Are you thinking of sanding your own floors? With costs at around $1000 per room, it can be a worthwhile DIY task for the handy renovator, especially as the tools are readily available for hire

Here is a quick guide to sanding timber floors to give you an idea of what’s involved. Of course, for more detailed information, there is plenty of information available online as to the best products to use, and Yellow Pages has more than 3000 listings of floor sanding experts available to help answer any questions you might have.

Everybody loves the look and feel of timber floors. The honey tones lend a natural warmth to your interiors and they work well no matter what your interior style. Uncovering original Karri pine flooring underneath the old carpet is every renovators dream, and it’s not too difficult to polish them to reveal the glory of the natural grain.

What you need

• Duct tape
• Heavy plastic sheets
• Sandpapers
• Rags
• Scraper
• Putty knife
• Vacuum cleaner
• Drop sheets
• Screwdriver
• Belt sander
• Nail punch
• Sanding block
• Masking tape
• Hammer
• Chisel

Step 1 – Removing the old floor finish

Once the room is completely cleared including furniture, curtains, picture frames, and any carpet and underlay has been removed, the first step is to check over the floor. Look for protruding nails, or nails sitting on the surface. Use a nail punch and hammer to sink the nail heads 3mm below the surface of the floorboards. If the floor has holes, nicks or dents use timber putty mixed with sawdust to fill the holes.

Step 2 – Preparation

Sanding is incredibly dusty work, so you’ll need to seal up any parts of the house to protect them. Use heavy plastic sheets duct taped to either side of doorways, and keep windows open for ventilation. You also need to seal up electrical outlets, switches and heating ducts.

When hiring equipment, you will need both a large floor sander, and the portable hand sander for sanding the edges and corners of the floor. Talk to your local hire shop to learn how to use the machinery, load the sandpaper and discuss the different types of sand paper you’ll need to purchase for each stage.

Step 3 – The rough sand

If the floor has been sanded and polished before you’ll need to remove the previous stain/polish first with a rough sand. For this you’ll need very coarse sandpaper. Load up a 24-grit sandpaper onto the floor sander. You have to start sanding in one corner of the room, and move in diagonals so that you move in a 45 degree to the floorboards. Never let the drum of the sander rest on the floor while the machine is on – it will sand a depression into the floor, so make sure you tilt the machine on its rollers so the sandpaper is not in contact with the floor whenever the machine is stationary.

After you turn it on, gradually lower the machine forward, so that the sandpaper makes contact with the floor, and then push off immediately. As you reach the other side of the floor, begin to tilt the handle of the machine to lift the belt off the floor, and then pull the sander back to your starting point, and repeat. You might have to repeat the same stretch of floor several times until you remove all of the previous polish. When that stretch is free of polish, reposition the sander to begin the next stretch of floor – you’ll need to overlap the first strip by 75mm. Repeat the process until all the boards are free of the original polish.

When you have sanded the room, it’s time to sand the edges. Using a portable edge sander with the same grit sandpaper, move the hand sander back and forth. Finally you’ll need to use a hand scraper or block wrapped in sandpaper to sand the corners. After you’ve finished the first rough sand, you’ll need to clean up, so the sandpaper is not clogged up with dust, and the grit is not ground down into the floor boards. Start with a broom, and follow with a vacuum. When you’ve finished the rough sand, you’ll need to repeat the process with 45-grit paper.

Step 4 – The medium sand

Using 80 grit sandpaper, use the same process – however you must follow the line of the floorboards this time, again overlapping as you move across the room. Use the same grit sandpaper on the portable sander to do the edges as before, followed by hand sanding the corners with the sand paper covered block, as before.Again, clean up thoroughly, including dusting walls, tops of window and door frames and mouldings.

Step 5 – The final sand

The final sand will need 100-120 grit sandpaper. This will result in a floor that is silky smooth. Remember to sand in overlapping strips, following the direction of the floorboards.It is critical to clean up thoroughly after this sand, as any residue dust will impact the finish of the polish. Wipe down walls and ceiling, use a damp cloth on corners and edges, and dust and vacuum until the room is literally spotless.

Step 6 – The polish

By now you will have decided on what finish to use on the floors. Depending on practical considerations and what look you are after, the choice ranges from polyurethane, oil, and water-based products. Some have less toxic odours than others, others are more environmentally friendly. Others again will be more hard wearing.If you have decided to stain the boards as well, you need to choose what colour you would like, and also choose from the range of finishes – satin, gloss or matt.

Floor finishes have toxic fumes, so you’ll need to wear a mask, and the room will need to be well ventilated. At this point, the main thing is to read the manufacturer’s instructions – in full before beginning!The first coat is the sealer. Start by hand brushing around the edges of the room. Then, using the roller with the extension handle, follow the line of the grain. You’ll soon see the gorgeous colour of the timber emerge. Once this coat is dry (check manufacturers instructions to find out how long to wait), you can go over the floor with a light sand. Follow this with a mop to pick up the dust, and then repeat the process. Three coats of varnish will ensure a good finish and a harder, durable floor.

The manufacturer’s instructions should guide you as to when is a good time to start to walk on your floor again – they usually take a day before they can handle light, sock wearing traffic, and it’ll be a week before you can move the furniture back in.

Your local hardware store will be able to supply you with most items you’ll need to sand your floors, and may even have floor sanders available for hire. Otherwise, a hire shop will be able to help you out. With nearly 4000 hire shops listed from right around Australia, Yellow Pages will help you find the expertise you need.