Comments on: Oh my aching back…floor sanding is a dirty job

By: houseobsession

houseobsession — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:02:35 +0000

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.

By: Johnna

Johnna — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 18:39:01 +0000

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.

By: Kate

Kate — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:13:50 +0000

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.

By: houseobsession

houseobsession — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:41:06 +0000

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.

By: Amalie

Amalie — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:29:51 +0000

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.

By: suzanne b.

suzanne b. — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:26:22 +0000

That’s hard work! Yikes! But how fun when it’s all done and you can say “hey, I did that!”