Sanding Hardwood Floors

I've mentioned this already, but we were unable to match the already-installed hardwood - they don't make it anymore. However, this really wasn't a big problem because the plan was to refinish the existing floor to a darker and richer color. So, we took the cheap-o route and purchased all of the unfinished the store had in stock, which wasn't enough, and then the cheapest stained oak to cover the remaining square feet. There were three different finishes of floor when we got it all laid down.

One is the original honey colored hardwood, two is the new unfinished, and three is the new finished oak hardwood. Anyways, enough with the chit-chat, let's do this. The first step before sanding is filling the holes and gaps with wood putty. However, if you are a pro installer, you might not have to use any filler. But with us matching the existing floor, some wood filler was necessary.

We rented a heavy-duty sander from HD. And man, this thing can really take the finish off! Trust me, there were a few boards that I didn't move quick enough over and the sander took off a little too much. Oops! The wood on the engineered hardwood is thin compared to normal hardwood so it usually can only be refinished a few times, if you're lucky. No worries about the too-sanded spots. They were replaced with new boards by my handy dad, with minimal help from me.

That is my dad, sanding like a pro. Notice his stance....very in-charge of the sander and getting down to business. Now, here is me sanding:

Um, yeah. I really shouldn't be operating that thing. No wonder I sanded a little too much off in some areas. But, if you can handle the sander and keep it constantly moving, the floor will be rough sanded in no time. To get the floor as smooth as butter, the hardwood has to be sanded multiple times with decreasing the grit. The edges and corners need to be done by a hand sander to make sure all the finish is removed. My favorite tools for this are a belt sander and an orbital sander. These two hand sanders saved my rear and loads of time.

Now comes the hard part - cleaning up. Dust will be everywhere. It doesn't matter how well you put up plastic, or turn the air off, or use fans and vacuums....dust will be everywhere. Just suck it up, literally with a vacuum, and get to cleaning.

Final step in our hardwood endeavour will be finishing it out with stain and polyurethane. Anybody have any experience with a heavy-duty sander? Maybe you can attest to the shear sanding power of one...