I’m currently doing up my first house and being the age of 23 and female – everyone is telling me that my best bet is to write in to Jamie Durie and ask for his help cause I won’t be able to do it myself!! I am ignoring this and currently sanding and polishing timber floors.
How do I sand so I get an even finish and some spots aren’t lighter than others? Do I then needa separate machine to polish after sanding? And does the varnish used help to cover up any inconsistenices in colour (eg some parts are more yellow and some parts are more orangey red)? THankshey there, im a timber flooring guy so i will try to help.
if you have lifted carpet, vinyl etc,..the boards shoud be quite flat already.a drum sander will get the floor flat while you will have to go over the floor with a rotary sander with various grades of fine paper to get a very smooth finish. coating should be done only after applying a sealer ( this will stop the coating from soaking in too much to the timber and give you a “blotchy” look.) then two coats of polyurethne coating will bring the floor up nicely. This coating is solvent based so you will need a respirator mask. On the other hand you can use a water based coating but it is harder to get a good finish while costing you a lot more to buy.
feel free to emial me with any questions
Also, timber floors where never supposed to be extremly consistent in colour so just relax, enjoy the colour variations. [
]Wow! THanks Boods99!!!
THat was the first post on thsi website I’ve done and what thorough and informative response! I have two more questions.
So are you saying I DON’T need a separate machine to ‘polish’ the floor. The guy from Bunnings Warehouse told me I might need a polisher as well as a floor sander.
Also how do you get paint off the floor. THe person I bought the house off had the brilliant idea of painting the floor blue and when I tried to sand it the sand paper quickly became smooth with paint. I had to use 4 different sand papers to even make an impact over about 4 square metres!
Oh and what level of sand paper do you use at the very end? I have been using 60 and 80.
Sorry – that was three questiosn but your the first person who knows what I’m talking about.
Thanks for your helpunfortunatly the person who painted your floor has made your life harder!!
PERSISTANCE[] First you get all the paint off with a drum sander which i imagine you have started to do. The paper you are using is way too fine to strip paint. you should use a 16 or 20 grit. this will really bite in and get the paint off. Then use a rotary sander ( a little difficult to use to start with but you should get the hang of it )start with 60 grit and keep working up to about 120 grit if that is the desired finish you want. after you rotary you whoud apply the sealer. this is done with a roller just like painting. ( remember the face mask …very important ) then you can apply you first coat of poly coating after a couple of hours or so ( the sealer dries very quickly )
this has to be left for about 15 hours. you then have to go over the floor with the rotary sander again a key in the surface ( so the next coat bonds to the first ) this time you use a screenbak disk of about 320 grit. Now you are ready for your final coat. It is applied just like the rest of them ( with a roller on a pole ) but you have to make sure you dont have any misses. 24 hours later …….you can start living on it!! Also, dont listen to everything that guys from bunnings tell you as they probably are just guessing themselves!!( however there is always an exception to the rule!![])
GOOD LUCK
reply if you have any more questions!I think there’s a second sander you use after the rotary, that gets right up to the wall, the rotary leaves a bit of an un-sanded edge.
Bunnings warehouses are good, just take a look in the carpark and you see tradesmen buying there so the prices are probably OK. And, yes, there staff are good but like you and me, they aren’t infallible. their tool-shop expert told me that foam floats are not made any more!
My wife is a “chick” and will attack any reno. task. Remember, mistakes are how we learn. Good luck.
enduser…you are very correct, however, the edger is probably one of the most difficult sanders to use and to somebody who has never used one before, i am almost certain more damage will be done than good. Use a normal everyday orbital sander with coarse paper to get to the edges, alternatively, you can hire a squar buff which is just an orbital on steroids…it defends upon the size of the job. Also, something i forgot to mention before- always vacuum the entire area before and after fine sanding.
Jessica…
You go girl! I also happen to be female and renovating. Doing everything on your own is harder but so far not impossible. The only thing I’ve had to have someone come in and do was the cornice in three rooms (that mega 30cm deep stuff – took three guys three days to do!).
To date I have plastered, removed all doors, architraves, frames, skirting, picture rails (paid for the stripping tho’), sanded/polished the floorboards and a trillion other little bits and pieces.
Bad news – the most horrible job, I hate to say, was the floors.
Good news – I’ve now discovered there are worse jobs. I’m currently in the process of removing the lathe and plaster in one room as the walls were too far gone to plaster over. This is my new worst job ever!!
The biggest obstacle overall has been to convey exactly what I’m trying to do to the K&D or Bunnings man/woman to ensure I’m buying the right tool/paint/vanish etc. It is hard not to come over as completely dim sometimes but generally most people have been really helpful.
