Sand/Buff/Polish Timber Floors?

[Lmx]

Hi Guys,

Can anyone recommend me anyone who can sand/buff/polish old jarrah floors? rough cost per sqm? House will be empty.
I am moving into my house that i previously rented and in the main living area there is carpet, which we are planning to take out, however i have been told that in most cases the boards underneath will look shit compared to the rest of the house.

Cheers,

Jamie

[mr_mike]

how partial are you to some hard work?
Can hire a floor sander from bunnings then some brush some polish/sealer on yourself

[Lmx]

That was my initial thought, however a family member told me i would be likely to stuff my floors if i didn't know what i was doing :<

[wormbo2]

We removed the carpet in our house, had been laid somewhere around '75 - '77.
Most of the high traffic areas had a bit of difficulty getting the underlay off, but rest of it came off relatively easy.
Only problem we encountered, as you mentioned, different look of timber, rest of house was lacquered and living room is bare jarrah. (personally, smooth raw wood looks farkin nice IMO)

Firstly, from experience, I'd recommend a cheap STEEL spatula from woolies/Coles/whatever and use that to slide and get under the underlay, should help keep most of it together. (hopefully it's a rubber style one)
Then just scrape away any more stubborn bits with the spatula, shoulbt leave and harsh marks or scratches.

You may notice the pattern of the underlay on the timber (if raw/ unlaquered) that will disappear obviously with sanding.
If your boards are quite nice and level, you shouldn't really need to take a whole heap off with the machine (depends on what you want but)

Just another note, REMOVE ALL skirtings before sanding, cos it'll look SHITHOUSE if people notice the 2-3mm gap the machine might not reach. Just sayin... :)

As for people that do it, will get back to you later on, old man had a cement linisher at some stage, and carpet/floorboard layer at work, might have a lead between them both.
Let ya know.

[RGVFAST]

Be careful of removing underlay, in the last year or two there has been evidence that James Hardy used to on sell the hessian bags that they transported raw asbestos in, to manufactures of carpet underlay.

Whilst it's not made out of asbestos, it still contains millions of asbestos fibres that are freely available to be inhaled.

[carlos spicy wener]

don't be concerned about the boards not matching. if you are sanding back the whole house, you will sand back the finish/lacquer already laid down. then re-finish the whole lot.

i would just DIY, but im a tight-ass. you may prefer to pay someone to do it so you don't have to get your hands dirty. however, if you choose to DIY then just go to a hire joint like classic hire, hire guys etc, and hire a drum floor sander. its basically a big belt sander with a long handle that allows you to push it along. the hire place will supply you with a few different grits, and they should run you through how to operate it. just remember to sand along the grain, not across it, otherwise you will leave big scratch marks.

the only problem with the drum sander, is its hard to get right into the corners, and along the walls, so in this situation you either use floor orbital sander, a normal belt sander, or you can sand it by hand.

there are plenty of specialists around that can do it, but i assume it will be quite expensive.

[Riggs]

Sanded and sealed prices start around $40sq/m and increase if you want a better quality surface (polyurethane) also depends on how many boards will need to be repaired/replaced however carpet generally protects it pretty well so all the joints should be tight and boards all nice and straight.

If the underlay is rubber or foam generally it will just roll up, if it has collapsed and stuck to the floor, or it is stapled down hair-felt, or it is rubber-back carpet ---> Elbowgrease.


Be careful of removing underlay, in the last year or two there has been evidence that James Hardy used to on sell the hessian bags that they transported raw asbestos in, to manufactures of carpet underlay.

Whilst it's not made out of asbestos, it still contains millions of asbestos fibres that are freely available to be inhaled.

This is mostly a pile of crap, this hessian was only used to make the bags the underlay was packaged in, not in the underlay's membrane itself. Not one single fuck is given about this by any builders, govt bodies etc. Just ACA/TT looking for something to talk about, however asbestos tiles are another matter all together.

[Dom]

I used Bromain atlas after they did my auntys house and cant recommend them enough, i had a fair bit of damage to the floor boards aswell and it looks great.

the guys are friendly and hard working.

[Ibz]

I use to do floor finishing, so If you need floors layed, sanded, polished etc.. let me know, i know a pretty good hook up..

[Lump]

^ ive got a few 'ghost boot-prints' that seem to be under the sealer on a QLD black butt timber floor, any chance they will polish out?

[Riggs]

^ ive got a few 'ghost boot-prints' that seem to be under the sealer on a QLD black butt timber floor, any chance they will polish out?

No, need to sand and re-seal to remove them.

[Lump]

yeah, thought so :(

[Ibz]

Yea what Riggs said... If you got light scratches and surface scum. You can give it a buff and recoat but anything deep will have to be resanded.