrasive paper and then moving through to finer papers
5/ A floor edger and oscillating triangular sander should be used for any areas where the floor sander can't reach
6/ The rotary orbital sander should be used if you're aiming for a superfine professional finish
7/ Vacuum regularly to prevent dust from clogging sanding papers.
8/ Apply two or three coats of floor finish to complete the job