How to Sand a Hardwood Floor

• Home ::
• Hardwood Flooring ::
• How to Sand a Hardwood Floor

Learning how to sand a hardwood floor is easy, but you need to know how to use the equipment. Sure, you can do it all by hand but you probably don't want to spend the time. If you do then by all means have at it. However, most people will probably want to use a hand sander or a bigger machine that they just push around.

Preparing to Sand the Floor

The first step is to make sure everything is even and in place. Check to make sure there aren't any loose floor boards. When you begin to sand a hardwood floor with a machine, a floorboard that sticks out can cause a lot of damage to the floor and the machine. If there is a piece of wood sticking out see if you can't fix it. It may just need to be tapped back into place, if not it's best to know now before you go any further.

Choosing a Sander

There are a lot of different types of rotating disk sanders that you can use when you need to sand a hardwood floor. You don't have to go out and buy or rent the most expensive one on the market. Think about how big of an area you have and select from there. If you only have a small room, you don't want a huge sander that is going to take up half of that. However, huge areas like a dance floor might be a bit quicker if you had a larger one. Once you know the size of the room, picking a sander should be easy.

How to Sand the Floor

To sand a hardwood floor, first make sure the area is clean and next sprinkle a layer of filler over the floor. The filler will help once it is combined with the sander, sanders come with grit paper that together will smooth the surface of your wood. Go around the room until everything is smooth.

Apply Stain?

If you are done sanding your hardwood floor it is time to figure out if you are going to leave it as is, or put a coat of stain on it. Staining will help in making it look newer and bring out the beauty of the wood. However, if you aren't looking to shine it up you may just want to leave it alone. Now that you know how to sand a hardwood floor you can do your own instead of trying to hire someone.