Have you considered sanding your wooden floor by yourself to save money? Have you thought about filling the gaps with sawdust and how that works in reality? This video is not a “how to” but shows a beginner’s experience of hiring the equipment and giving it a go DIY style.
I didn’t undertake this lightly. I read all the manufacturers’ info on the varnish products used and watched many hours of videos before starting out. I highly recommend the “How To Sand A Floor” channel linked below. (@HowToSandAFloor)
It’s great, however, I made other mistakes along the way, which I couldn’t have forecasted from watching a professional. I hired the Hiretech HT8 drum floor sander and HT7 edging sander and got stuck in, luckily not completely ruining my floor in the process.
I hope this video, with costs of floor sanding and costs of the lecol filler, together with the number of sanding sheets used, and silly errors like not tightening the sanding sheet enough, will give you “the other side of the story” and help you with your decision to either give it a go yourself, or pay a professional to do it.
Timestamps so you can skip forward through this deep dive into DIY floor sanding:
0:00 - The DIY challenge
1:39 - “How To Sand A Floor” channel and Ben’s wise words on DIY
Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LQvf34cMYI
2:17 – Initial impressions (not good!)
3:45 – First mistake (tightening the sanding sheet (sand paper) properly)
5:03 – Start on 24 grit
6:21 - “How To Sand A Floor” channel. Ben describes changing up sanding direction
Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IYkh4E2VUA
8:21 – I start on the dining room – floor condition makes a difference
11:00 – What to do with nails in the floor
12:30 – End of day 1 – burning sawdust is easy if boxed up or bagged up
13:29 – Repairing a split block with PVA glue
13:51 – Explain costs and professional quotes
15:17 – Don’t use a random orbital to sand your floor! Drum sander hire prices.
17:10 – “wittworks“ channel – and Drew’s excellent comparison of cheap vs expensive workshop vacuum cleaners
Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOslpluQ6pc
17:33 – Third mistake (tilting the sander to avoid the cable)
18:10 – Start on 40 grit
19:00 – Start with the edging sander
21:21 – Start filling with Lecol 7500 and sawdust
21:35 – “How To Sand A Floor” channel and Ben showing how to fill properly!
Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-MsW89nyfM
24:29 – The importance of leaving wooden blocks to acclimate/acclimatise to the room before filling
26:12 – Sanding the corners
27:24 – Start 80 grit then 120 grit
29:02 – Finished sanded floor then adding BONA classic primer varnish
30:05 – Run through costs
32:00 – Varnish top coat (BONA Mega) goes on and shows mistakes
33:52 – One year follow up and money saved