Sanding a floor - 26sqM - is a Rotex 150 up to it ?

[stevewestern]

OK, I have a floor to sand - a small room, a hallway and a passage, so not a lot of space to manouvre.
It has been badly done before with a drum sander so has a few gouges.

My last experiences with a drum sander was many years ago and left me happy to get in a pro sanding guy to do the job. Also the lack of space makes me fear that I'll end up gouging plenty too !
However, for the cost of getting it done for me I could buy a R150 (I have a R90 and RTS400 for the fiddly bits) and cover a fair bit of my time.

So, is the R150 up to the job, and while I know this is an open question, has anyone got any idea how long it might take to strip back the existing finish, and finally, what abrasive would be best to use on old varnish ?

Many thanks for any help !

 

[Kev]

OK, I have a floor to sand - a small room, a hallway and a passage, so not a lot of space to manouvre.
It has been badly done before with a drum sander so has a few gouges.

My last experiences with a drum sander was many years ago and left me happy to get in a pro sanding guy to do the job. Also the lack of space makes me fear that I'll end up gouging plenty too !
However, for the cost of getting it done for me I could buy a R150 (I have a R90 and RTS400 for the fiddly bits) and cover a fair bit of my time.

So, is the R150 up to the job, and while I know this is an open question, has anyone got any idea how long it might take to strip back the existing finish, and finally, what abrasive would be best to use on old varnish ?

Many thanks for any help !

If the shoe was on my foot, I'd be considering the best sander ... just sayin  [cool]

By ROTEX 150 ? ... say you're going to go over in comprehensively about 3 or more times ??? to my mind that'd be 25~35 hours of effort if you're fastidious.

I'd consider Saphir.

 

[Frank Pellow]

I sanded a slightly smaller kitchen floor about 6 years ago using mostly my Rotex 150.  The oak floor in our kitchen is approximately 20 square metres and the whole job which included scraping off the wax before sanding and refinishing after sanding took me approximately 40 hours.

Here are a few photos:

Before sanding, I need to scrape off the wax:

[attachthumb=#1]

As well as a Rotex, I used a Festool Deltex 93 sander to get right into the corners and along the edges:

[attachthumb=#2]

Here I am finally using the Rotex 150 sander:

[attachthumb=#4]

The dust collection is good but not perfect, so I "employed" my grandson Ethan to help clean up:

[attachthumb=#3]

Here is the floor after applying gel stain and several coats of polyurethane to the sanded floor:

[attachthumb=#5]

I used Saphir 80 then Rubin 120 abrasives.

 

[ldmillar1981]

Hi Steve,

Was in the same kind of situation on a job last year, opted for the rotex 150 and turned out great.

Your need some course paper to get the gouges out.

Regards
Leigh

 

[fp1337]

FWIW I did my whole deck with a Makita sheet sander and it worked out, the advantage of using sheets is that it's much much cheaper than discs and you can change the abrasive more often resulting in a faster job.

 

[mattfc]

Get a proper tool for this job.. if you don't want to go up the learning curve of using a drum sander, then a Trio sander would be brilliant, no drum to dig into your floor, but in effect 3 rotex's spinning in one unit.. you should be able to hire one

Bottom of the sander

Trio Sander Hire

Info on the machine (German company called Lagler makes them)
http://www.laegler.com/eng/

 

[stevewestern]

Get a proper tool for this job.. if you don't want to go up the learning curve of using a drum sander, then a Trio sander would be brilliant, no drum to dig into your floor, but in effect 3 rotex's spinning in one unit.. you should be able to hire one

Bottom of the sander

Trio Sander Hire

Info on the machine (German company called Lagler makes them)
http://www.laegler.com/eng/

Now that looks like the way to go - I'll take a look into hiring one !

Thanks for the replies !

 

[skids]

Actually, I would recommend looking into the Usand machines. You can rent them at Home depot and they are geared to the novice user. They are even easier to use and control than that trio sander.

