Oh my aching back…floor sanding is a dirty job
July 24, 2008
In an effort to spend as little money as possible on further renovations (because hey, I already spent too much as it is)…I’m playing a little game with myself to see just how low I can keep my costs. That means no more hiring people to do my floors for me (as in the kitchen). Because of this, I decided to refinish one of the guest bedrooms myself. However, as usual, nothing is ever as easy as it seems. I figured that I’d rent one of those big floor sanders, however it turns out that I can’t lift it by myself from out of the car, up my front steps, and onto my second floor. So tonight, I borrowed my neighbor’s orbital palm sander and went to work.
Yes, you read that right…I decided to sand the floors with a palm sander. Let it be said that they invented floor sanders for a purpose — that purpose being to make large scale floor sanding easier & quicker. However, let it also be said that it CAN be done with an orbital palm sander…assuming that you are crazy, cheap, and have time and brain cells to kill. For better or worse, I chose to not wait until someone could help me lift the large one and did it by hand instead. And sheesh, am I tired!
Entry Filed under: DIY, Projects. Tags: floor sanding, refinishing.
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1.
suzanne b. | July 25, 2008 at 2:26 am
That’s hard work! Yikes! But how fun when it’s all done and you can say “hey, I did that!”
2.
Amalie | July 25, 2008 at 7:29 am
I actually used a palm sander for a lot of our floors. I put a 40 or 50 grit paper on it and used it for edging, and did almost 2 entire rooms– some of the boards were so twisted and we didn’t want to make diagonal passes with the big guns. The big sander barely took anything off in those rooms.
Once you get that top layer off, the finer grits are much smoother sailing! Invest in a good pair of knee pads.
3.
houseobsession | July 25, 2008 at 7:41 am
Amalie: Glad to know I’m not the only one that’s resorted to using a palm sander! The last time I refinished floors myself was two years ago, and in my head it was all smooooth sailing. Sooo easy! This morning my back is definitely sore. Haha. I need to hit the dark spots again tonight and then go over with the fine grit sandpaper.
4.
Kate | July 25, 2008 at 2:13 pm
How weird. I was *just* about to stop goofing off and find the palm sander so I could start hand-sanding the hallway.
I feel slightly less insane now.
5.
Johnna | July 26, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Yikes! We rented a sander (not the drum sander) for ours, and it was still a big job! I want pictures when you’re done.
6.
houseobsession | July 26, 2008 at 3:02 pm
It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be to be fair. However, honestly I’m also not a perfectionist when it comes to things like hardwood floors looking pristine perfect. I mean…this is an old house. I don’t want floors that look like glass. So although I sanded them down pretty well…I’m sure that a professional would have made it look way better. But hey, I saved $500 by doing it myself.