Floor finishing with a Rotex

[thomastchoper]

Good morning,
In the next few months, I will have to finish approximately 96 square feet of bare wood random width 3"-6" cherry flooring. I currently own a Rotex RO 125FEQ and a Deltex DX 93E (for the edges and corners) with a CT 22E. Two questions:
1) How much faster will the job be if I use a Rotex 150 instead of a 125?
2) What type and progression of abrasive sheets would you recommend? I plan to use Crystalac Poly-Oxide Polyurethane Floor Finish but am open to suggestions.
Many thanks,
Tom

 

[Brice Burrell]

Tom, I wouldn't recommend either sander for this job. Hire a pro even for this small job. If you are determined to to sand the floor yourself with one of the sander you mentioned I'd say the RO150 is a much better choice. Depending on how much material needs to be removed will determine what grit you'll start with, maybe 40 and go through 150. As I said you may want to rethink taking on this job yourself.

 

[mwhafner]

The Rotex sanders work well for edges,  but I wouldn't try to do a room with it.  It would also do fine for sanding between coats on that small a space.

If you place any value on your time, follow Brice's recommendation and hire someone to at least do the leveling.  If not, then I would rent a floor sander.  If this is your first experience, don't let them talk you into a drum or belt sander.  I would suggest that you rent something like the EZ Sand, or the Varathane.  They are a lot more forgiving and have a much better learning curve. 

 

[danjames]

The Rotex sanders work well for edges,  but I wouldn't try to do a room with it.  It would also do fine for sanding between coats on that small a space.

If you place any value on your time, follow Brice's recommendation and hire someone to at least do the leveling.  If not, then I would rent a floor sander.  If this is your first experience, don't let them talk you into a drum or belt sander.  I would suggest that you rent something like the EZ Sand, or the Varathane.  They are a lot more forgiving and have a much better learning curve. 

As MWHAFNER said if you do it yourself, go with the floor sander, just remember to keep it moving and always follow the grain, don't use to coarse a grit of sanpaper. They're not so hard to use. Then do the edges and corners with an orbital sander.

Dan [smile]

 

[tbellemare]

Tom:

The answer to your original question is the Rotex 150 has about 50% more area than the Rotex 125. That means, on average, you're done with such a task in 2/3 the time.

I sell this stuff and I can't recommend either tool for a full floor.

As was stated, if you value your time, you might want to hire it out. Angie's list is a great way to filter through contractors if you don't know of any that you can feel comfortable with.

I know people that took a hand power tool to a floor like you are proposing, and it can be done. It is a pretty small room by Texas standards... It certainly wouldn't kill you or the Festool. It would be boring to me. The smallest room in my house is bigger than what you are describing. Here we call rooms that size either a closet, bathroom, or foyer...

If I were to take on a task like that with Festool sanders, I'd use the RO 150 and DX 93. I'd also not skip any grits with the Rotex because I'd leave it in random orbit mode and float it over the whole floor while holding it by the tail with one hand. Before I went to the next grit on the Rotex, I'd use the same grit on the Deltex to clean up the edges and corners and then progress through every grit in the sequence. You could skip every other grit but I think it's less efficient. Skipping any more than every other grit is WAY less efficient. I think I can speak for more dealers than myself when I say that we will sell you what you need so you don't have to buy the full box of every grit if you think it's too much for you.

Don't forget the knee pads...

Tom

 

[thomastchoper]

Good morning all,

I sense from your comments that for this project exterior and interior painting and staining might be a better use of my time.

Thanks again,

Tom

 

[Kicbak]

Been lurking a while but actually have some input on something......

I am currently refinishing about 400-500 sq feet in my house will just the Rotex 150. I am doing it in 4 sections, with 3 already done.I'm sure renting something would have been faster but I have some issues to deal with.

1) I live in an A-Frame house - with the floor running parallel to the roof a big machine wouldn't get close to where the roof and wall meet anyway.
2) I don't have a garage or anywhere to store all the furniture as we live in the house.
3) Renting doesn't make sense as I can only do half the room since all the dinning and living room stuff is pushed to one side.
4) Dust - by the time I put plastic up vacuum a bunch and then clean up (twice for the left and right sides) I wasted a lot of time.

So I decided to buy a rotex 150 since I have the ets 150-3 so I can use the same sanding discs.

I was really surprised how easy sanding the floor with the Rotex and Ets is. After work I sand about a 100 sq. ft. section in a few hours with the rotex 60 then 80 grit then switch to the ets for the 120 and between coats of poly. I did use the hard pad and 40 grit on the worst parts of the floor by the front door. You get a hang of all the ways to handle the rotex and get really good at control.

I've been taking pictures and will post some when I finish this weekend.

You have the rotex 125 already, you are going to finish the floor anyway so why not try a section, with that size room by the time you go to the rental place, plastic off everything and clean up, take the sander back you would be close to sanding it with the rotex.

Wes

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Wes, welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing your story.  One of my co-workers used a Rotex to sand the floors in dining room which was probably about 200sqft.  Seemed to go quickly and the results were great based on his account of the process.

 

[Kicbak]

Not having to worry about the dust is great if you are living in the house at the time. I also liked being able to feel the wood while I worked to easily sand it flat. On the more warped boards I did use the soft pad and "cheat" by tilting the rotex toward the handle making it more aggressive on a smaller area, then I followed up smoothing it out by feel. Normally that was when the ends of two boards met and one was higher then the other.

Wes

 

[rwdawson]

As part of a review of the Rotex 150, Matthew Schenker refinished a floor in his house.

http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-tool-reviews/rotex-ro-150-feq-sander/

I decided to do the same and took on a 100  square feet room in an approximately 100 year old house with my Rotex 150.  I later did another 250 square feet in an adjacent room, this time in two stages.

My rationale was similar to some of the other points made above.  I figured that I owned the Rotex, wanted to see what it would do, could work at my own pace, and didn't have to travel or spend time getting the rental.  The results were satisfying and I would do it again.  In the really rough spots I used Saphir 36 (I think), and worked my way up to 120 Rubin in the same manner as previously described.  I also used the Deltex to great advantage.

Knee pads are a must.  Hearing protection is also good idea. My wife really appreciated the fact that dust collection was fantastic.

Go for it.

Richard

 

[paul_david_thomas]

Go get the 150 rotex. It's not that big a room... I've used one of the big bag floor sanders... You've got to be really careful...

Just view it as a work-out session !

 

[mike1967]

I did an 11 X 11 room with oak floors with a Rotex 150.  Make sure you use knee pads.

Start with rotex mode and 36 grit.  This will take everything off---the trick is not to lean on the sander because, the more you lean, the more swirl marks you will have to deal with later. 

I think that I then did a pass with 50 (?) grit on rotex and then shifted to random orbit and worked up to 150 or so. I was told that, if one goes too high on a floor, the finish will not adhere well.  I have no idea if this is true but it sounds right.

I then used mineral spirits on the floor to make sure that there were no extraneous swirl marks.  Of course there were and I then knocked them off. 

Then oil the floor and you are set.  I used Waterlox oil finish and it is beautiful, much nicer than poly.  Of course my kids have already done a number on the floor, but that's life.

Mike

 

[paul_david_thomas]

or... use a nail file

sorry, been on the wine and being rather silly now !