So you may have read our series of blogs explaining the processes behind floor sanding, but what is our floor sanding process and how long does it take? What is our methodology and what sets us apart?
Historically, sanding wooden floors has been an extremely dusty task, with rooms having to be decorated after floor sanding has been completed, due to the sheer amount of dust being kicked up and getting in every nook and cranny of the room. These days however, through a combination of modern machinery and dust extractors, very little dust is generated during the sanding process, provided you’re using the right kit. It can be costly to buy or hire the right kit, and needs a degree of expertise and experience to use it correctly for the best results.
At Winchester Wood Floors, our tools of choice are from Lagler, Festool and Fein. Specifically, the Lagler Flip, Hummel and Trio, the Festool RO150 and RO90 and the Fein Multi master. These machines are used by many professional floor sanding companies and either carry dust free classifications or are plugged into dust extractors, reducing the level of dust to virtually zero. Quite often we will see clients standing in the doorways of the rooms we are working on, in disbelief at how dust free the room is from start to finish.
As a rule when starting a floor sanding job the room needs to be completely empty. This includes all furniture and hanging pictures, and curtains are either to be removed or tied back out of harm’s way. We then thoroughly sweep the floor clear of all debris, then vacuum it to ensure it’s completely clear. We take great care in ensuring all possible dirt, debris and grime is completely removed before sanding, as this could cause marks and scratches on your floor if missed. Once clean, we ensure all nails and tacks are either removed or punched under the surface to prevent any damage being done to both your floor and our machines. After every change of grit, we vacuum the floor again to ensure the floors remain completely clean throughout the entire process. Whilst this may seem time consuming and labour intensive, the high standard of finish this creates speaks for itself.
Once we’ve prepped your floor, we use the a Lagler Hummel belt sander for the main floor area. The right grit selection is important; it needs to be coarse enough to remove all traces of the old finish, but not too coarse as this would add in additional processes, wasting time unnecessarily. There’s no one-size-fits-all starting point for grit selection, so we use our experience to determine which would be best for your floor, based on wood type, condition, wear, existing finish and other factors.
After each level of grit we apply to the main body of the floor, we then carefully sand the floor edges with the Lagler FLIP edging sander, ensuring they’re blended perfectly at each stage of sanding. When the floor has been sanded up to 60 grit, we use the Lagler Trio finishing sander to get a fine and completely smooth finish, then the Festool Rotex for a final sand around the edges of the room to remove any small scratches that may have been left by the Lagler FLIP. Finally, we sand and blend the edges of the floor to match the rest, making one seamless piece. By using so many specialised sanders for each area of the floor, we’re able to create a much higher quality finish than could ever be achieved by one or two hire sanders alone. If you want more detailed information on how we sand the wood around the corners and edges of a floor, check out our blog posts: ‘How to Sand Edges of a Floor’ and ‘How to Sand Corners of a Floor’.
The time we take can vary hugely from project to project, based on a huge number of factors. For example, an old, poorly varnished, damaged pine floor that would require thorough cleaning and gap filling would take far longer than an engineered oak floor that’s only 10 years old and fairly clean. Paradoxically, larger rooms can often be quicker to complete. It’s surprising how much more can be done in one large square room, rather than in two small rooms, or a small hall. The smaller and fiddlier the job is proportionally, the longer it will take. As an example, between a team of two we have had a 120 square meter community hall sanded and finished in two days, but a small hall lounge and dining room of 30 square meters could take two to three days. Typically, a domestic job of approximately 20 square meters that is straight forward should be sanded and finished in one day. But if lots of repairs are required, or if the floor is thick with an old finish, it could take as much as three.
Due to the highly job-specific nature of these timescales, we always conduct a home visit for every customer to evaluate the scope of the job and any additional processes that may need to be completed. All of these quotes are completely free and no obligation, and give us a chance to assess exactly how long it would take to complete your job, based on the factors listed above.
If you would like any further information on our floor sanding process, or would like to book in for a free quote, then feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
For any more help and advice please feel free to call us on 01962 733016 or email info@winchesterwoodfloors.co.uk and we can get your flooring project off the ground today!