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Original poster

How long does it take to sand a floor?

25 replies

Maudy · 01/12/2004 13:52

OK...we need to sand a typical victorian terraced house dining room and sitting room. They have both been knocked into one and the floors need doing.

Has anyone sanded their own floors and if so can they answer the following questions?

1.How long did it take?
2.Was it easy/hard?
3.How much mess?
4.Any top tips?

Thanks

OP posts:

bootsmonkey · 01/12/2004 14:04

From personal experience I can say:

GAMI!

SantaFio2 · 01/12/2004 14:06

takes a day, is physiocally hard, makes lots of mess/dust

empty room first

MancMum · 01/12/2004 14:08

Time to sand - 1 day
Tine to clear up dust - for ever!

but seriously... 1 full (ie all day) should get it sanded and the edges done... it is hard physically and VERY noisy.... very messy

My top tip is having sanded and varnished floor boards 5 years ago and then having the same ones dne again last year professionally is... get some one in!

MancMum · 01/12/2004 14:09

just worked out what GAMI means!!

saintlysecur · 01/12/2004 14:09

empty room, seal all doors, open windows, do not open doors until all dust has settled and been cleaned up. Make sure all nail heads are knocked well down. You need 2 sanders one for edges one for middle-it is a filthy filthy job and you can't use room until it is sanded, totaly cleaned, varnised, dried and then stuff can come back in.

Don't IMO-we are re-doing ours in Jan eughh can't wait!

Original poster

Maudy · 01/12/2004 14:11

I would love to GAMI but we have already spent a small fortune getting the rooms done and so we have to cut costs somewhere.

Not looking forward to this weekend. House is a total mess, there is nowhere to sit and now DP is going to do the floors and I have to keep the kids out of the house all weekend

OP posts:

Original poster

Maudy · 01/12/2004 14:13

Is it good enough just to cover up furniture with dust sheets and do one room at a time? They are already covered in dust from wall being knocked down as there is nowhere else to move them too. Bummer.

OP posts:

saintlysecur · 01/12/2004 14:22

up to you, but I would say a resounding no! your furniture will be dusty for years to come, it is evil stuff-we taped up the door and covered them with plasitc sheeting and taped that again (no gaps at all) then left it taped until the job was done-back door open and all windows. No one opened the door until it was cleaned up and varnished, yet we still had a covering over dust over the entire house-and I mean everywhere, it was horrible.

Looking forward to Jan less and less

Original poster

Maudy · 01/12/2004 14:39

Oh god...I want a magic wand for Christmas.

OP posts:

saintlysecur · 01/12/2004 14:42

You are not planning on doing it before xmas are you?

cellulitequeen · 01/12/2004 14:46

DH did nursery floor in our old house (he hired a sander from a local DIY outlet). I couldn't believe how much mess it made - the whole house was covered in dust, and he'd sealed the doors etc. Never again.

saintlysecur · 01/12/2004 14:50

we are not selling this idea to you are we

seriously, this is the one thing that is worth the outlay to GAMI!

sponge · 01/12/2004 15:10

Surely even if you GAMI he'll still make lots of dust so what's the difference.
I did a couple of rooms years ago and quite enjoyed the actual sanding but found the staining and varnishing a bit of a PITA. You need 3 coats of varnish ideally for it to last well so it takes time to apply with drying in between each coat.

saintlysecur · 01/12/2004 15:11

gami comes with vacumy bits on his sander so not so bad as diy!

Original poster

Maudy · 01/12/2004 16:16

Maybe I should go for carpet instead.

DP might have to go away this weekend for work now so maybe it will end up being left till after Xmas. I hope so.

OP posts:

saintlysecur · 01/12/2004 16:33

please don't try to do it b4 xmas, it is IMO a task that can only end in tears with so little time left, go for after xmas and steal yourself for the disruption!

frogs · 01/12/2004 17:14

Don't do it yourself. Really, don't.

