Sub-floor prep for LVT tile with Festool Sander

[maction17]

Hey Foggers,

First official post here. Last week I added a ETS EC/125 to my small (but one day large) Festool arsenal. I bought it for furniture work, but realized this morning it might really come in handy for a LVT tile floor installation this coming weekend.

I got the old vinyl up, but there are plenty of flecks and old adhesive left. I'll also need to do some light floor patching in areas. Sooooo...is there a recommended sandpaper to accommodate these varied materials. It seems like Granat, right?

Thanks,
Mac

 

[ear3]

You can start with Granat and see how it goes, though I would have a crepe stick handy to clean the paper if and when it clogs.  A more aggressive and not as clogging choice would be Saphir. 

In case you don't know about it, there's a handy reference in the Product Websites drop down tab on the upper right of this forums for Abrasive selection.

It links here:http://www.festoolusa.com/abrasives

 

[Brice Burrell]

First, welcome to the FOG Mac.

I'd say the ETS EC/125 isn't ideal for this kind of job.  Tough jobs like sanding old floors can be very hard on the sanding pad.  It's not that big of a deal if you only intend to use this sander for tough jobs(or you don't mind spending the money on a new pad).  Since you got the sander for finish woodworking, I'd be very careful sanding the floor.  Pay particular attention to not damage the edges of the sanding of the sand paper and the sanding pad too much.  I think Granat is not a bad place to start, although Saphir should be your first choice, if you have some on hand. 

Good luck.

If you have a real mess on the floor you may be better off scrapping the floor instead.   

 

[maction17]

Thanks guys. I figured it's not perfect for the job, but hey, I want to play with my new toy. Maybe I'll grab another sanding pad when I grab some sapphire and have that pad dedicated for these kinds of light construction jobs. Or a rotex....

Cheers,
MJ

 

[Peter_C]

When I prepped my own subfloor for underlayment, prior to tiling, and installing hardwood floors I ripped it with 36 grit on my RO150 in Rotex mode. Worked perfectly to remove surface imperfections. If you own a belt sander it will probably work better than the RO125.

 

[maction17]

When I prepped my own subfloor for underlayment, prior to tiling, and installing hardwood floors I ripped it with 36 grit on my RO150 in Rotex mode. Worked perfectly to remove surface imperfections. If you own a belt sander it will probably work better than the RO125.

Which leads me closer to getting a RO150 soon. It'd be hard to justify for one small project, but we have a barn behind the house that will eventually be a proper workshop, and there are a lot of rough hewn boards back there that could be knocked down. I'll test drive my ETS for some "spot cleaning" in the meantime.