Hardware Floor Sanding Professional
AMERICAN FLOOR CARE DUSTLESS FLOOR SANDING PROCEDURES

Keeping in mind all of our sanding procedure is dustless, the following is how we sand new construction and refinish residential jobs under normal conditions. These instructions are so our customers will know what to expect when we are contracted to sand their hardwood floors.

On new construction it is a good practice to have your installers fill the floor with wood filler after installation. We start by removing all protruding staples and nails then sweep the floor clean. After we fill the floor with wood filler as required. We then sand the centers of the floor with 40 or 60 grit Norton blue belts on our Hummel 220 -volt machine. When refinishing floors we remove as little surface as needed. Next we sand the edges with 60 grit disks on our modified dustless Clarke B2 edger. The edges can be sanded before during or after using the Hummel belt sander . New construction we normally sand the edges first but when refinishing we usually do them after. We then check the floor and replace any damaged or defective flooring. We then scrape the corners and any other areas that we were not able to get with the edger. At this time we inspect the floor for a second time and fill anything needed . We then re-sand the body of the hardwood with the Hummel belt sander using a 60 grit ,80 grit and 100 grit sanding disks. All other areas we sand using a Dewalt orbital sander with 80 grit or 100 grit sandpaper, along the walls and anywhere the edger didn’t get. The floor is now ready to vacuum and stain and finish.

Good light is essential when sanding and finishing floors so we like to get an early start so we have plenty of daylight. We inspect the floor carefully making sure to pullout or countersink any protruding nails or staples. Sanding exposed nails can produce sparks creating a fire hazard in the sanding bag. Sometimes it is required to sand the first pass using a 36 grit or 24 grit belts and edging paper. Generally we do the first cut with 40 grit. This will remove 95% - 100% of the floor finish. There are three types of floor sanders 220 volt belt sanders, 220 volt drum sanders and 110 volt tilt drum sanders. The latter is what nearly all tool rental stores carry. In most cases these will leave sanding marks in your floors because of their belt design and in general don’t have the power required. We have seen a lot of floors sanded unacceptably by these machines. We prefer the Hummel220-volt, 8 inch wide belt sander. Let’s just say it’s the Cadillac of floor sanders. Its powerful smooth and its seamless belt design ensures a well done job. When sanding a previously finished floor it is worthwhile to remove all or some of the shoe molding. On new floors, the floors should be sanded before the molding is installed. Even though inmost cases we can sand right up to the shoe molding .

We always operate our floor sander with the grain of the wood. Our machines are pitched to form a cutting edge and a feathering edge. After finishing the first sanding pass with the belt sander we use an edger to get wherever the belt sander could not get. Our edger is a Clarke B2 (the industry standard) which is an 8 inch disk sander. When using 80 grit edging paper in most cases we just need to edge the floor one time. Once the floor has been cut with the belt sander and edged its time to do the second cut. This cut is basically identical to the first. The only difference is we use an 80 grit belt. Since the first pass on the floor made it flat and smooth this pass is mostly to remove filler and the scratches created by the first cut. The next step is hand scraping. Scraping is needed where the edger could not get, such as corners, around door casings , cabinets and fireplaces. We use basic wood scrapers which we keep sharp by a transportable grinder. Even though the body of the floor and the edges are sanded with the same grit sandpaper the edger cuts across the grain producing a surface that is unlike than the area that was cut with the belt sander. Also the edger will leave circular sanding marks in the floor that go against the grain. Staining the floor in this condition will create a floor that has a lighter color around the walls that is full of dark little arced scratches. To remove these scratches it is necessary to do some hand sanding with 50 grit paper. We sand all areas that have been edged and scraped.

From this point we then finish sand the floor with a 120 grit , 150 grit or 180 grit sanding screen. We use a heavy floor buffer running at slow speed. This smoothes out the floor but yet leaves enough tooth for the finish to take hold .

We then sweep and vacuum the floor with soft bristles to avoid scratches on the floor. At this point some refinishers would want to tack the floor with paint thinner . We don’t do this because simply it isn’t necessary. It’s now time to finish the floor.