Floor sanding/old varnish/dust

[oaky55]

Reading through lots of posts on here about the pros and cons of DIY or professional floor sanding. Have just had some carpets up in a Victorian house and found that about 2/3 of the boards have been varnished in the past, and the rest seem to be reclaimed. The varnished boards are a dark brown but slightly translucent, and then there are loads of paint and plaster splatters from old decorating.

I contacted a couple of companies on Thursday and I guess that because its a fairly standard job they can give cost estimates based on square metres of floor. Two companies have come back already with ballpark similar costs, but one has a cancellation (the reasons sound legit) and therefore if I gave them the go-ahead they could do it next week.

I'd anticipated having a bit more time to think about this and have people come out and look at the floor, but it is tempting just to get it sorted. The room needs to be redecorated, which I can do, but this would help get things tied up much more quickly.

Thing is, the pressure of having to make the decision has sent me into a bit of a deep-dive about dust and whether the old paint splatters or varnish could contain hidden nasties like lead. It sounds like the professionals have really good dust extraction methods, and many many people are having their floors sanded! For those that have had it done, was this a consideration? How was the dust? I know it can't be 100% dust free, but how noticeable was it?

Don't be rushed by someone else's cancellation, stick to your original timeline so you can research it all calmly. Plus sometimes the better companies are more booked up.

I did it myself

what I didn’t do was fill the gaps, they looked good and were fine with a large rug over. I eventually carpeted the house for warmth

i I didn’t have the money originally and it cost me £15 per room, git rugs from auction for £20/30

recently son has done his floor boards, hired machin and filled gaps then varnished - no drafts and looks good

The fact that I've woken up at 5am worrying about what to do does sort of suggest that the best thing would be to step back and make sure I've done my due diligence and got three quotes etc.

On the flip side, this company is well reviewed locally and without the cancellation they've said they would be booking 8-10 weeks ahead. I think what's nagging at me is that I do tend to struggle to make decisions, so I might have the same doubts in, say, a month's time and then even if I do make a decision I'm looking at 3 months down the line to actually get the floor done (potentially with the same company).

Just do it, oaky. It’s quite a hard thing to get wrong. I’m in the middle of a renovation and also bad at decisions, I’ve found i have to force myself to just take a punt on things. Then even if it’s a bit wrong it functions to move things forward which I’m bad at on my own.

Please DO NOT professionally sand old floor boards. You will weaken them. Their value and beauty and purpose is depth. You will make them too thin by sanding with a machine in this way then have to replace them all in a few years. And you will take a layer of insulation out. Clean and sand by hand with minimal invasion then osmo oil. Do not varnish.

We had our Edwardian hall floor professionally sanded. (It had previously been stained with some nasty dark brown Ronseal). There was almost no dust ( I was very pleasantly surprised) and all the gaps were filled so its much less draughty and splintery.

It's now a lovely natural honey colour.

We had the professionals in and I couldn't believe how little dust there was!

In our new place the boards weren't finished so I've just wet sanded them to get off the paint etc. It was a total labour of love and I sanded my fingerprints off but totally worth it and no risk of nasties!

I’ve had rooms done professionally and done them myself by hiring a sander
I would say there’s not much in it when it comes to dust. You’ll be cleaning the skirting’s, doors and walls whichever you decide to use. The dust isn’t that bad either way as a good hired sander catches it

In terms of potential lead in paint splashes
its splashes not a whole wall
if you’re worried you could put on a mask and just scrape up the splashes first.

This isn't correct. Floorboards are very thick and even professional sanding only takes a very thin layer off (up to 1mm per sand). We've sanded the floorboards in every property we've owned and never had any problems. Engineered wood can only be sanded a limited number of times but floorboards don't have that issue. Floorboards sanded by hand do not look good.

I’m talking for a Heritage best practice perspective and as per the recommendations of both Historic England and the SPAB. Obviously that can be ignored

@GreaterCassowary Did you insulate under the boards etc?

We considered it but there's a risk of creating problems with damp in old houses so we left it uninsulated. We didn't even bother filling gaps (we like the look of the boards with gaps) and have no problems with draughts.

Oh that's interesting. My renovation people are really trying to dissuade me from it, but I like the look so much.

@RandomSuitors What are they trying to get you to do instead?

Put down other types of flooring; insulate it.

@RandomSuitors Do they sell other types of flooring? (Just wondering if they're trying to get you to spend more money). Or it could be that they just don't want the hassle of sanding floorboards. Also, is it an old house? Worth reading up on the risk of damp if you insulate under the floorboards before deciding what to do.

Ultimately though, it's your house so if you want sanded floorboards then go for it.

What are you talking about. Rubbish

Just google professional floor sanding on youtube for a demo of how it is done.

You'll see how the pros deal with dust.