Hardwood floor ''sanding'' the natural way.

[clemsonfor]

I have rented all the commercial grade sanders there are for finishing and refinishing about 1700sqft of my home over the years. First off a belt is way to aggressive, you need an orbiatal or vibrator sander with like 200 or 300 grit paper.

But a big drum or one of the 6" disk sanders is only like $100 with paper and rental. Its not an easy job by anymeans but its not hard just menotonous (spelling) and makes my back hurt as im 6'2" and have to bend down to the handles a bit.

I have also used a worn drum model and it took twice as long cause it only used half the drum to sand. I was rushing and left divots and paths in the floor as i rushed the course grit and not spending enough time on the fine grades.


Yea and the sand will produce silica dust which will cause silicosus, which is a lung disease that stone masons and concrete guys get.

 

[Lloyd_E]

Look up holystone. It is how floors were finished and washed. Colonial floors were not painted or stained until later on. The builders would use long leaf pine, oak etc and holystone the floors to finish and clean. This system was also used on early sailing vessels(up to the 1930's as well) to keep the deck clean and add texture for grip.

Amazing what natural materials can do...