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Original poster

How much hassle is it...

23 replies

bluebear · 13/02/2004 13:21

to sand floorboards.
Long story but we've ended up with horrible bare boards in our living room. Would eventually like to end up with a wooden floor (either tongue and groove or parquet tiles) so it's wipe cleanable but have to re-lay electrics and do plumbing under fllor first which may take months.
So, in the meantime is it worth us sanding the gappy old boards and giving them a coat of varnish and sticking a rug on top or is it a lot more hassle than the daytime tv shows make us believe? Really really hate the boards at the moment. Any advice?

OP posts:
marialuisa · 13/02/2004 13:29

Well we paid £400 for a company to do our whole downstairs in 2 days. They were great, cleared up all the dust etc.

Demented · 13/02/2004 14:03

I agree with marialuisa, get someone to do it, although this may not be worth it if it is just a 'quick fix'.

Nome · 13/02/2004 14:15

Is it more expensive/difficult to sand parquet? We've just moved in and two rooms have solid wood parquet bits. It's covered in paint splashes from where previous owners painted the ceilings - does paint sand off? Any info appreciated, thanks.

twiglett · 13/02/2004 14:16

message withdrawn

Original poster
bluebear · 13/02/2004 14:32

Thanks all, Anyone else done it themselves??? Just thinking of the expense and the fact that dh is a perfectionist (has just fitted kitchen by himself, electrics, plumbing, the works, because tradesmen don't 'do things properly' )
Seems like a good excuse to take kids to Granny's for weekend.

Nome - Solid Wood Parquet - you lucky thing

OP posts:
miggy · 13/02/2004 14:41

re Varnish- we used buckets of expensive teflon stuff that came in little pots only and after loads of coats the floor wasnt tough enough so got huge vat of cheap varnish-one coat and they were great! so dont waste your money there.

noddy5 · 13/02/2004 14:45

It is great paying someone to do it.\we did that in a previous house and it was like a brand new floor.But if it is temporary and you plan eventually to cover it why not just paint the floor white/cream with floor paint.Can look v nice although my dp is also a perfectionist and he wouldnt like it.but i think it looks great!

SenoraPostrophe · 13/02/2004 14:47

DP did. Floor sanders don't cost much to hire, but the hard bit is getting all the nails etc out first. Took him a couple of days to do one room.

Plus he needed several coats of varnish - the first few were just absorbed into the floor. If you don't intend to keep your floor you could get away with less though.

Original poster
bluebear · 13/02/2004 14:54

Hadn't thought of painting Noddy - but the boards are really rough so if we go to bother of sanding them will probably varnish.
Dh already gone over floor removing nails etc as we have been living with the boards for last 6 months or so.
Do you all have gaps between your boards or are they tight to each other/tongue and grooved?
Our last house had gaps but they were much smaller, still draughty though, and not so good with a toddler who likes to 'post' things, and a new baby who will be sitting/crawling on them.

OP posts:
noddy5 · 13/02/2004 14:56

You just rub them down lightly and go!We are however moving to a new house soon where the single man selling it is a real tidy tim perfectionist and all the floors are pristine and my virgo dp is getting v excited

Debbiethemum · 13/02/2004 15:54

We did our wooden floors, but before I was even pregnant with DS. It's not too bad but loads of preperation just to make sure that the nails holding the boards onto the joist are just below surface level.
DH used what looks like a small spike, holding that on the nail then hammering the spike. If all the nails are below surface level you will not rip up loads of sandpaper sheets - where I think the hire places make all their profits on selling.
We also had gaps but used natural twine (ie the stuff you can use in the garden that hasn't been dyed or bleached) and twisted two strands together where required and stuffed it down the gaps - far enough so it was below the surface but not so far that it would fall all the way through. Then varnished over the lot. The varnish holds the twine in place and we have no draughts.
We did this place a room plus a bit of hallway at a time and it took the two of us a weekend. About one day on preperation, 2-3 hours sanding, 1-2 hours filling the gaps. Then varnished in the afternoon and evening. You will need two sanders a big chunky one and a smaller one to do round the edges.
It is hard work, but we wanted to live with the floor boards, which are original to the house (grd flr converted flat).

