July 26, 2023
- Sandpaper of the wrong grit can be a problem
The biggest mistake that I see is using the wrong grit of paper.
It’s important and you won’t be doing yourself any favours if you sand your wood with too fine a paper.
The grit of the paper you use will be determined by how your floorboards look. You can start with finer sandpaper if they have been sanded previously and only need a refresh. In most cases you will start with much coarser sandpaper than you expected.
You should only use 24 grit if you have never sanded your floor before. It may sound extreme, but anything more coarse will not remove enough dirt and old varnish.
It will also cost you more money and cause you to use more paper.
We started by sanding our floors with 16 grit sandpaper. Our floors were slightly waved and covered in a thick layer of varnish.
If you use the wrong grit, your sandpaper will clog up very quickly. You’ll want avoid clogged paper as it is useless.
You’ll spend more money because you will have to replace the paper constantly. But you’ll also take longer because you need to change it.
- Not Sanding Enough
It’s hard work, and it can be physically exhausting to sand your floor.
You’ll see an almost immediate difference when you start sanding, but the progress will be much slower once you have removed most of your varnish and dirt.
This is mainly due to the fact that the floorboards are not completely flat, which means the drum of a floor sanding tool won’t reach all the areas of the flooring in one go.
If the floorboards have a concave shape, you will often see shadows at the edge of the boards (if they are concave), or in the middle (if they are convex).
You may think that your floors are finished. But resist the urge to stop – you won’t regret it!
The most frustrating part of Floor Sanding in Auckland is removing the last bits. Progress will appear to be almost non-existent.
Keep sanding the surface until all marks are removed and shadows have been completely eliminated.
Even if they are going to be painted or black, you should sand them until they appear brand new. This is what makes the difference between a floor that looks amazing and professional and one that looks average and amateurish.
- Not Sanding Diagonally
In our first home, we didn’t sand our floors diagonally. But we did it in our new house and we would definitely recommend it.
This will make sanding floors faster, as you’ll be able to reach all the boards and not have any difficult-to-reach areas (which I described above as the problem of shadows).
The sanded floor in our Edwardian home was not uneven, and it wasn’t. But the difference between our newly sanded flooring in our new house really surprised me.
They feel more even and flatter. It’s hard to describe in words and impossible to photograph.
- Sanding the Edges
It’s a pain to sand the edges of a room. You’ll be hunched over the edging tool for hours.
It’s actually a good idea that you sand your edges a little less than your main surface.
We recommend that you stop at the 80-grit paper for the edges. You’ll save time and still get a smooth surface.
You can sand your floor with fine grit, but you may end up with scorch-marks on it. This is because the friction and heat generated by the sandpaper can cause the floor to become damaged.
- Not Changing Sandpaper Often enough
We made a big mistake when we first sanded the floor. We did not change the sandpaper enough.
We realized our mistake after a few days and began to change the paper frequently. This allowed us to sand floors faster.
You may be thinking that you would rather save money, as sheets and disks can be expensive, but once you start sanding, you will want to do it as quickly as possible!
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