By the time you've hired the sander, paid for all the consumables (sand-papery bits, you need a LOT), driven to and from the hire place, then wasted half the weekend trying to make the thing work, and damaged the floorboards when the machine gets over-excited, you might as well GAMI.

GAMI will be experienced at sealing up rooms to minimise the spread of mess, will come with a vacuumy sander which reduces the amount of dust flying around, and will do its own clearing up.

Truly, don't.

Aero · 01/12/2004 17:52

Well, we did ours and yes, it is messy, and dusty, and the dust does get everywhere, but I still think it's worth it. I have no idea how much you'd save by doing it yourself, but either way, it's still a dirty job. We actually found preparing the floors more of pain than the sanding and varnishing. My advice is to do it properly and take the time to make sure you have prepared it really well. Knock every nail in until it's flush. Use the best varnish you can afford - you'll need at least two and probably three coats. After we sanded and before varnishing, we filled in between the floorboards with a mixture of the sawdust and pva glue - now that is very time comsuming, but makes the room much less drafty and easier to clean - the first room we did, we omitted doing this and now I hate the fact that so much dirt gets down in there - I wish we'd done it properly. Anyway, it's up to you, but I think the wooden floors are lovely and I don't regret doing it for a second, but my advice is don't rush it - you'll like it much more if you take the time and extra effort to do it properly and the dust will settle and can be cleaned off.

MaudyandJoseph · 02/12/2004 13:41

Aero, how long did it take you to do?

I know everyone is talking about disruption but we have just had the wall between sitting room and dining room knocked down, french doors put in the back of the dining room and when I left this morning there was no back to my kitchen (more french doors) so disruption is already and issue at the mo. And as for dust, well we already have a layer of it around the house so in a way it's probably best just to get it over and done with.

Still would prefer to GAMI as then it can all be done with kids at school and me at work but DP is insisting.

MistltAeroAndWine · 02/12/2004 13:48

Preparing the floor took a couple of evenings when the kids were in bed - we just move the furniture around for this. The actual sanding was pretty quick really - Hired the machine for a wekend the first time and only for a day the second time. We then returned it and started the sawdust and glue filling in process - that took a couple of days as it needed time to dry thoroughly and also needed a second going over as the mixture sinks a bit. Was all done in about 5 days from start to finish and bearing in mind we did all but the actual sanding at night.
Go for it - you'll feel a huge sense of achievement when you've finished.

Cinderellascarrieg · 02/12/2004 13:53

Sadly not a job with shortcuts either - we just took up the carpet & varnished the boards. That was a year ago & they've worn really badly.

Definitely planning to GAMI to re-do them...

MaudyandJoseph · 02/12/2004 13:54

Did you take all the furniture out of the room or did you just move it around? We have nowhere to put our sofas whilst doing it so will just have to move them from one side to the other.

MaudyandJoseph · 02/12/2004 16:09

It's official, the sander has been booked for the weekend! Prepare for lots of moaning and cries for help.

Just out of interest, how much does it cost to GAMI?

Also..SaintlyS why are you redoing yours in Jan?

BeachedWhale · 02/12/2004 16:35

Be careful when you sand around your radiator pipes! DH sanded a hole in ours on a Sunday on a bank holiday weekend and flooded not only the bedroom we were sanding but brought down the lounge ceiling underneath too. I've GAMI for any DIY job since! Floor however does look fab. I'm sure you won't be as cack handed as us! Enjoy!

noddy5 · 02/12/2004 16:54

We did this on my dp's 2 days off this week our room is 15x15 floor quite clean.We sanded it and the edges in 3 hours and I hoovered for about another 1.5 hrs.We let the dust settle for 30 mins before hoovering so wasn't too bad.Then mopped with hot water with a few caps of white spirir in it.Gave it one coat of sealer that night and another in the morning.Hard work but we put all the stuff back in yestaerday and last night sat grinning like cheshire cats at our new room!Well worth all the aches and pains we have had doing it!

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