Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Refinishing Nightmare
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epruitt
03-03-08, 10:01 PM
Hi - we hired a friend of a friend to refinish our woodfloors. There are waves/dents in the floor now that weren't there before. It looks like it wasn't sanded properly. He didn't see this until he stained and finished the floor.
When we showed him the problem, he said he could fix it with a belt sander and wouldn't have to redo the whole floor. I'm worried that he has no idea what he is doing and am wondering if we should just hire a professional at this point. Does anyone know if it is possible to fix the sanding job without refinishing the entire floor?
When we showed him the problem, he said he could fix it with a belt sander and wouldn't have to redo the whole floor. I'm worried that he has no idea what he is doing and am wondering if we should just hire a professional at this point. Does anyone know if it is possible to fix the sanding job without refinishing the entire floor?
Kobuchi
03-04-08, 01:59 AM
A belt sander's footprint is far too small to flatten the floor. One would need godly finesse to use it for that task.
I suggest you (or your friend's friend) use a floor polisher. This is rented from the same place - it's essentially a huge orbital sander. Surprisingly course grits are available (for a so-called "polisher") that will chew down the ridges. Go to finer grits as it reaches valleys, and finish the flattened floor (back to raw wood) with finer than seems necessary, as stain will bring out cross-grain scratches. Sweep and vacuum between grit changes.
I have sanded floors that included boards of very different hardness, and these were near impossible to sand evenly.
I suggest you (or your friend's friend) use a floor polisher. This is rented from the same place - it's essentially a huge orbital sander. Surprisingly course grits are available (for a so-called "polisher") that will chew down the ridges. Go to finer grits as it reaches valleys, and finish the flattened floor (back to raw wood) with finer than seems necessary, as stain will bring out cross-grain scratches. Sweep and vacuum between grit changes.
I have sanded floors that included boards of very different hardness, and these were near impossible to sand evenly.
woodperfect
03-24-08, 02:00 AM
Lose the friend of the friend.. He has no experience with sanding floors and therefore has at the very least, taken some of the life out of the floors by sanding those areas down too far. This problem is not all his fault though. He most likely rented the floor sander and the rental machines do not have the finess that a professional machine. The rental machines are built to stand up to the DIYer beating the machine and everything in its path up. Hire a good professional and get it done right. Otherwise you will never get the stop marks out with a buffer. And if you do get the marks out, you will now have to blend the finish with the rest of the floor which is a pain and almost always does not come out right. Just pay the money and get it done right. Tell the friend thanks but no thanks.