Edger left white hazy/cloud after sanding floors

[Bryce Fortran]

Hello All,

New homeowner here trying to DIY my floors.

I used my Porter Cable random orbital hand sander w/ a rented U-Sand Pro: (http://www.u-sand.com/u-sand/professional-sander.aspx)

I started w/ 40 grit U-Sand and then used the Porter Cable w/ a 40 grit to do the edges. At times I really had to work at the edges, even turning my Porter Cable at an angle to the floor to concentrate on tough problem area right near where the quarter round will go.

I then used 60 grit w/ the U-Sand all the way around..... the U-Sand gets right up on the edges, unlike a drum sander.

Next was 100 grit w/ the U-Sand including baseboard areas.

And finally 100/120 foam-backed finishing pad w/ the U-Sand all the way around including the baseboard areas. (I'm not staining, very hard to see fine scratches even under bright light and 6in away from floor)

I noticed white/hazy/cloudy marks on a lot of the baseboard areas. Here are photos of the flooring meeting up with the stone fireplace:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8970927@N04

This area was especially tough as I had to be very controlled in walking the Porter Cable hand sander up to the stone so as not to mark up the stone itself, but get the old finish off. I definitely angled the hand sander here a lot for extra control. This was all done with the 40-grit and then with the U-Sand went over this area including all of the rest of the floor with the higher grits.

So I figured I just didn't take enough time to get out the 40-grit marks on the baseboards. Last night I put on 150-grit paper on my Porter Cable hand sander and it made it worse....it just seemed to extend out the white haze ("photo 1 (3)").

Any suggestions? This 1030 sq. ft. is kicking this newbie's butt!​

[Jay Jolliffe]

I did my own floors years back & they were reclaimed vg fir. I sanded the floor with a floor sander & did the edges with a ros. Where I sanded the edge it came out lighter than the rest. I was told that you have to use the same grit as I sanded the floor with. My last sanding was with 120 & I used 150 on the edges. All this didn't show up until I applied the urethane. It all turned the same in a few yrs.....

[Jason Roehl]

What you're seeing is fine sanding dust from your latest grit catching in the grooves of previous grits. If you don't fully removed the peaks and valleys from one grit with the next, this is what you'll get. Also, if you were tipping your ROS on edge, you're creating a tiny dip in the floor that the U-sand won't be able to get. At this point, I'd probably go back over the border of the floor with 80- and 100- grit on the ROS, then run 100- and 120- grit on the U-sand again. Anytime you use different machines that create different scratch patterns, the transition between the two will be noticeable, especially if you stain. Pros sometimes will completely "color" the perimeter of a floor with a pencil before each grit while using an edger to be sure they don't miss anything (I don't--I use lights instead, but do sometimes miss a spot or two--I just hand sand those with some 100-grit paper I keep in my back pocket).

[Bryce Fortran]

Ok, that theory makes sense. Only kicker is I returned the U-Sand already haha. But I'll try to bridge the gap between the 40 grit and the 100/120 foam backed finished grit better.


What you're seeing is fine sanding dust from your latest grit catching in the grooves of previous grits. If you don't fully removed the peaks and valleys from one grit with the next, this is what you'll get. Also, if you were tipping your ROS on edge, you're creating a tiny dip in the floor that the U-sand won't be able to get. At this point, I'd probably go back over the border of the floor with 80- and 100- grit on the ROS, then run 100- and 120- grit on the U-sand again. Anytime you use different machines that create different scratch patterns, the transition between the two will be noticeable, especially if you stain. Pros sometimes will completely "color" the perimeter of a floor with a pencil before each grit while using an edger to be sure they don't miss anything (I don't--I use lights instead, but do sometimes miss a spot or two--I just hand sand those with some 100-grit paper I keep in my back pocket).

[frank shic]

how bad was the dust production using that thing?

[Bryce Fortran]

It was a question of bridging the gap between the 40 grit and the 100/120 foam backed finishing discs. I went back to HD and found the foam backed 100/120 discs, but they were only hook and loop and only in 6in (I had a 5in PSA pad on my PC haha). I also bought 60 grit PSA 5in pads.

Hit the edges of the rooms with the 60 grit in the area the pictures were taken. There were some uneven areas the 60 grit helped to even out. i then went over it with the 6in hook and loop 100/120 foam backed pad...how'd I get it to stick? A little 3m spray adhesive and it stuck well enough to sand with.

It was all about using the same grits as I used with the U-Sand and not skipping grits. It blended in decently well. I appreciate the advice Jason.

Frank..... my Porter Cable 7424XP was originally purchased for detailing cars. I used it because I already had the tool and it had more umph that your typical palm random orbital sander. As for sawdust...plenty of it, but there is no vacuum attachment. No biggie, had to vacuum the entire floor anyway in preparation for first coat of poly tomorrow (well I'll go over it with denatured alcohol as well prior to coating).

Thanks again for the help everyone!

[frank shic]

please post finished pics! :)

[Bryce Fortran]

Just uploaded toe before pics....first coat of oil poly goes down tomorrow.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8970927@N04