Floor sanding and polyurethane varnish

[sarahw]

I'm going to get 2 rooms sanded (each 14 by 15ft). I've had a quote for:
£400 sand only
£550 sand and varnish with polyurethane (3 coats).

The floors are original oak from 1880 and have mild stiletto marks and rasing of boards in cetre, so I'd presume a standard sand.

Is this price reasonble for South London (Croydon). I've found polyurethane varnish for £30 a gallon at Toolstaton, so how long would it be likely to take to do 2 coats with a sponge myself?

 

[tall_tone]

Once sanded a small room only takes 20 minutes to lacquer, once you have sorted an applicator (I would suggest a medium pile roller not a sponge).
When dry, 1-3 hours depending upon the product, you would then need to remove any grain raising with a light abrasive paper by hand, remove dust then put a second, then third coat down. One day easy most of it watching the lacquer dry!

Is this the varnish you are looking at? http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Pai...ethane+Varnish+Satin+5+Ltr/d150/sd3006/p17605

My worry there are the hazard labels which modern lacquers should not have. I personally use Bona Mega, WoodYouLike on this site prefers Lecol lacquer. Neither have those hazard labels and are easy to source across the country.

Hope this helps

 

[WoodYouLike]

We prefer oil

My worry would be: can you as DIY-er apply any varnish/lacquer as well as a professional?
£ 150.00 difference in price for the varnish and application of it is IMHO not worth the risk of ending up with not so perfect end-result. Applying varnish/lacquer is not the easiest of jobs, plus in the event there are sanding errors you might end up with a endless discussion between the professional sander and DIY-er: your fault, no yours

 

[sarahw]

Thanks folks for the advice. I agree that it would be easy for me to mess up and I'm also put off as it's a pretty noisy & dirty job.

What do you think of the price - 2 14 by 14 foot rooms sanded and varnished for £550 cash. The guy said 2 of them would do it within a day and I'm wondering if I've got a "clueless girly" price

 

[WoodYouLike]

No, price sounds reasonable (don't forget they have to use professional equipment that comes with its own price