When should you stop sanding floors?

If you’re thinking about taking on the task of sanding your floors yourself, there are a few things you should know first.

This job can be messy, time-consuming, and difficult if you don’t know what you’re doing. To help you avoid making the same mistakes we did, we’ve put together a list of the five most common floor sanding mistakes and how to avoid them.

We’ve all been there- you’re in the middle of a home renovation project and things are just not going the way you want them to.

 That’s how we felt when we were sanding our floors. We knew we wanted to end up with beautiful, sanded floorboards but the process was just so tedious and time-consuming.

And then, of course, we made a few mistakes along the way which made the whole process even more frustrating.

But in the end, it was all worth it because we absolutely love our new floors! In the last few years, we’ve sanded more floors than I care to remember.

We turned yucky laminate covered floors into gorgeous sanded floorboards and transformed our dull and grey parquet into a luscious and rich oak floor.

Dining Room before & Progress | Little House on the Corner We really couldn’t be happier with how our floors turned out but we did make some floor sanding mistakes along the way.

We’ve sanded a lot of floors in the last few years. We took icky laminate covered floors and turned them into beautifully sanded floorboards.

We also took our dull and grey parquet and made it into a rich oak floor. We’re really happy with how our floors turned out but we made some mistakes while sanding them.

If you are living in Denmark and want floor sanding service in Copenhagen (gulvafslibning københavn) then contact GULVKBH.dk, no doubt they are the best resource for this work.

Using the Wrong Grit Sandpaper

The most common mistake I see is people not using the right type of sandpaper. It’s really important to use the right paper, and you won’t get good results if you start sanding with paper that’s too fine.

The grit you start with depends on the condition of your floorboards. If they’ve been sanded before and just need a refresh, you can start with finer paper.

 But in most cases, you’ll have to start with a much coarser paper than you expect. I know that sounds super course, but anything finer won’t remove enough dirt and old varnish.

One of the most common mistakes people make when sanding their floors is not using the right grit paper.

 It’s important to start with a coarse paper and work your way up to a finer one, otherwise you won’t be able to remove all of the dirt and old varnish.

In most cases, you’ll have to start with a much more coarse paper than you expect. I know that sounds radical, but anything finer will not sand away enough of the dirt and old varnish.

Not Sanding Enough

There’s no two ways about it, sanding your floors is a tough job that can really wear you out. You’ll see a drastic transformation in your floors almost as soon as you start sanding.

 But after most of the varnish and dirt has been removed, progress will seem to come much more slowly.

 This is mostly because floorboards are seldom completely flat, which means that the drum of the floor sanding machine can’t reach all areas of the boards in a single pass.

This often leaves shadows along the edges of the boards. Sanding your floors is a tough job, there’s no getting around it.

You’ll see a big difference right away, but once you’ve gotten most of the varnish and dirt off, progress will seem much slower.

That’s mostly because the floorboards aren’t completely flat, which means the drum of the floor sanding machine can’t reach all areas of the floorboards in one go.

So you’ll often be left with shadows either at the edges of the floorboards. Sanding your floors is challenging work that requires a lot of physical effort.

When you first begin sanding, you’ll see a big difference in your floor. However, as you remove more of the varnish and dirt, progress will seem slower.

 This is mostly because the floorboards are not completely flat, which prevents the drum of the floor sanding machine from reaching all areas of the boards in one go. This leaves shadows at the edges of the floorboards.

Not Sanding Diagonally

The first few times we sanded our floors, we didn’t sand them diagonally. We did in our new home and it’s something we’d definitely recommend doing.

Sanding diagonally will even out your floorboards and you won’t be left with areas of the floorboards that are difficult to reach (which is the shadow problem I mentioned above).

We never thought of the sanded floors in our Edwardian house as uneven – and they weren’t really but the difference to our newly sanded floors in our current home really surprised me.

We didn’t do it diagonally. We figured out pretty quickly that it’s something we would definitely recommend doing in the future, especially because it makes sanding your floors quicker.

When you sand diagonally, it evens out your floorboards and you won’t be left with any areas that are difficult to reach. Plus, it’s a great way to avoid the shadow problem.

 We never thought of the sanded floors in our old house as being uneven, but the difference between those floors and our newly sanded floors in our current home was really surprising.

Sanding the Edges

If you’re planning to refinish your floors, you’re going to have to do some sanding. And if you’re not used to it, sanding can be tough on your back and your patience.

The good news is that you don’t have to sand the edges of the room as much as the main surface. In fact, it’s a good idea to use a coarser grit paper on the edges.

You should finish sanding the main area with 120 grit paper, but we’d recommend you stop at 80 grit for the edges. It’ll still be more than smooth enough and will save you time.

Sanding the edges of your room can be a bit of a pain, but it’s not as bad as it sounds. You can actually sand the edges slightly less than the main surface, which will save you time in the long run.

 We recommend finishing sanding the main area with 120 grit paper, but stopping at 80 grit for the edges.

This will still leave your floor smooth and save you some time and effort. Sanding the edges of your room is a tough job. You have to spend hours hunched over an edging sander.

The good news is that you don’t have to sand the edges as much as the main surface. In fact, it’s a good idea to stop at 80 grit for the edges. It will save you time.

Conclusion:

In order to maintain beautiful wood floors, they need to be cleaned and sanded periodically. When you sand wood flooring, you remove the top layer of the wood.

Once the top layer has been removed, the wood will begin to darken over time. This is known as the wood patina. How often you sand your wood flooring is dependent on the application of the wood.

If your wood is used in a high traffic area, it will need to be sanded more often. If your wood is used in a more formal setting, it may be able to be sanded less often. If you have any additional questions on which wood flooring may be right for your home.