Polishing timber floors is a great skill to add to your repertoire of home improvement skills. It can be done with a minimum of equipment, and it’s not too difficult to learn. Here are some tips on how to do Timber Floor Sanding right.
Overview of polishing timber floors
Polishing timber floors is a popular choice for many homes. It’s an easy process to do yourself, but if you’d rather leave it to the professionals, there are plenty of options out there.
Polished timber flooring is achieved using a combination of sanding and polishing techniques that can be completed by either yourself or by hiring a professional contractor.
The final step in this process is applying your chosen finish to your timber floors – whether that be waxes or lacquers will depend on what type of look you’re after!
Preparing the room
- Clean the room
- Remove all furniture and carpets from the room.
- Remove curtains, blinds and any other items that may be in the way or could get damaged when you are sanding and polishing your timber floor. Make sure there is nothing in the room that will damage your timber floor when you are sanding it with a machine sander or hand sander.
Overview of Sanding
Sanding is an important part of the process, but if you’re new to it or need some help getting started, here are some tips:
- Use sandpaper with finer grits on hard surfaces like wood floors and stone walls. The coarsest grit will give you a smooth finish but may leave scratches in the finish that will take longer to fill in.
- If your floor has been damaged by water damage or other damage, remove any loose particles before sanding, so they don’t get trapped between the grain lines when you go over them again later with finer grits.
The initial Sand, the Coarse Sand
The first thing you need to do is sand your floor. This can be done with various types of sandpaper, but we recommend using 120- or 150-grit paper. Start by applying a thick coat of this on one side at a time, and then repeat until you’ve finished with all four sides.
Next up is polishing! Here are some tips on how to polish timber floors:
- If there are any scratches on the floor, remove them using an orbital sander (or another type of power tool) before proceeding with the process below.* Apply some paste wax onto one side at a time using an applicator brush or cloth (this will help protect against future marks being left behind).
- Polish by rubbing vigorously in one direction only—in other words, don’t start at one corner and work your way outwards!
Make sure not too much pressure is applied as this could cause damage if left alone for too long; instead, use moderate pressure so that just enough friction occurs between your hand/body movements and the surface materials being polished off them.
The Medium Sand
Medium Sand is used to removing the scratches left by the coarse Sand. It’s also used to remove the scratches left by the fine Sand. The medium Sand should be used with a pad that is half as wide as your floor, so if you have a 3m-wide floor, use a 1m-wide pad on your sander.
When doing this step, make sure not to press down too hard on the machine, or you’ll end up with deep grooves in your timber and create more work for yourself later!
The final Sand, the finished Sand
The final sanding should be done with medium-grit sandpaper. This process allows you to smooth out any rough spots left by the other steps and also gives your floors a nice shine.
You can use a felt pad or floor buffer for this step, but it’s best to use both if you have them available.
When using either tool, make sure that you’re holding the tool at least 2 inches away from your workpiece so that it doesn’t scratch or gouge into your wood as you’re working on it!
If there are any deep cracks in your floorboards (for example, if they’ve been exposed during construction), then we recommend using an orbital sander instead of just straight up sweeping over each board individually—this way, all of those pesky cracks will get taken care of at once!
The type of floor finish you use will depend on the type of timber floor you have and what area you live in. If your timber is dark, it’s best to use a darker floor finish. Similarly, if your timber is light-coloured, then a lighter-coloured finish will be more appropriate. Thus make sure to choose the right Timber Floor Sanding Melbourne company. Prestige Floors carry high-quality hardwood, vinyl, and laminate flooring at competitive prices. So if your floor needs a service contact us now!