Floor sanding

Honestly one of the best updates that can be made to your home to give it a new lease on life is polishing your floorboards. For my own floorboard revamp, I engaged Gary, the owner of Metropolitan Floor Sanding and I’d highly recommend him. Before he was allowed to leave my house, (😊) I hit him with a quick Q&A on the floor sanding process to share with you:

What is the process for sanding and repolishing timber floors?

The sanding process is a quick but methodical process.

Firstly, nails have to be punched in.
Then I run course paper (40 grit) over the surface at an angle to sand the floor flat in the line with the grain.
The next step is to run finer paper over the surface to remove deep grain marks.
I then fill in the nail holes with a putty matching the colour of the timber.
To get to the edges of the room, I use an edging machine to run along the skirting to sand the floors back.
The floor is then sanded with 100 grit sandpaper.
Finally, a different floor buffing machine is used to finish off the sanding process using a fine steel mesh for a very smooth finish before coating.

How long do you need to allow for the work to be completed i.e. to just do one room, to doing a whole house?

For one room to be completed, you should allow 3 days from start to finish. For a full house, then approximately 5 – 7 days is required to complete. I recommend people try to spend as much time away from the floor as possible, especially in the cooler months when it takes longer to dry. When you do return to your house, I recommend avoiding wearing shoes over the floor for a week. Though that said, I recommend you should always avoid walking over timber in shoes. It’s the best way to protect them over the long term.

What are some of the issue you can encounter during the process?

A common issue while sanding is finding Bora Insects in old timber that eats away at the boards. If the Bora damage is only surface deep and boards are structurally sound it is okay to continue to sand and coat floor – the Bora holes can be filled with matching putty prior to coating. However, if the Bora insects have totally eaten out the timber then those affected boards need to be replaced which I can do as a Floor Sander.

Also, oily timbers like Brushbox, Spotted Gum, Sydney Blue Gum often react with the coating causing a rejection in the surface especially if you use a solvent based product or oil base product like Tung Oil.

Are there any timber floorboards that can’t be repolished?

The only boards that can’t be re-coated are engineered bamboo, and floors that have been sanded three times already.

What polish/stains to you use?

I use either Bona Waterbase Non Toxic Polyurethane, Tung oil or Bona Dri-Fast stains.

Tung Oil is best used on non-stop oily timbers such as Victorian Ash Hardwood or Pine.

You run into trouble when you use Tung oil on naturally oily timber such as Brushbox, Sydney Blue Gum and Jarrah when the two oils come in contact with each other causing a crater like finish commonly known as rejection.

Bona Waterbase polyurethane is ideal for oily timbers as there is no negative reaction.

Dryfast stains are perfect for use with Waterbase Polyurethane. This stain dries in only 4 hours and can be over coated in 6 hrs if needed thus moving the job along quicker.

What are your top tips for maintaining your boards after polishing?

Install felt pads on all furniture legs.
Clean once a week – 1 cap of mentholated spirits with 2 litres of warm water.
Use rugs in high traffic areas.
Always have a mat in front of door to catch any stones and grit.

How long will the work last?

A coat will last 8-10 years if looked after well.

Some people have some concerns over the smell and fumes, especially when there are young children in the house. How do you respond to this?

If fumes are strong after coating open all windows and doors for as long as possible, and keep fans going. It’s safe to be in the home while the polish continues to settle, it just smells like fresh paint, so apply the same approach to living in a room that has recently been painted.