Which sanders for floor?

[Nathanlowe25]

I want to sand and varnish the floorboards in my spare room (3.5m x 2.5m and uneven) but don’t know what sanders I absolutely need?

I have a Belt and Orbital sander (although never used either) and also have the option for hiring a drum and edge sander.

Hiring costs would be about £90 for the weekend plus another £30 for the sand paper.

Thanks

Nathan

 

[Danns]

A lot will chime in telling you to "leave it to the pros" or "hire a floor sander".

First off, make sure all boards are secure, For last room, I went all out with screwing all boards next to the original nails and then plugging / sanding flush with a plug cutter set (check for services first!). Before this stage I'd go one further and lift as many boards as possible and fill the void/between joists with rockwool sound slab.

I managed to sand my worse condition / covered in bitumen boards back to very presentable using a Makita belt sander (9403) and festool RO150. you can do it with just an RO, but chances of removing any cup from boards if present is smaller.

Minimal dust hooked up to henry.

Once done, I'd recommend gluing/hammering in reclaimed floor "slither" wedges (available on ebay), trim almost flush with mutlitool and sand again with RO and then a final pass of fiddes floor filler gel and a final sand again. Then finish with Treatex.

Yes there's many ways of doing it, the above is the outcome of my trial and improvement from everything I could find, result is a very secure, noise free, effectively working as 1 piece floor.

Not the worst condition to start with room, but before and after attached.

 

[Wayners]

Hire sander.
Knock in nails.
Tighten handle. Check it. Check it again.
Handle can pull out at first use and can cause great damage as sander moves without you holding. Had that happen to me and a mate. Cable wrapped around barrel, and sander hit the skirting digging in floor. It's a nightmare if handle pulls out.
Start and stop sander with barrel off floor.

Hire edging sander as well and watch out for copper pipes.

Touch those pipes with edge sander you will be in trouble

 

[Tigercubrider]

Another recommendation for a proper floor sander.
a home sander isn’t up to a floor and will give you a bumpy floor which will look terrible.

 

[foxhole]

Have used both methods without problems but drum sander with do the job 5 times quicker than smaller sanders .Also much kinder to your knees and back .