What is the best way to sand hardwood floors? There are many different opinions on this topic, but most people agree that using a random orbital sander is the best option. This blog post will tell you how to use a random orbital sander to sand your hardwood floor and get it looking good as new.
Random Orbital Sanders is also known as DA sanders or Dual Action sanders. It does provide an excellent service when it comes to sanding wood floors. You can get a fantastic result if you use random orbital sanders correctly. Random Orbital sanders were produced in the 1990s. People are using random orbital sanders for a long time now. They are almost aggressive as belt sanders. Belt or drum floor sanders can be risky to use where random orbital sanders is light and more comfortable to use. Random orbital sanders can give you an excellent result if you’re willing to pay time and patience.
Belt Sander or Random Orbital Sander
Both sanders are capable of giving a fantastic outcome. But using belt sanders can be risky and used for really I mean aggressive work where random orbital sanders are light weighed and pretty easy to use. If you are sanding wood floors of your house, we recommend using a random orbital sander.
Sanding Hardwood Floors with Random Orbital Sander [8 Steps]
Step-1: Buy good quality sandpapers
If you want fantastic results, you should buy some good quality random orbital sandpapers. It is essential because the cheap and bad low-quality sandpapers cannot give you any premium quality results.
Also, bad sandpapers can be harsh on your floor that can leave bad scratches, which is not pleasant to look at. Talk to experts who can give you advice about quality sandpapers.
Step-2: Clean the room
Now let’s get to work! The very first step is to clean your floor neatly as possible. Remove any obstacles that can get in your way, and disturb the sanding process. Also, make sure to prevent any nails or material, which can cause some severe damage to your sander. It’s pretty heavy-duty equipment that you don’t want to ruin in any chance. Don’t let kids roam around while you are sanding. Please do not leave any dark spots or stains behind. It may cause bad results when you refinish your hardwood floor.
Step-3: Attach a coarse grit and sandpapers to the bottom of your equipment
A lower grit will make your random orbital sander more aggressive and dominant. We recommend starting with 40-grit for the first sanding. Follow the rules carefully to prevent messing things. Do not try to rush things. Take a break if needed. Explore sandpaper coarse grit to get more knowledge.
Step-4: Start at the end of the room
It’s always the best idea to start sanding your floor from the farthest end of the room. This way, you will get used to the pattern, and it will become easier for you to work with your random orbital sander. Slowly but surely, you will be comfortable with your sanding machine. It is not an impossible thing to do. You can accomplish anything you put your effort into.
Note:
Before you start sanding your floor, make sure to wear safety glass and a dust mask. Remember, prevention is better than cure.
Step-5: Use hand orbital sanders
Using hand orbital sanders, you can easily reach the small places and edges because your normal-sized orbital sanding machine can’t reach those small spots and areas or corners. That’s the reason using hand sandpapers will be needed a few times in the sanding process.
Step-6: Repeat the cleaning process by vacuum and sweeping
Tired? Have a glass of water, and get back to work! Now time to keep your random orbital sander somewhere safe. And start cleaning your floor once again. We recommend you to vacuum, and sweep the room and clean the room neatly as possible.
Step-7: Time for the mineral spirit
After cleaning your floor, pour some mineral spirits on a towel and sweep the floors nicely. This process will remove the dust layer from the floor and give your wood floor a fresh and smooth look and shine.
Note:
You must wear thick gloves if you have sensitive skin and any skin problem or if you’re allergic to any ingredient of this product. Or else it can cause an allergic reaction or burn on your skin.
Step-8: Let your floor dry and apply floor finish
You almost have done my friend! Wait till your floor dries appropriately and apply a coat of floor finishing. Your local instructor or retailer can give you the best option for your hardwood floor. You should always choose the right quality floor finish that way; your floor will remain perfect for a long time. After you have done every step in the correct order now, your floor is ready to be refinished.
Find out how to sand hardwood floors with a random orbital sander in the video below:
Final Words
You can sand your wood floor with a random orbital sander if you have the correct tools. Take time and do no rush thing. With our instructions, you can achieve an excellent result. If you are having trouble with the sanding talk to someone who knows better or can always hire someone who can do it for you rather than make it worse. You can test your sanding on an unwanted piece of wood floors if available.