We have been sanded Y sealing, Colorant Y restoring floors for more than 10 years, although we recommend that you use a professional to sand and seal your floor, you can do it yourself, if you follow this simple guide:
Preparation
It is the key to every job we do, if your preparation is poor, the finished work will be terrible, if your preparation is excellent, the finished work will be outstanding.
The main point of sanding and sealing is that you should be able to recreate a factory applied finish on site (at least that’s what we’re aiming to do).
First of all, you need to prepare your floor for sanding, you need to remove all the nails from the grab rods that were in place before, also any bits of carpet backing that have stuck to the floor. Once you have thoroughly cleaned the area you should check for loose boards, if you find any, lift them all the way up to check for pipes underneath, then using 1 ½ to 2 inch cut nails, carefully re-nail them. Then drive all the nails at least 3mm with a punch and hammer, this will increase the life of the sanding belt and limit and damage the drum.
sanding
You are now ready to start sanding; you should start with a 36 grit or 40 grit band (depending on the condition of the boards). Sand in the direction of the boards, never work diagonally or across them as this will leave marks that will take forever to remove. If you are using a Hiretech HT8 you will need to be very careful as these machines are very light and tend to jump and skip on the boards instead of sanding them. When sanding, never leave the machine in one place for more than 2 seconds, as it will create burn marks on the board that are impossible to remove. Rather, keep the sander moving at all times and let the roller glide smoothly across the floor.
We use (and rent) a Bona Flexidrum, which has a continuous belt on a rubber drum, the belt just slides on, no metal bars or screws needed like on the HT8. It weighs around 60kg (very heavy) and has a 2.2kw motor, is incredibly fast at removing material and is 98% dust free; always leaves a beautiful finish.
36 or 40 grit should be used until all boards are sanded to bare wood, if boards are particularly curved you can use a small sander to clean up the edges of the boards. Once you get back to bare wood you can start working with the other grades, don’t be tempted to skip grades, you should be working with all of them: 60, 80, 100, 120 grit. Once you have sanded to 100, you should start sanding the edges, again keep the sander moving at all times, start with the coarsest disc and work your way down to the finest (80 grit). After finishing the edges, do the corners and around the pipes with a 40 to 60 grit detail sander (no need to be finer, it’s a very small area). After all of this is done, it’s time to make the final pass with the 120 grit belt, before running a random orbital sander around the edges (60 working at 100 grit). The final pass should be no more than twice in each direction, you are not trying to remove material but simply giving a final light sand. With this part done, you are now at the final stage (finally)… go around the whole room with a random orbital sander, sand any marks or swirls on the boards, start with 60 grit, then 80 and finish with 100 or 120.
I know this all sounds lengthy, but trust me, if you put in the prep, you will be rewarded when it comes to applying the finish.
staining
If you’re going to stain the floor, you obviously need to do it before you apply the seal. We recommend the use of a solvent-based stain that can be lacquered. We use Bona Décor. We apply this stain with a cloth with circular movements, working the stain on the boards; you need to ensure that the entire stain is thoroughly rubbed in with no ‘wet-looking patches’. Once you have done this, the stain needs to dry for 24-48 hours before applying the primer coat.
Most oil-based stains cannot be lacquered; instead, a top coat of oil is applied after the stain. In the past we have used alcohol-based dyes; however, these can be notoriously difficult to apply evenly, especially on woods that are porous like beech. If you use an alcohol-based stain, you must work very quickly and always maintain a ‘wet edge’; on porous woods, the stain should be diluted with white spirit so that it can be applied more evenly.
sealing
You are now ready to seal the floor, so first vacuum it completely to make sure there is no dust of any kind on the floor. We always recommend the use of a base coat primer such as Bona Prime Intense or Prime Classic. A primer stops any side binding, this is when the flooring expands and instead of each block moving individually, they move more as a section creating a cut line in the pattern (herringbone block). A primer allows the floor to move under the lacquer (the primer has elastic-like qualities) preventing side joint cracking. This is obviously very important on any parquet or herringbone flooring, not so important for floorboards, but it’s still good practice as it’s an extra layer of protection and helps the top layer adhere.
First shake the bottle of hairspray well for a minute, then using the provided strainer, pour it into your roller tray. Brush all edges of the floor first with a fine bristle brush, making sure to cover all corners and come within 4 inches of the wall. There is no need to wait for it to dry, you can continue covering the rest of the floor.
We apply the lacquer with a roller, again from Bona, don’t be tempted to use a paint roller, the lacquer roller made by Bona guarantees an orange-peel-free finish without any pilling.
When you have covered the entire floor and checked that you have not applied too much to any one area (this can be seen by a blue looking film on the surface), let it dry for 2-3 hours. Now you have a choice, you can bite into the lacquer with a polishing machine or not, if you don’t you will get a rougher finish and better grip than if you were to bite into it.
If you go the polishing route, you should use the polisher on the lowest speed with a maroon pad and a scrad-wing (a small sandpaper sheet that adheres to the maroon pad). Work over the floor quickly keeping the sander moving all the time, if it stays in one place for too long it will tear the primer.
After this, vacuum the floor again to ensure a dust-free surface, then apply the lacquer exactly the same way you applied the primer, let dry for 3-4 hours, then repeat for the final coat. The floor will need two top coats, three total, if you buffed the primer the first time, you should do the same with the first coat of lacquer. Do not polish the top layer; It should be pretty smooth if you buffed the previous two coats.
That is all! All ready!
NB: Make sure you put felt pads on all the furniture in the room as this will prevent scratches when moving the furniture.
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