First time floor sanding help.

[imported_Newguy]

Me and my brother are going to be sanding a wood floor, it will be the first time we've sanded a floor and I was hoping to get some tips, tricks, what to do and what not to do.
we'll be using an orbital floor sander http://www.paisleysrental.com/cgi-bin/links/info.cgi?ID=142

any advice will be helpful

thanks

[imported_joed]

I have used a similar machine. You can't ruin a floor with one of those like you can with drum sander.
The only suggestion I have is for dust control. Seal off the room you are sanding from the rest of the house. Seal all the air vents if you have forced air heat. Turn off the blower on the furnace and put a fan in a window in the room you are sanding blowing out. This will suck clean air from the house and blow dust out the window. It should keep most of the dust from going through the rest of the house.

[imported_Newguy]

Thanks for the suggestion I'll definitly get a fan in the window :)


I'm glad we won't be able to mangle the floor to much with that type of sander lol :lol:

Do you have any suggestions on sand paper grit?
the entire house (1800 sq ft) has hardwood flooring so its going to be a chore

thanks

[imported_joed]

The floor I did I used 24 to get the old finish off and moved on to 80 grit as final sand. The paper gets dull so when you notice it taking more effort to get the work done install a new piece of paper.

[MikePalmer]

I have used both the drum sander and floor sander like the one you'll be using. I took a couple of Home Depot classes first (free) to get a feel for doing the floors.

I now wish I would've been more agressive with the drum sander and really took off about 1/4 of of the floor to get rid of some darker stains. The floors turned out good, but nothing like you see in the pretty pictures :? If you are just refinishing the floor, the floor sander will work good for that task. If you are trying to get stains out, it takes the drum sander and courage. :lol: