Sanding Sealer On Maple Floors
Leave one section raw wipe full strength sealer on one section and wipe half strength sealer on the third section.
Sanding sealer on maple floors. Sanding is obviously the most essential. I ve found that the older maple floors become the harder they seem to get. A word of warning is in order. When fine sanding maple floors always reduce drum pressure to its lowest setting and slow the drum speed if your machine allows for it.
Divide a test board into three sections. You are most likely going to refinish one maple floor every few years so you will not get that many chances to practice. Start with wood stain sealer. Here are a few things i ve found that will help you in your sanding process if you find yourself having to.
Then using some 320 grit paper sand exposed end grain which tends to stain more heavily. Avoid sanding maple too smooth. It had every imperfection you can think of. Depending on the finish being applied anything finer than 100 grit may be too smooth always consult the finish manufacturer s directions.
Some even get so hard they feel like you re sanding concrete causing your paper to dull out extremely fast. The maple flooring manufacturers association its members and employees do not warrant these recommendations as proper under all conditions. As with any product please consult the manufacturer s guidelines before use. Sand with the grain moving the sander in a straight line from one end of the room to the other.
Try to evenly sand the entire project with this final sanding. Finish in a flash with a fast drying sealer instead of waiting a day between a sealer coat of poly and the first topcoat speed up the process by first applying a fast drying sanding sealer. Start with 120 grit before moving up to 180 and finally 220. Athletic flooring sealer and finish specifications and conformance list introduction.
Sanding a maple floor is not like sanding oak. The maple flooring manufacturers association publishes this specification and lists products that conform to it for the sole purpose of providing guidance in achieving the highest protection and most enduring beauty in wood floors. If you put a hard brittle finish like lacquer over a thick soft one like sanding sealer it is much more likely to chip and crack. Let it dry for about an hour and sand lightly with 220 grit paper.
The key to evening out the stain is to sand the project thoroughly using progressively finer sandpaper grits. To minimize grain raising and make the first coat easier to sand apply a water based sanding sealer before spraying or brushing on topcoats. I recently was asked to look at a maple floor to fix. What works on oak doesn t work on maple.
For that reason if you use sanding sealer stick to one or two coats at the most and plan to sand most of it back off. There are numerous factors that impact the life of an mfma maple flooring system.