Sanding A Mample Floor

You will need to get on your hands and knees with a light so that your eyes are only a few inches away from the floor.

Sanding a mample floor. None of it is rocket science but it will help you to read through all the sanding pages including first things first working with sanders and edgers and the sanding faq before you begin. Sand with the grain moving the sander in a straight line from one end of the room to the other. I generally don t like to use any less than a 36 grit paper. Avoid sanding maple too smooth.

Use when there is a good deal of flattening of the floor needed. Because maple is so light scratches will not be so easy to spot like on oak floors. A step by step video for a home owner on how to use various wood floor sanders and how to apply the finish. To detect nails drag a metal snow shovel across the floor upside down.

When it hits a nail you ll hear it. You will remove a lot of wood stock even when sanding the hardest of wood floor species. Use as the starting grit for floors with shellac finishes single layers of paint or some very hard floors like maple. Use a powered palm sander with fine grit sandpaper 200 to 300 to smooth the edges of.

So countersink all nails by at least 1 8 in. If your floor had stain on it previously or you have a history of respiratory issues wear a face mask and safety glasses while sanding the floor. You can keep sawdust from getting into other rooms by covering entrances with plastic sheeting and masking tape. Resand the floor edges.

Many times on these old maple floors there is a type of coating that tends to gum up the sandpaper. The best floor sander for beginning diyers unless you plan to sand many floors in your lifetime your best choice of floor sander is the random orbital sander from one maker in particular. Sand the floor down to bare wood with medium grit sandpaper in the floor sander. Depending on the finish being applied anything finer than 100 grit may be too smooth always consult the finish manufacturer s directions.

Maple is light in color hard and has a closed grain. Sanding a wood floor is a multi step process. If you understand these three factors you will sand a maple floor very successfully. When fine sanding maple floors always reduce drum pressure to its lowest setting and slow the drum speed if your machine allows for it.

That way you ll get a heads up on and hopefully the knowledge to avoid some of the problems you might encounter and some of the mistakes beginners make.