The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

How To Finish Wood Floors

Although some refinishers prefer diagonal sanding on the first cut, remember that any criss-cross or cross-grain sanding must be followed by lengthwise sanding with the same grit paper.

* On floors such as parquet, where the installation pattern makes it impossible to sand with the grain of the wood, special care must be observed in all sanding operations. It is advisable to remove the old finish with a finer sandpaper on the machine — 3 or 21/2 closed coat — to avoid severe sandpaper scratches which are extremely difficult to remove in the subsequent sanding operations

SECOND SANDING: The purpose of this sanding operation is to remove the roughness caused by the coarse sandpaper used in the initial sanding operation. Use 11/2 (40) paper in the machine; moving at a slow to medium rate of walking speed, pass drum sander over the floor lengthwise with the floor boards. Each complete pass should overlap previous pass from 2 to 3 inches.

Final Sanding Vital

FINAL SANDING: The purpose of this sanding operation is to obtain a perfectly smooth surface, the primary requisite for a Grade A finished job, regardless of the finishing material used. Although the floor may appear smooth after the second sanding, the final sanding is most essential to insure proper surface preparation.

Always use 2/0 (100 grit) paper for this operation. Pass the drum sander over the floor lengthwise with the floor boards. The rate of walking speed may be increased considerably during this operation. Each complete pass should overlap previous pass from 2 to 3 inches.

Equip the disc edge sander with the same grit paper as the drum sander, and in the same sequence . . . that is, after using 31/2 paper in the drum sander, also use 3 1/2 paper for the disc edge sanding, before the second cut with the drum sander is made.