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Refinishing Vintage Hardwood Floors |
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Written by admin (Cranston, Rhode Island)
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Page 2 of 6
The first step is to procure both a belt sander for the bulk of the floor and a disc sander
or floor edger to handle the delicate spots and  Baseboard edges. Another consideration is a floor scraper and, if you have electric baseboards to contend with, a smaller sander to get at their undersides. Lastly, there's the poly,lacquering and staining, but we'll revisit those issues later on.
Since heavy-duty sanders are only required
on occasion and are expensive investments (upwards of $2000, never mind the accessories and upkeep costs), it's best to check into
renting them over a long weekend, which should only cost around $200 with the sandpaper.
 Sandpaper comes in many varieties, categorized by the durability of the
material, the type of material that the paper's 'grits' are made out
of, and the 'grain' of the paper.
Commercial vs. Industrial: Unless you're embarking to refurbish the
Atlantic City boardwalk, commercial sandpaper will work out fine.
Grits, or the shards of 'sand' that cut up the surface, are usually made
from aluminum oxide, garnet, or ceramic. Aluminum oxide is fine for
most small jobs, and keeps sharp over extended use. Garnet wears easier but leaves a smoother finish,
while ceramic is designed to peel off multiple layers of flooring at
once.
Grains refer to the total number of 'grits' embedded into the paper per square inch. Smaller numbers are coarser and handle the brunt work of peeling off
those numerous layers of gunk. Larger numbers have a larger grit count, using finer grains of sand for delicate finishes and final
passes. For most floors, having three progressive sets of sandpaper on
hand should do the job. The photo above shows a 20, 36 and 60 grain sandpaper, cut for the belt sander and ready to be used on an old industrial mill floor.
For varnished floors, a couple passes of the sander with progressively
finer grains of sandpaper (in woodworker's parlance: going through the grits) should do the job, while painted floors will
likely need a scraper for the tough spots, and an additional pass. Most residential jobs start with a 36 grain sandpaper: coarse enough to remove paint and varnishes, yet fine enough to handle thinner floorboards.
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