Sanding Hardwood Floor

[Curt Harms]

.......................................
I would not want to do an entire floor with a hand held orbital.

Me either, my knees would make me pay a dear price.

[Tom M King]

Sanding between coats, for 300 sq. ft., with a buffer, would take about three minutes, but that would include getting the buffer on, and off the floor, plugging it in, and arranging the cord, and getting the pad in place.

[Sam Beagle]

All I do is wood flooring for a living. You can use either buffer. But the easiest method is the Clarke 1218 square buffer. It’s all we use for in between coat buffing. Round buffers have there place, but no longer for intercoat abrasion.

[Tom M King]

Sam, I looked for that model number, but couldn't find it. Is it one of these? http://americansanders.com/2016/04/obs-18-obs-18dc/ Just curious.

Also, does the square pad sander eliminate scraping corners completely?

I built one spec house a year, for 33 years, doing everything myself, with a couple of helpers. That meant one floor a year too. My buffer is a 16" White, that I bought new in the mid '70s, and I've never done anything to it but plug it in and use it. Since I quit building new houses in 2007, it's seen a bit of use on odd jobs since then, and is still going strong.

[Bruce Wrenn]

It's easy to screw up a floor with the lightweight, rental drum sanders. For just a single room, or fairly small area, I advise to rent the big Varathane Random Orbit Sander that Lowes rents. It's a little slower than a drum sander, but almost impossible to gouge the floor. Go by their chart for how many disks to buy, and don't skip any of the grits in their system, and if you buy extras when you rent the sander, they can easily be returned for a refund when you return the sander, so you'll be sure you have enough to start with.

Since Lowes dropped the Varathene floor finishes in favor of Minwax, they no longer rent the floor sander. Had this conversation with Varathane sales rep at last contractor's lunch, a couple weeks ago.

[Bill Dufour]

I bought a 12x18 ROS floor sander on Craigslist list several years ago for about $400. I think it is a Clarke brand unit. Did a good job on the hallway and living room still need to do the bedrooms this summer. The ROS does not dig in like a drum sander can. They say it takes about one house full of flooring until you can safely use a drum sander. by then it is too late for your house.
I wore out a 5" disk sander for edging etc.
Home Depot was selling them from the rental department for about the same price.
I finished with BLO, paint thinner and Japan drier to add depth. then a couple coat of poly with thinner and japan drier. I thought about going to Reno to buy the quick dry finish which can not be sold in California.
Bil lD
Bill D.

[Tom M King]

Since Lowes dropped the Varathene floor finishes in favor of Minwax, they no longer rent the floor sander. Had this conversation with Varathane sales rep at last contractor's lunch, a couple weeks ago.

That's a shame. I rented one to do a room in an addition on our house, and it was a decent machine. Hopefully, some place else rents them. I didn't use the Varathane finish-used a pro finish, but did like the machine for a small job.

[Bill Dufour]

Home depot has the one I own. theirs is a slightly different, newer, model.
category #09 group #903

No idea why they call it a square buff floor sander. The sanding pad and paper is obviously rectangle. I believe 12x18 inches.
Bill D.

[Sam Beagle]

The square buff is just for intercoat abrading. If your looking to refinish floors. You need a drum/belt sander. You will spend days removing finish w a sq buff. And also the aggressive paper will leave terrible squiggly lines everywhere on the floor.
You need
Belt machine
Edger
Buffer
Vac.
Scrapers and file.

[Jim Dwight]

After I patched the area we used to have a woodstove flue in the kitchen and then finishing it with my 3x21 belt sander, a little 6x8 foot area, I decided it was something I could hire others to do. The equipment the second guy used was bigger than that in the linked you-tubes and I think the first guy had something bigger than that. He had to have help getting it into the truck - and he was not a small guy. I am not afraid to use the little drum sander HD rents but I didn't want to do about 700ft2 in the first case and about 500ft2 in the second case with those little sanders. But for the bedroom I have left (120ft2) and the hall way (60 ft2) it is a viable option IMHO. It also matters how patient you are. I am not terribly patient. The other thing that makes my remaining area more feasible is that it is not stained. So the sanding required is significantly less. Somebody mentioned using a rented sander to strip the finish and then a Bosch 1250DEVS to finish sand and scuff between coats. That might work for me. I would also hate renting the sander 3 times or paying for 3 days rental (I use oil base on oak).

[Sam Beagle]

Yes there’s a big difference between a 3x21 belt sander and a floor belt sander. I use a 10” bona belt sander. It’s pretty heavy and cuts anything down to bare wood in 1 swipe. You definitely need a floor sander. 220 volt machine