5 Common Floor Sanding Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

As a wood floor sanding company with many years of experience in the field, we have worked on so many wonderful solid wood, engineered wood, and parquet floors that it is impossible to remember them all. Wood floor sanding and refinishing projects are our favourite because of the dramatic change they can make for worn, distressed, and generally tired and sad real wood floors. Wood floor sanding can not only significantly improve the appearance of every wooden floor, but it is also very beneficial in terms of improving the floor's durability, hard-wearing power, longevity, protection. Wood floors get worn and even damaged due to everyday use, high traffic, heavy footfall, and a number of other factors that will affect the appearance and condition of your wooden floor over the years.

While these are some typical traces of time and everyday use that leave imperfections that can be easily handled, unfortunately, there are some cases when floor owners have tried their best at a DIY wood floor sanding and renovation project but they failed. Sometimes DIY attempts can turn into such a nightmare that the final result is beyond repair. Fortunately, such situations are rare thing. But still, if you decide to sand your floor on your own but you are not sure what you are doing, of you have just experienced a very poor floor sanding performance by someone who calls themselves a floor sanding specialist but they are really not when real professionals step into the game, wood floor sanding mistakes can be handled. Today we would like to discuss the top 5 of the most common wood floor sanding mistakes and tell you how to avoid them.

The wrong grit sandpaper

Sandpaper comes in different grits and different grits of sandpaper should be used during the entire sanding process for achieving really flawless results. Each stage of the sanding process requires a different grit. In the beginning, the coarsest sandpaper grit is used for removing the old finish and different types of imperfections on the surface of the floor. As the sanding process is progressing, finer and finer grits of sandpaper are used for achieving an even and smooth surface of the floor and also for opening the pores of the wood.

We cannot stress enough how important it is to use the right grit of sandpaper during every stage of the sanding process and how important it is to not miss a grit. The sandpaper grit you are starting with is determined by the floor you are working with and how worn it is, if it has been previously sanded, what is the finish, are there more serious issues and imperfections on the surface, etc. If the floor needs just a quick refresh, you can start with a finer sandpaper grit, but always remember to start with the coarsest grit you are going to use and continue with finer and finer grits. Starting with a too fine-grit means the sandpaper will clog up really quickly, which will make it non-effective and also all this will cost you a lot because you will need to replace the sandpaper constantly.

Not sanding enough

It is hard to draw a line between what is enough sanding and what is considered over-sanding. It is very individual for every wooden floor. When you first start sanding the floor, you will notice a very huge difference. This is the stage when the old finish and dirt are all removed. However, once you are done with this stage, you will notice that the progress from this point on seems lower. However, this definitely does not mean you need to consider you are done with sanding once the old finish and all the surface imperfections are removed.

Nope, you are definitely not and there is a lot more work that needs to be done. Since most floors come with floorboards that are not ideally flat, it is easy to understand why the sanding machine cannot reach all areas and little corners at one go. Therefore, you should continue with sanding until you make sure the entire surface is treated and not a single inch of the floor is missed. Don't stop just after the first or second pass with the sanding machine and continue with sanding the last bits. The final results are definitely worth it all the hard work.

Not sanding diagonally

Sanding the floorboards diagonally is definitely something that makes the whole process quicker and easier for DIY enthusiasts. In addition, sanding the floor's surface diagonally will leave you with much smoother and even floorboards.

Paying too much attention to the edges

Of course, you should make sure that all areas of the floor are well-sanded, which means you don't have to skip on all those edges of the room. At the end of the day, this is what the sanding edger is made and used for. However, for a DIY sanding enthusiast, it is definitely a very difficult, tiring, and even challenging job to do the edges perfectly and work with the edger. The good news is that you don't have to pay too much attention to these areas and you can sand them slightly less, not progressing to the finest sandpaper grit you will be using for the rest of the floor. Believe us, the results will still be good and the floor will still look and feel even and uniform and you will also save yourself a lot of time and hard work.

Not replacing sandpaper with new one often enough

Changing the sandpaper once the sheet you are using is already clogged up is very important. It happens due to lack of knowledge and experience or simply because you want to save some money and not purchase too much sandpaper, however, not replacing the sandpaper often enough is definitely a huge mistake. Changing the sandpaper often enough and when it is clogged up will allow you to sand your floor quicker and easier and achieve better and more professional results.