Drexel
Member
I recently installed and finished approx. 1200 sq' of wood flooring (Oak) in my newly constructed home. Having never installed/finished a wood floor before the orbital sander didn't sound like an amature's tool. I rented a square vibrating sander.
I agree with CaIG. get more paper then you think you'll need. You can take it back if you don't use it. I let them talk me into taking only 3 sheets of 36 grit paper and regretted that decision. I should have gone back and got more 36 grit but decided to finish it with what paper I had. The finer grit paper worked fine, just took much, much longer. I first went around all the edges with a small orbital sander (also rented). I had not installed the base board yet so cabinets were the only thing I had to be carefull around.
As far as finish, I used stain and polly. I applied the stain with lambs wool pad. My only suggestion on staining is to be consistent in your timing if your wiping it up. An area wiped after being on the floor for two minutes will look lighter then an area wiped after five minutes.
One last thought which doesn't pretain here but might be nice to know if anyone else is getting ready to install a floor. I was going to rent a flooring nailer due to the expense of buying one, 500.00+ but found a Freeman floor nailer for around 200.00. It got good reviews and worked flawlesly for me and I got to keep the nailer for less then rental would have cost me. Like I said this was my first floor and I'm not like those guys you see on youtube. It took me approximately a week to install 1200 feet (including beer breaks). Installing the floor myself also gave me an excuse to buy one of those nice oscillating saws to cut the door jambs off. The floor turned out very nice. Hope this helps anyone else who's thinking of installing or finishing a floor for the first time.
I agree with CaIG. get more paper then you think you'll need. You can take it back if you don't use it. I let them talk me into taking only 3 sheets of 36 grit paper and regretted that decision. I should have gone back and got more 36 grit but decided to finish it with what paper I had. The finer grit paper worked fine, just took much, much longer. I first went around all the edges with a small orbital sander (also rented). I had not installed the base board yet so cabinets were the only thing I had to be carefull around.
As far as finish, I used stain and polly. I applied the stain with lambs wool pad. My only suggestion on staining is to be consistent in your timing if your wiping it up. An area wiped after being on the floor for two minutes will look lighter then an area wiped after five minutes.
One last thought which doesn't pretain here but might be nice to know if anyone else is getting ready to install a floor. I was going to rent a flooring nailer due to the expense of buying one, 500.00+ but found a Freeman floor nailer for around 200.00. It got good reviews and worked flawlesly for me and I got to keep the nailer for less then rental would have cost me. Like I said this was my first floor and I'm not like those guys you see on youtube. It took me approximately a week to install 1200 feet (including beer breaks). Installing the floor myself also gave me an excuse to buy one of those nice oscillating saws to cut the door jambs off. The floor turned out very nice. Hope this helps anyone else who's thinking of installing or finishing a floor for the first time.