Of course my Mum thought we were nuts as they always saved up to afford fitted carpets !!!!

HTH
Debbie

Original poster
bluebear · 13/02/2004 16:16

Ooh twine _ thanks for that tip Debbie..could be just what we need.
I'm getting enthusiatic about this now.. if we do a proper job then we won't have to replace them later.

OP posts:
scoobysnax · 13/02/2004 16:49

Real & original boards are much nicer than replacement floors IMO but worth getting someone in to do it for you!

suedonim · 13/02/2004 18:11

My nephew and his dw are renovating a Victorian house. The floor was a nightmare, apparently! They were both working then and it took then a month of evenings to sand it themselves and finish it. Never again - they'll pay someone next time, they said. Their baby's bedroom is cute, they've painted the floor boards in pastel colours so it's now candy striped, really attractive.

fisil · 13/02/2004 18:44

We hired a sander and had a go. When we finally gave in and rang a pro for a quote, his response made it clear he was quite used to people ringing at this time of day admitting defeat! He came a few days later and did it with no mess, no hassle, and not much more expense (well, if we hadn't hired the damn thing in the first place)

CountessDracula · 13/02/2004 19:35

We have painted ours as a temporary measure, you don't really need to sand them, just get a little hand sander and go over the really rough bits (though if you are living with bare boards then I should think it won't even need this.

Farrow and Ball do lovely floor paints. I think it cost about £150 in paint/primer to do a 14 x 33 foot room. The number of people who have said that they think it looks fantastic has amazed me!

We are thinkig of going for oak soon but I may even keep the painted as it looks quite cool

MeanBean · 13/02/2004 21:30

We did ours years ago, it depends on how competent and strong you are. My ex partner was completely incompetent, so was I, so we did it, and it was fairly rubbish, but it still looked great compared to before. However, it took about a week, hard work, lots of effing and blinding, tears, tantrums, dust everywhere, and very expensive because we kept on tearing up sandpaper bits cos we were rubbish at it. When we got it done professionally about five years later, it looked much better.

If you are competent though (and strong - the machines are really heavy), it is OK, though it will still take you an awful lot longer than a professional. If you are going to do it yourself, one tip for filling the gaps in the floorboards: stuff some dampended bunched up newspapers down the cracks, then use the sawdust from the wood (but not the top layer because it will be dirty, so a different colour from the rest) and mix it with some kind of special glue you can get, on top of bunched up dampened newspapers. Apparantly it works.

prettycandles · 15/02/2004 15:48

I think it's worthwhile, as it makes for a far safer and more comfortable floor. You can fill gaps under about 5mm by stuffing them with a mixture of fresh sawdust (from the SECOND sanding, not the first) mixed wth PVA or woodglue, or larger gaps by splitting a lathe lengthwise so that it is wedge-shaped, coating it with glue and hammering it in, then planing it down. Another tip - though you'll have to ask dh for the details as he did the hard work - is to be careful with the large sander! We ended up with a slightly higher band about 6" wide at all the wall edges because in the time it took him to move the sander away from the wall, it took another couple of millimetres off the floorboard - which could be a problem when you came to lay the next flooring over.

If you and the kids 'escape', he'll easily get it all done in one weekend - if he's not sidetracked.

fairydust · 15/02/2004 16:05

Although it's a good idea to fill in gaps - these gaps were put there for reason - the reason is so that the air can cirulate - if they weren't mean't to be there then why do all houses have them

prettycandles · 15/02/2004 16:18

Generally they weren't there when the boards where laid down, but developed through shrinkage and movement. In any case, there should be enough airbricks in the outside walls to keep air circulating under the floorboards.

Original poster
bluebear · 15/02/2004 22:16

Hey PrettyCandles it's me! You know my dh... of course he'll get sidetracked..if I leave the house he'll turn Star Trek on

OP posts:
prettycandles · 16/02/2004 14:23

In that case you bring yours over here, and I'll send mine over there!

prettycandles · 16/02/2004 14:24

Argh I didn't mean that we should swap dhs (too soft!), I meant bring your little dears and I'll send my big dear.

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