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Originally posted by RickM
IS there carpet on the floor now? If so get yourself a good putty type filler. You'll need those for nail holes.
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Nail holes? Look at my "before" picture above... see that piece of plywood on the floor? It was NAILED down! The WHOLE house was like that. We actually left the nail holes... sounds crazy, but you really don't notice them unless they're pointed out to you. I wasn't sure, but in teh end it really adds to the character of the home.
Quote:
Originally posted by RickM
Also, even if a fllor appears to be flat it may not be. You'll find out when you start sanding.
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Very true... when I did my mother's house 5 years ago, teh floors appeared to be perfectly flat... I rented an orbital but quickly realized they were slightly bowed.... it would have taken AGES, the orbital really isn't any good if you have any levelling to do.
Quote:
Originally posted by RickM
NotFar: Great job on your floors.
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Thanks, I'm really proud of them. They were actually a complete suprise. When we bought the house we were told it was a plywood subfloor beneath the carpet. WRONG! It was 1/4" plywood nailed over 80 year old hardwoods... some boards are over 16' long. But they were pretty rough:
Kmatts, another sander I recently used worked really well and would be great if you didn't have to do too much levelling. It was essentially 4 round orbital sanders... the discs were either 5" or 8". It would follow the curvature of slightly uneven floors, without gauging. It would be pretty slow if you had to get through a lot of old finish though, and the discs gum up pretty quick.
Another trick I've learned... to keep the belt, drum or discs from gumming up, try to avoid sanding over the "dust" of old finish. Stop and sweep every few minutes... makes a BIG difference.