Sanding Floors

The first thing we noticed about this house when we first looked at it were the wood floors.  Almost every room has the original hardwood floors from the fifties, in other words, nice.  The next thing we noticed was that they all need refinishing. So this weekend I rented a floor sander and have started on the process.  Using a floor sander exactly like the one in the This Old House video on stripping floors, Yesterday I got started on the process.

Above is the original floor, to the right after one sanding using the roughest grit paper.  I got four different grits, and will try out the finest to see the difference, but I may just use three.





Below is after the second pass

and the third pass

One thing I noticed after doing the sanding was about where the disks started to wear down.  While I visually checked the sanding disks during the process, I really didn't notice any real wear or build up of dust that would limit the functionality, at least to my uneducated eyes.  After the fact I noticed that the amount of dust left by the sander was the key indicator.  The part of the room where I started at had a lot more dust than the where I ended after each pass (remember to vacuum between grits)  So to start today I will redo the second half of the room, basically reversing my usual path.

Getting started I was surprised to find that the two plugs available in the upstairs bedroom, were not able to handle the load of the sander, I popped two breakers right away.  I ultimately had to run a cord to the kitchen to find a twenty amp circuit.  Which just means that we will have lots of fun when we bring in the electrician.