Need advice - wood flooring needs sanding

[itsastickup]

Hi Folks,

I don't know much about DIY and need some advice on how to go about doing the wood floor of a toilet and also a living room.

We think we probably need to rent a sander for the living room. Meanwhile I have a small hand sander which I'm going to use on the toilet floor.

I have a fairly limited budget so I'm looking to avoid spending much. If I can get one tool to do both jobs then Hurrah!!!

The quandary I have is the edge of the flooring. To my mind I'll be needing a details sander (cheap one I found; good reviews) but I am imagining it may not do so well for the whole of the living room floor as well as the toilet. And I'll be going through sanding sheets like nobody's business.

What would your advice be?



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[Burnerman]

Personally I'd head for the tool hire shop and see what they have.....a round orbital floor sander is available and you only pay for the sheets you use.
If you must buy your own, go for a quality endless belt sander to do the main task.
You are asking a lot from light duty DIY tools there!
John

 

[itsastickup]

You are asking a lot from light duty DIY tools there!
John

I was thinking I might be.

Will an orbital do the edges? The small endless-belt sander I have stops about a centimeter from the edge.

I didn't realise you can just pay for the sheets. What grit would you recommend? The grittiest?

The idea for the toilet is to varnish the wood floor. What do you think of that? An 'ultra-tough' varnish? Would it be tough enough?

If I can't sand down the staining enough then I was thinking of painting it.

 

[Burnerman]

The sander I hired from HSS was a round, shuffle type - well heavy too! It was capable of getting to within a couple of millimetres of any edge.
Grit size? Well, the higher the number the smoother it is. You could try 60 grit for a kick off and see how it deals with the paint, and then work to 100 grit or thereabouts.
The hire shop will be happy to advise, and give you a selection of grits to try.
For the loo, I'd go for a heavy duty varnish, if that's what you want.....if you intend to paint, there's no need to be so particular with the sanding. There seems to have been a mixture of stain and paint on there.....if stain has been used, it will have sunk in to some degree so you may need to chose a slightly darker tint.
You'll just have to give it a go!
John

 

[Norcon]

What you want to do with that is cover it up with bathroom laminate.

 

[Burnerman]

Yep, I'd do the same.....depends on how easy it is to lift the pot up though.
John

 

[Norcon]

Scribe round it nicely.
Did one last week.
The bidet and basin pedestal came out. The bidet being de commissioned.

Though her indoors wants it set back to fill the space and collect some dust.