Polishing Floor Boards

[monsoon]

Hi there, I would like to polish the floorboards of my house and these are in quite rough condition. It is an old house and not a newish one so I don't have to be too fussy how it is done but I would like to do a good job if possible with the equipment I have.

So my question is can I do this job with an Orbital Sander? I have one of these: http://makita.com.au/images/products/makita/BO5021KX1_zoom.jpg

I also have a Grinder and one of those makita Iron shape finishing sanders (biggest waste of money I have spent on a power tool).

Or do I need to go and hire out a proper floor sander? I would prefer to do it with what I have and not hire unless vital. I don't mind if it takes me a bit more time.

I would guess if I can use my orbital sander then I would need to start with something like 40 grit and have some 60, 80 & 120 etc.

My house is only a 2bdr and not that big, I would be doing the lounge , 1 medium bedroom & 1 small room.

Thoughts on this would be great thanks.

[Christopher_940]

u realy need to go and hire a drum sander and an edger as well as a rotary polisher the orbital just wont get them as flat or as clean and it will take for ever

[Dusty]

Well, given the equipment you have I realistically think you should have the job done by Christmas............2010:p

You need to do as Christopher has suggested, or better still, hire a contractor to do it, properly.

[monsoon]

Really, ok that is too bad as I was hoping it would be ok even if it was a little slow but 1 month is a little too much! Anyway thanks for the info on what I need so I will look into that.

[lbg]

You should do some searching on this topic in the forum - there's quite a big recent thread that talks about "hands & knee's" approach vs. hire proper gear vs. professional

[Pulse]

If you live near newcastle, PM me I have the gear

Pulse

[Dusty]

Pulse. Can you sand and finish? Or do you just happen to have some equipment?

Either way, I've been helping out a fellow in Newcastle with his flooring and he is pretty keen to tackle it himself. If you have some gear I'm sure he would be glad to hire it from you. If you're interested I can put you in touch with him.

[monsoon]

Thankd for the feedback Ibg and I will look for that thread.


If you live near newcastle, PM me I have the gear

Pulse

Hi Pulse, thanks a lot for the offer and I actually do live near Newcastle so I will pm you shortly. I really don't need to do this urgently so maybe Dusty can go first.

[MBMartinborough]

Get a flooring professional. Will save you time, money and a sore back

[james1911]

i agree getting a professional will save you both time and money in long run, professional quality work will definately last much longer

[AaronM]

Having just done the job on my reno project...

It took 12.5 hours sanding and cleaning up to be ready to coat the floor. That's about 110sqm with nothing in the house at all. $263.50 in hire and sanding consumables (hired an indstrial vac as well to suck up the dust afterwards)

Would I do it myself again? YEP!

It's backbreaking work, it's hard to get a pro finish with the sanders, BUT when the pros (around here at least) quote about $40/sqm finished floor you can see how much can be saved.

My Costs were:
Hire & Consumables - $263.50
Cabots CFP 10L x2 - $360
Cabots Interior Stain 1L x2 - $75
Rollers & Trays $20 (use once then chuck)

Total: $718.50

I went from this:
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_FbwH0cZidwA/SxxKCxgpldI/AAAAAAAAHGI/jcLAbDRKesQ/s400/IMG_0562.JPG

to this:
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_FbwH0cZidwA/Sx3NoQBtlvI/AAAAAAAAHHQ/OMyQxkGSdlA/s400/IMG_0591.JPG

[rrobor]

Listen to my boy, everything he says makes me proud. PS ArronM. Can I adopt you?