Good luck with your reno. I’ve been going now for two years and there’s not an end in sight!! I love it. I stop when I want as I don’t want to feel it’s a chore and I start again as the inspiration returns. I can also change my mind on colours/styles/whatever whenever I damn well want to… It’s soooo cool.
hey joc and jess,
i was just wondering where are you guys doing the renos? is it a unit or house?
i was just wondering as my parents are talking about helping me to buy a unit and i reno it!
thanks guys
[
] Powmow []Hi Powmow,
Home for me is Hobart, Tasmania.
I’m working on a 2/3 bedroom weatherboard house (real estate said 1905 but I think more like 1920’s). Nothing fancy about the house except that it came with original doors, skirting etc so am trying to bring these features to the fore for a bit of character.
I hope you go ahead with your own. There will be days when you’ll wonder what the hell you’re doing but remember to step back every now and then and take in the big picture. Oh… and try not to think of the $$$ when you do that!
Sorry… just one more thing for Jess the Super-Renovator and Powmow the Future-Renovator…
Never underestimate ‘character’.
Every blemish, inconsistency, unintentional hole/lump/scratch etc, only adds to the originality of your masterpiece.
There is nothing that can’t be fixed or hidden later. The older the house or unit the more this applies – if you can’t create a fascinating story to astound that very rude person who will inevitably point out this piece of character, then you can always blame the multitude of previous owners.
Hi Jess,
One trick I learnt when sanding my floors is to sprinkle flour over the area I’m about to sand. It keeps the paint from sticking to the paper. It’s not 100% foolproof, but I’m sure you can see the results straight away.
I’d also wear a cap (otherwise you’ll get sawdust in your hair, which is a pain to get out), dust mask for the finer grades of sandpaper and overalls (preferable but not essential – again it keeps the sawdust getting everywhere).
Also, you might want to close the doors to other rooms while sanding, so you only need to clean up one room at a time. Otherwise, you’re going to find sawdust everywhere for months to come!
Cheers
MSome questions for you, Jess. My husband and I are about to start serious searching for our first reno. after selling our first IP. We’re thinking of new kitchen, new bathroom, painting and landscaping. Is this the sort of scale you’re doing? Are you finding it profitable? (say, profit marging 20% as suggested by Slum Lord on forum). I feel a bit of a babe in the woods as we’ve never done this before, we’ve cerainly reno’d our own house extensively, but it’s a case of knowing what to look for in real estate, I guess. Any feedback would be great.
Man! Yeah you go girl!!!
As a wuss who hired profesional floor sanders to do my places floors, I can’t even imagine how hard that sounds. (yes i can actually because I talked to AD!!!) BTW the floor sander had emphysema from years breathing dust on the job – so bear that in mind too.
I have to say the pros were great – it was done in a week, and they did a perfect job. I already used them again on my third place.
cheers-
MiniThis is SO GREAT!!! I decided to check that on the off chance boods had replied to my last questions I might get a bit more of an idea and I wa stunned to see 12 replies to my posting. I had to laugh out loud when I read what everyone had written! What a great way to get inspiration just when you really need it!!!
THanks to everyone who had helpful hints and I knew about the edger because the guy in Bunnings had actually told me about that as well but I was waiting until next week to give it a go – if I stuff it up I suppose at least I’ll learn for next time (although that bit about the floor sander with emphazeme was a bit of a worry).
To JoC – we must be like renovating twons or something! I have taken off skirting boards and also have picture rails (although I’m painting them as they were too much of a pain in the ass to treat). I have knocked down walls and a kitchen, laundry and tiolet and turned them into one massive kitchen. The old dining room has been sectioned off into a fourth bedroom but the absolute WORST job by far was the bathroom!!! I knocked out the tiles, bath, shower, vanity,walls and whilst taking up the cement – accidentally knocked a hole through the compressed fibro! So my dad and brothers helped me put more fibro in (it weighs a tonne) and then I cemented the floor myself (11 straight hours of horrible labour trying to get it all level and sloping towards the drain pipes). I still have to put a patio out the back and oput up a new carport. Anyway you sound like you are doing a whole lot of the same sort of stuff and good luck with it[]
To those thta are looking for a reno job and wondering whether its worth it, well I bought for $206 000 (asking price $238K) and the house 2 dors down just sold for $285K, the house 2 doors down on the other side has just been put on the market for $320K and mine (with the renovations) is looking in much better nic than both of them so I am very hopeful mine will be similar (although I’ll be renting it out). So far I’ve spent $6K on renovations and I have a totla budget of $15K so we will see!And JoC – I understand what you mean about ppl being negative. Lots of my friends thought i was crazy to begin with when I bought a house. They said it was ugly and they’d prefer to rent in their “nice” houses!!! They are all sitting up and taking notice 4 months later with an approximate capital growth increase of $100K but i unfortunately it generally comes out in jealous comments such as “you got lucky” or “you should definaetly pay for a tradie to do most of the stuff – you certainly won’t be able to do it!”
So thanks to everyone on here who has done it and offerred me some great advice or words of encouragement!Hey Jessica, do you live in Sydney ??
