How to Sand and Seal Floor Boards

Website design By BotEap.comWe have been sanded Y sealing, Colorant Y restoring floors for more than 10 years, although we recommend that you use a professional to sand and seal your floor, you can do it yourself, if you follow this simple guide:

Website design By BotEap.comPreparation

Website design By BotEap.comIt is the key to every job we do, if your preparation is bad, the finished job will be terrible, if the preparation is excellent, the finished job will be exceptional.

Website design By BotEap.comThe main goal of sanding and sealing is so that you should be able to recreate a factory applied finish on site (at least that’s what we intend to do).

Website design By BotEap.comFirst of all you need to prepare your floor for sanding, you need to remove any grab rod nails that were in place before, also any bits of carpet underlayment that may have stuck to the floor. Once you have thoroughly cleaned the area you should check for loose boards, if you find any, lift them all the way up to check for pipes underneath, then using 1 ½ to 2-inch cut nails, carefully re-nail them. Then drive all the nails in at least 3mm with a punch and hammer, this will increase the life of the sanding belt and limit and damage the drum.

Website design By BotEap.comsanded

Website design By BotEap.comYou are now ready to start sanding; You should start with a 36-grit or 40-grit band (depending on the condition of the boards). Sand in the direction of the boards, never work diagonally or across them as this will leave marks that will take forever to remove. If you are using a Hiretech HT8 you will need to be very careful as these machines are very light and tend to skip and skip over the boards instead of sanding them. When sanding, never leave the machine in one place for more than 2 seconds, as it will create burn marks on the board that are impossible to remove. Rather, keep the sander moving at all times and let the roller glide smoothly across the floor.

Website design By BotEap.comWe use (and rent) a Bona Flexidrum, which has a continuous belt on a rubber drum, the belt just slides on, no need for metal bars or screws like on the HT8. It weighs around 60kg (very heavy) and has a 2.2kw motor, it is incredibly fast at removing material and is 98% dust free; always leaves a beautiful finish.

Website design By BotEap.com36 or 40 grit should be used until all boards are sanded to bare wood, if the boards are particularly curved you can use a small sander to clean up the edges of the boards. Once you get back to the bare wood you can start working with the other grades, don’t be tempted to skip the grades, you should work with all of them: 60, 80, 100, 120 grit. 100 you should start sanding the edges, again keep the sander moving at all times, start with the coarsest disc and work up to the finest (80 grit). After finishing the edges, finish the corners and around the pipes with a 40-60 grit detail sander (no need to go any finer, it’s a very small area). After all of this is done, it’s time to make the final pass with the 120 grit belt, before running a random orbital sander around the edges (60 working to 100 grit). The final pass should be no more than twice in each direction, you are not trying to remove material, just giving a final light grit. With this part done, now it’s into the final stage (finally)… go around the room with a random orbital sander, sand down any marks or swirls on the boards, start with 60 grit, then 80 and finish with 100 or 120.

Website design By BotEap.comI know this all sounds lengthy, but trust me, if you put the primer in, you’ll be rewarded when it comes to applying the finish.

Website design By BotEap.comstaining

Website design By BotEap.comIf you are going to stain the floor, you obviously need to do so before applying the seal. We recommend the use of a solvent based stain that can be lacquered. We use Bona Décor. We apply this stain with a rag in circular movements, working the stain on the boards; you need to make sure the entire stain is thoroughly rubbed in with no ‘wet-look patches’. Once you have done this, the stain should dry for 24-48 hours before you apply the primer coat.

Website design By BotEap.comMost oil-based stains cannot be lacquered; instead, a top coat of oil is applied after the stain. In the past we have used alcohol based colorants; however, these can be notoriously difficult to apply evenly, especially on woods that are porous like beech. If you are using an alcohol-based stain, you must work very quickly and always maintain a ‘wet edge’; on porous woods, the stain should be thinned with white spirit so that it can be applied more evenly.

Website design By BotEap.comsealing

Website design By BotEap.comYou are now ready to seal the floor, so first vacuum it completely to make sure there is no dust of any kind on the floor. We always recommend the use of a base coat primer such as Bona Prime Intense or Prime Classic. A primer stops any side binding, this is when the flooring expands and instead of each block moving individually they move more as a section creating a cut line in the pattern (herringbone block). A primer allows the floor to move under the lacquer (the primer has elastic-like qualities) preventing lateral bond cracking. This is obviously very important on any parquet or herringbone flooring, not as important for floorboards, but it’s still good practice as it’s an added layer of protection and helps topcoat adhesion.

Website design By BotEap.comShake the bottle of lacquer well for one minute first, then using the filter provided, pour it into your roller tray. Brush all edges of the floor first with a fine-bristled brush, making sure to cover all corners and come within 4 inches of the wall. There is no need to wait for it to dry, you can continue to cover the rest of the floor.

Website design By BotEap.comWe apply the lacquer with a roller, again from Bona, don’t be tempted to use a paint roller, the lacquer roller that Bona makes ensures an orange peel-free finish without any piles falling off.

Website design By BotEap.comWhen you have covered the entire floor and verified that you have not applied too much to any one area (this can be seen by a blue looking film on the surface), let it dry for 2-3 hours. You now have a choice, you can bite into the lacquer with a machine polisher or not, otherwise you will end up with a rougher, more grippy finish than biting into it.

Website design By BotEap.comIf you go the buffing route, you should use the buffer on the lowest speed with a maroon pad and a scrad-wing (a small sandpaper sheet that clings to the maroon pad). Work on the floor quickly keeping the sander moving all the time, if it stays in one place too long it will tear the primer.

Website design By BotEap.comAfter this, vacuum the floor again to ensure a dust-free surface, then apply the lacquer in exactly the same way you applied the primer, allow to dry for 3-4 hours, then repeat for the final coat. The floor will need two top coats, three in total, if you buffed the primer the first time, you should do the same with the first coat of lacquer. Do not polish the top coat; It should be pretty smooth if you buffed the previous two coats.

Website design By BotEap.comThat is all! All ready!

Website design By BotEap.comNB: Make sure you put felt pads on all the furniture in the room, as this will prevent scratching when moving the furniture.

Website design By BotEap.comDo you need to hire a floor sander in Farnborough?