# Forum Home Renovation Flooring  About to hire a floor sander - Advice please

## Mowy

Hi, 
  I was ringing around to hire a floor sander and edger and found basically two types of machines on the market that I could find in Sydney area. They are 
 Hiretech model - http://www.hiretech.com.au/ht8-2.html which is a tilt machine
 and a
 Clarke EZ8 model - http://www.americansanders.com/Produ...Sanders&Pro=80 which is operated by a lever. The price difference is next to nothing.  
  Anyone out there have experience with these machines? Which one should I go for?  
  Following on from previous post, I have decided to go with the high-gloss feast watson floorproof as a coat. No particular reason other than it looked best from the set of display that was at bunnies.  :Smilie:

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## Bob Willson

My advice is Don't do ithire somebody to do it for you and save yourself a heap of work and a whole lot of effort. Maybe even money. 
See other threads on this BB re floor sanding

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## namtrak

I think Bunnings are hiring out sanders as well. 
As for the models, I can't speak for either brand but I would be looking at an orbital sander to finish the job as. 
We have redone the floors in our house with Drum sanders and are about to do the loungeroom and extensions.  I have decided to do the floor myself with a drum sander down to 120 grit, then we'll get in a professional with an Orbital Floor Sander to finish the job.  I find the drum sanders leave small bumps in concert with the screws for the sandpaper, and since I cant hire an Orbital we'll get someone in to finish it off!!

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## Mowy

Bob, I don't mind the effort and the hassel. I know there are people out there that have ruined their floors by doing it themselves. I also know there are people out there out have done it successfully. I am not after 100% professional finish. Just something that is close to. Reason I am not getting someone in to do it is that basically it'll cost about $1200 more to call someone in to do the job. I figure I could get alot of tool for that money. 
  Basically, I am asking which machine is safer/easier to use for beginners.

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## Dusty

Mowy, go with the Clarke lever type machine, seeing as though your insisting on doing it yourself. 
The lever machine offers you much, much better control, which in turn will lean towards you getting a nicer result. 
Make sure you are moving, either forwards or backwards, whenever you attempt to lower the drum to the floor, this simple step is the most important one if you wish to eliminate the possibility of leaving drum marks (dents, gouges, ridges) on the floor. 
Good luck.

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## simon c

Hi mowy 
I've done it a couple of times, not too hard and a good sense of achievement. 
Some suggestions:
Don't attempt a corridor, too much edge and not enough o fthe easy middle bit
Limit yourself to one area at a time
I've used the lever version, the main thing is to allow the drum to gently make contact with the floor otherwise you will get a rut at the edge
You will also need an edger, which is normally an orbital sander. the drum sanders won;t get any closer than 100mm to a wall

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## Metung

I went through this process some time ago. I hired a drum sander and did most of the house. It ended up being a fairly rough job for all the reasons mentioned. It's bloody hard to stop the sander biting in and causing ruts and although your boards might be 19mm thick, there is only about 6mm before you get to the tongue and groove and therefore, problems.
 I also hired the edger to do - THE EDGES!!!! I found this much easier to handle and sometime later I re-did a room with it and the finish was heaps better. If you have the patience and don't have to do too much, I would recommend doing the lot with the edger, probably a bit cheaper too.

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## johnc

I was given the loan of a drum sander (right price at least) to clean up the decking after rebuilding and relaying the old decking material. Job was OK for outside and looks OK just, but in the end I was convinced that for inside I would use a professional. The edges seemed to be my downfall, those things could go right through in no time at all given the opportunity I reckon. 
John

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## TassieKiwi

'Quality is appreciated long after the price is forgotten'.  Esp. if you look at it every day.  
Don't do it, son.  Not as easy as it looks - get someone else in.

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## ptrott

The orbital floor sanders are a little bit slower but are just so easy to use. Chances of mucking up the job are negligable. I would make inquiries at Bunnings as the one in my town has two orbitals for hire. They only sell two grades of paper for it though. 120 is the fine one. 
Phill.

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## Wood Butcher

This is a piccy of the floor I did at home recently. The finish is not perfect but when someone comes into the house I can proudly say "I did the floors." I used the lever type sander (thats all the local hire firms had) and a 7" disc sander to do the edges. The finish is Feast Watson Floorproof and looks a treat (at least it does in real life). I enjoyed doing the floors and would do it again anytime, especially when I saved $900 by not paying somebody else. 
Give it a go, at least you can say that you have tried.

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## Mowy

Thank you all. I"ll be hiring a lever machine from bunnies. Yeay 
 I shall keep you posted on how i go  :Smilie:

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## Mowy

thats looking good wood butcher. If I get a finish like that, I'd be happy. What did you use as a putty? I tried some of timbermate teak color and its lighter than the board making it stand out a bit (before coating it anyways).

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## shaunburgess

Do it, it's hard work but doesn't take huge amounts of skill. Remember to use the thickest paper (seem to remember 60) on every room even if it doesn't look like it needs it as it flattens the floor boards and will look better.

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## STEPHEN MILLER

Just finished doing our lounge room it is 4m x 9m hired drum sander [ hetich]from Coates hire started with 60 grit then down to 120 did edges with random orbit sander, edge sandes tend to sand down at a angle took a bit longer. Just take it slow, gentle and keep moving and let the sander do the work. Coates hire in Adelaide only open saturday mornings so you pick it up friday afternoon and get it all weekend for one days hire,  $80 for drum sander
Finished with Floor Master tung oil got from Coates 10 litres for $123 also in range polyurethane polishes etc , Kennards sell the same stuff  simalar price and was heaps cheaper than anyware else prices from $70-$80 for 4 litres  :Smilie:

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## Wood Butcher

> What did you use as a putty

   It was the timbermate cypress. Obvious choice for me as the floor is, well cypress. I have been told that sometimes you need to try a couple of different colours to match. as similar species timber, grown in different parts of australia can have slightly different colour. (can anyone verify this or am I wrong?)

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## glock40sw

G'day.
Yep...you are right.
Spotted Gum from here (Grafton) is lighter in colour than further down the coast (Kempsey). And lighter than the QLD Spotted Gum (Even though the Cane Toad Countyites have a different Specie for Spotted Gum..C.Maculata as opposed to the N.S.W.   E. Maculata) G'day Bruce.
Also, Our Grey Iron bark is more brown than the GIBK fron down south whick is more pinker.
Hooroo.
Regards, Trevor
Grafton

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## E. maculata

Evenin' all, 
 I have difficulty sometimes finding the same timber colour in trees that grow on different parts of the same logging compartment sometimes, as Trevor(_back at ya Bud ;-)_  alluded to, some species can have vast colour differences, here's one example,(weelllllll, my favourite specie actually) almost pale cream, then yellow to brown, pink to almost crimson heart, light grey to dark grey...and the density can go from 950 kg/M3 to 1150 kg/m3 and corresponding hardness durability variations as well, (in some areas it was understandably known as "irongum" by the oldtimers) also can suffer(?)from an oily resin type residue or at other times have an open porous dryish feel to it as well.
The Cypress so popular for flooring(rightly so, as is IMHO a striking look) also differs immensely from the stuff found on the Western slopes to the stuff growing in the Pilliga, and should be sourced from a single supplier if you wish for some degree of grain and colour consistency.

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