Sanding floor woes....
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Sanding floor woes....
Hello all,
This is my first post as I've been lurking this board for almost a week before I took on the task of refinishing my Oak floors. I have 490 sq ft. of space that needs to be worked on.
I went to my local HD and opted to rent the U-Sand instead of a belt/drum sander. I picked up massive amounts of 40 grit paper. 16 hours later. I am still sanding one room. Am I doing something wrong here? I am changing the paper every 30 minutes for the first 10 seconds after chaning the pads this thing moves great than falls down to a snails pace.
I have used my 5'' Random Orbital to get to a lot of the crowns that this monster cannot. Should I be using a lower grit sand paper maybe? Why didn't they make this paper with holes so it doesn't clog up as much? Assuming this it he problem.
At this point I've under taken a lot of things on my own. At this rate it seems that I'm going to end up spending the same amount to do this myself as it would be to hire a professional. I got quoted from approximately $2.25-$3.75 sq/ft for sanding, stain and poly. Anybody have some insight?
Thank you in advance!
This is my first post as I've been lurking this board for almost a week before I took on the task of refinishing my Oak floors. I have 490 sq ft. of space that needs to be worked on.
I went to my local HD and opted to rent the U-Sand instead of a belt/drum sander. I picked up massive amounts of 40 grit paper. 16 hours later. I am still sanding one room. Am I doing something wrong here? I am changing the paper every 30 minutes for the first 10 seconds after chaning the pads this thing moves great than falls down to a snails pace.
I have used my 5'' Random Orbital to get to a lot of the crowns that this monster cannot. Should I be using a lower grit sand paper maybe? Why didn't they make this paper with holes so it doesn't clog up as much? Assuming this it he problem.
At this point I've under taken a lot of things on my own. At this rate it seems that I'm going to end up spending the same amount to do this myself as it would be to hire a professional. I got quoted from approximately $2.25-$3.75 sq/ft for sanding, stain and poly. Anybody have some insight?
Thank you in advance!
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I checked out that patent pending contraption... it looks like a lemon, i.m.h.o.
I know those old drum sanders are scary and massively overbuilt to survive rental abuse, but they really do work and won't clog unless you're sanding gummy stuff. I'd return the U-Sand and rent a drum.
Buy more paper, of more grits, than you think you'll need. I've never had a problem returning what I didn't use. Just grab a half dozen of everything, seriously.
Check the machine in-store. Jammed, crooked, or wobbly wheels will mar the final sanding. Sometimes the dust chute has some junk lodged in it - you'll have to get in there with wrench and screwdriver to extract the mangled pop bottle or whatever. So better give it a whir beforehand.
The machine's weight & balance should not dictate the pressure. You can do better, but not by pushing the machine forward to sand - the trick is to lever it gently against the floor whilst slowly walking it backwards. You can finely control the pressure and minimize bouncing, this way.
Really handy are some kinds of hooks on the walls or ceiling to hang the cord on, so you needn't fuss with whipping it out of the path at every pass.
I know those old drum sanders are scary and massively overbuilt to survive rental abuse, but they really do work and won't clog unless you're sanding gummy stuff. I'd return the U-Sand and rent a drum.
Buy more paper, of more grits, than you think you'll need. I've never had a problem returning what I didn't use. Just grab a half dozen of everything, seriously.
Check the machine in-store. Jammed, crooked, or wobbly wheels will mar the final sanding. Sometimes the dust chute has some junk lodged in it - you'll have to get in there with wrench and screwdriver to extract the mangled pop bottle or whatever. So better give it a whir beforehand.
The machine's weight & balance should not dictate the pressure. You can do better, but not by pushing the machine forward to sand - the trick is to lever it gently against the floor whilst slowly walking it backwards. You can finely control the pressure and minimize bouncing, this way.
Really handy are some kinds of hooks on the walls or ceiling to hang the cord on, so you needn't fuss with whipping it out of the path at every pass.
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I'm not a pro, but I had the same problem....using tons of 40 grit paper and not making any headway. My problem was solved when I got a can of stripper and removed the old poly; most of the stain came up as well. After that, sanding was a piece of cake.
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I've used one of those U-Sanders before and it actually worked really well. On my job though there was basically no urethane left on the floor so it was pure wood. If you want to use the U-Sander I'd try stripping the urethane first on a small section and see how that works.