Hi all,

I'm a new home-owner and my wife and I just installed unfinished hardwood floor in our kitchen. I was hoping to sand and stain sometime this week and then polyurethane this weekend. However, I don't know if I'm being too ambitious thinking that I will be able to sand my floors in just one evening after work. The floor is about 150 square feet, all the baseboards are pulled off and I'll be renting a sander. Is this too big of a project to get through in just a few hours?

Thanks,

Ryan

 

What type of sander are you renting?
Drum sander does a good job but isn't very diy friendly so a buffer [w/sandpaper] may be a better choice. You'll need an edger to get along the base/walls and corners [scraping and hand sanding is also needed]

The flooring will need sanding more than once. The 1st sanding is to level the floor, once it's sanded smooth it will need a finer sanding to get rid of sanding marks. After the stain and 1st coat of poly is applied, you'll need to do a light sanding to smooth out where the stain/poly has raised the grain. I suppose this sanding could be done with a hand sander.

 

I'm probably going to get a square buff sander, or a random orbital sander. The thing I am worried about is that I work full time. So, I will have to get a couple hours off work and go rent a sander then take it home and do all the sanding (except for between poly coats) then I need to take the sander back all before the store closes (probably about 4 hours). Since this is my first time sanding a floor I just don't know how long it will take. I'm assuming it will only take me two or three hours to do three sandings of the floor (rough, medium and fine). If it isn't likely that I will finish this project in just a few hours than I need to know before-hand so I can rent the sander for two days instead of just one.

 

Are you talking a small 1/4 or 1/2 sheet sander? If so, I'm not sure you would have enough patience [I wouldn't] to do a good job of sanding the whole floor.

I'm sure if you run your fingers over the floor you will see how uneven the boards are. It takes a lot of sanding to get it down smooth. If you don't want to deal with a drum sander or buffer, you might take an edger and sand the entire floor with it and then use a smaller sander to sand away the scratches. You could use the edger 1 night and the small sander the next.

I know it's a relatively small job but if you could get a pro to come in and do the initial sanding for you - you'll be glad you did.

 

Our rental stores are not open on Sunday, anytime I rent something I get it on Fri evening for a Sat. rental and Sun Is free, but have to have it back by a certain time on Mon. In fact when I inquired about a drum sander the merchant suggested I do this as it was a big job and I would need the time to do it right. But my job is about 3 times as big, this is why I have not done it yet.
good luck