How to Sand a Floor - Restore your Wooden Flooring

Here at Brandon Hire Station, we offer an extensive range of floor sanding tools from universal floor sanders to electronic edging sanders. Sanding a wood floor is an ideal way to give a room a modern look, as well as removing any imperfections or stains from your current boards and giving it a brand new look.

Follow these simple steps below and see how easy it is to sand your floor.

Preparing the area for sanding is the first important step, to minimise dust and damage to any items within the room it is best to remove as much as possible. This includes curtains, pictures, rugs, bookcases etc. Anything that isn't able to be removed from the room, cover in a dust sheet and make sure all windows and exterior doors are open. It is advisable to seal around any internal doors you have.

Next, it is vital to replace any broken or damaged floorboards, these can easily be removed with a wide blade chisel and a hammer. If you find some boards are loose or uneven, these will need to be levelled out or secured into place by simply nailing a batten into the joist under the uneven board at the correct height, so the floorboard is level with the adjacent board. Then either hammer a nail or screw it into the floorboard so it is secure.

Closing up any gaps between boards will stop and draughts and give your floor a solid, professional look. This can be done by either nudging all the boards together from one side of the room and filling the gap. If this cannot be done easily, then simply cut a slim piece of wood wide enough to fill the gap and hammer into place.

Making sure any raised nails are flush to the boards is important due to the risk of damaging the sander. The best way to nail down raised nails is to use a nail punch or a chisel on top of the nail and hammer down, making sure it is flush with the board. When all the nails are into the boards, give the floor a sweep over and make sure there is no debris on any of the boards.

Choose which grade paper you require, if your floor is in need of rigorous sanding, then use the heavy grade paper, if it requires a skim for a re-polish, then use a medium grade sheet. The best way to sand is to work diagonally across the floor, this makes sure all the board is caught by the sander, especially any loose edges. Work slowly across the room and make sure any stains or marks on the floor are removed. When this is complete, switch down to a lower grade paper and repeat the process.

Now the bulk of the floor is complete, it is time to work on the edges of the room. Use an edging sander and work your way around the edges of the room, again starting with a heavy grade paper and when complete, move towards a lower grade to finish off.

When the floor is fully sanded and you are happy with the results, it is time to give the boards a clean to remove any dust. A tip is to use white spirit on the cloth to remove any excess dirt or grease. Finally, when all the boards are clean, it is time to seal the boards with wood finish or paint, when dry it is time to apply the boards with varnish, leave to dry for the required time, then enjoy your new look floor.