I know this because I researched the heck out of my doing my own hardwoods from start to finish. I quickly came to the realization that the art is in the finish work. The install is realtively easy to learn. But...By the time I am done renting tools ( I would never want to own) and buying paper for a sander, and buying materials it's not much cheaper than having a reputable flooring guy come in and do it, much better than I can no less.

For the extra $500 or so in my case, I get to sick back and eat popcorn and watch someone else do it. Totally worth it.

 

[nehardwoodfloors]

Lowes rents a machine that is almost the same as a Trio(machine pictured above).

 

[mattfc]

@Skids and Eco-Options... you can see from the Ops profile he is in the UK..

 

[stevewestern]

@Skids and Eco-Options... you can see from the Ops profile he is in the UK..

..and sadly the delivery charges are way to high...!

However, the input is much appreciated .

So, it looks like my cunning plan to get me a R150 paid for by a client isn't going to happen this time, and I have a £50 voucher itching to be put to use.

Better think again then....

 

[mattfc]

@Skids and Eco-Options... you can see from the Ops profile he is in the UK..

..and sadly the delivery charges are way to high...!

However, the input is much appreciated .

So, it looks like my cunning plan to get me a R150 paid for by a client isn't going to happen this time, and I have a £50 voucher itching to be put to use.

Better think again then....

Where in the UK are you based, as there is another company that does the southwest. As some one else mentioned, a belt sander (Festool of course) would be a good/better option also.. all depends on how much time you have got/want to spend

 

[Tinker]

Actually, I would recommend looking into the Usand machines. You can rent them at Home depot and they are geared to the novice user. They are even easier to use and control than that trio sander.

I know this because I researched the heck out of my doing my own hardwoods from start to finish. I quickly came to the realization that the art is in the finish work. The install is realtively easy to learn. But...By the time I am done renting tools ( I would never want to own) and buying paper for a sander, and buying materials it's not much cheaper than having a reputable flooring guy come in and do it, much better than I can no less.

For the extra $500 or so in my case, I get to sick back and eat popcorn and watch someone else do it. Totally worth it.

When I was in the mason & excavating biz, i often rented small equipment.  i generally had a good idea of how to use such equipment efficiently.  The cost was not prohibitive.  However, i sometimes got called to make repairs to a job that somebody less knowledgeable had rented a machine for.  usually for backhoe work.  I would usually start out by completely burying the owners work and starting over.  by the time i had done the repair, i had presented a quite large bill, or so i thought. as it would turn out, my bill, for redoing, including burying the original work, would actually come to less than what the owner had originally paid for the equipment rental and delivery.  When he would figure in his own time, he ended up thinking my absorbitant price was quite reasonable.

This scenario happened on several occasions.

 

[stevewestern]

@Skids and Eco-Options... you can see from the Ops profile he is in the UK..

..and sadly the delivery charges are way to high...!

However, the input is much appreciated .

So, it looks like my cunning plan to get me a R150 paid for by a client isn't going to happen this time, and I have a £50 voucher itching to be put to use.

Better think again then....

Where in the UK are you based, as there is another company that does the southwest. As some one else mentioned, a belt sander (Festool of course) would be a good/better option also.. all depends on how much time you have got/want to spend

mattfc - I am actually in Cornwall but the job in in the London edge of Essex, so it would be good if you can let me know the details of this company please !

I do have an old but little used 4" belt sander (Elu, not Festool) that could use a decent workout as it has not been used for 10 years or so but think that hiring some sort of proper tool might be a better way to go..

 

[mattfc]

there are quite a few places.. this place is in Leyton

http://www.floorsanderhireuk.com/contact.htm

that's east london

google is your friend

 

[stevewestern]

there are quite a few places.. this place is in Leyton

http://www.floorsanderhireuk.com/contact.htm

that's east london

google is your friend

It seems that not only is google my friend but so are you - many thanks !

 

[mattfc]

Ah well I have just moved home and am converting double garage into a wood workshop. I managed to pick up 75sq m of 22mm solid beech Junkers flooring (used) on eBay for about £7 a sq meter, so will be laying that soon, and hence been looking into sanders