How to remove 'stripes' after sanding parquet flooring

[redlagoon]

Hi,

I had a go at sanding my parquet floor this weekend. Following recommendations from previous threads, i hired myself a Trio sander and went through the grit levels, 40, 80, 120.

The problem is that the entire floor now looks like a zebra. My guess is that where there is a gap between each of the underlying floorboards, over time it has warped the parquet sitting on top. I can see the visible "ripples" across the floor. The sander was probably sanding down the ridges but not the troughs.

So, how to get it all to one colour so i can varnish it?

 

[mattysupra]

can you post some pictures?

 

[redlagoon]

Here's a quick photo from my phone.

Untitled

• redlagoon
• 14 Apr 2008
• 1

 

[WoodYouLike]

I think your best bet is to re-sand using a belt sander (80 kg!) with grit 40 or 60 to level all ridges down first.
The trio-sander wasn't heavy enough for this job.

 

[redlagoon]

Thanks for confirming what I suspected was the case.

I hired the Trio from these chaps, and this is the belt sander they have available;

http://www.floorsanderhireuk.com/machine_endlessbelt.htm


Would this be sufficient?

 

[WoodYouLike]

Yeap, that's the one.

 

[redlagoon]

Thanks for your help.

I'm also trying to locate a few pieces of parquet to replace the damaged sections.

Each piece is 12" X 3", with a thickness of about 6-7mm. The wood is oak. Can anyone suggest a source for this?

 

[WoodYouLike]

Very 'odd' size nowadays I'm afraid. Try reclamation yard

 

[redlagoon]

One last question.

Would the heavy belt sander remove the 'ripple' effect that's causing the stripes? So the floor becomes completely flat?

 

[WoodYouLike]

More chance of that indeed, because of its weight and ongoing belt.