I’m almost finished renovating my place and wouldn’t mind getting the floorboards polished – Maybe you can practice on yours then do mine ?? []Good luck, sounds like you are doing well !!
Cheers,
Paul…Has anyone done a reno by hiring trades for most of the work?
I did a reno 10 years ago but I don’t have the time & inclination (esp with a wife & 2 young kids) to do it again.
Even though the margin is less, did it work out profitable over the time frame? And what was done & how long did it take?
I realise these days that trades my take several weeks to start after quoting.
However, Dolf De Roos mentions a neat trick in his book, “Real Estate Riches” to get the trades motivated to start quickly.
He says not to give them the usual BS that you may use them on other projects in the future. They’ve heard those lies before.
He simply tells them that he will pay them the same day they give him the invoice. It works like a charm for him.
I tried it when getting 3 painting quotes recently. The first one I didn’t mention it, and it took over a week just to get the quote.
The next two I told them I’d pay them right away. The 3rd guy gulped & did a double take when I said that. Their quotes were in the post in a few days.
I’m sure the trades appreciate quick payment & will be loyal to you.
A builder on the Gold Coast who built our house their in ’95 had the same attitude with his subbies. His name is Mark Robinson (if you are building up there it is worthwhile to check him out). Nice guy too.
He also built the house next door after we moved in. Most of the trades told us that they would drop any other job to work for him because he would pay them on time.
He expected a good job (he did fire a painter who worked on our house because he tried to get away with one coat which Mark had to get fixed himself).
So money talks!!!
Cheers,
David Paxton
“You Only Live Twice”Hi there all
yes my renos have been done by tradesmen, all except for painting and decorating.
I think that let’s say i spend 10 it would have been 5 if i’d done it all myself, but then again, who has that kind of time? Not me and not when the property is a zillion miles from where i live and a plane ride. However even capitalising the purchase, closing costs, and reno figures into the deal the house is still yielding over 20 percent so it did work out.
Also attracts a better tenant, etc etc
the rent went up…cheers-
MiniHi Jessica, you seem to be doing wonders. Hubby and I also renovate, and and do everything we can ourselves. One son is a builder and will do the tradesman things if we need help, eg. he did the waterproofing in the last bathroom. We are both semiretired so have jobs as well as some spare time. We bought a house last year for $120k, left the tenants in for a year, and then decided it did need work including the floors. As soon as the tenants had left, we were there with our pen and paper listing what we had to do, estimating costs and the time we thought it would take. This particular house is about 25 years old. Now valued at $220k.
We pulled out the carpet first, took down all the old curtains and anything that wasn’t going to be used – except for a purple painted kitchen cupboard that was a good work bench for the time.
You can hire all you need in the way of equipment to polish your floors from hire places, but first you need to prepare the floor. That means taking out one by one with pincers/levering out with narrow screwdriver, every single staple from the carpet fixing and every one of those nails that come with the edge fixing strips of the carpet. If you don’t, your sand paper will be damaged during sanding. You will be surprised how much comes off the floor with the sanding so as someone said, close off rooms you are not doing or else hang up tarps. You also need to punch every nail with a nail punch, and after punching them down, fill every hole with putty. Get a linseed oil putty and your paint shop will sell you a tint/stain to mix into the putty. I have done this bit with two houses while hubby is doing other things. If you have to get rubber off where a rubber backed carpet has been stuck down, get all the excess rubber off with a paint scraper, and then do sections with turps and the paint scraper – it is time consuming but worth it.
Only thing is the rubber stays in the grooves between the boards but looks fine. Not doing a $1m reno.Cost of hiring is good, eg $130 a day plus your sanding sheets and this ‘package’ includes the edge sander. We pick up say 8am, return 5pm. We have used both Wattyl and Cabots estapol, and did one house matt finish and one gloss, choose turps or water clean up. You have to mix the estapol with hardener, say 4ltrs/4ltrs, but mix in small portions in a flat tray or some sort. You get the mop applicator from the paint section of your hardware. The last house was sanded in the day. You have to sweep/vacuum over & over, including your walls as if any dust is on the floor, it will show up in your initial coat of estapol – learnt this!! You might then need/want to resand before the next coat. We didn’t as the specks wear off in time though and will probably be covered with furniture, or rugs, etc. You are able to apply the second coat the next day.
We have hired from Beavis here in Maitland area and use Amazing paints here and in Sydney as we have found the staff very helpful and the prices good. Good luck with all your work.
We’re starting on a unit reno at the end of the month.
Anna
And Jessica, do your floors last after all your gyprocking, tiling, painting, lights, cupboard installation etc. otherwise everyone will be walking on newly finished floors with tools, boxes, ladders & whatever. Anna
Hi Guys,
Agent oo7 has the right idea when it comes to offering payment at the end of a job to tradies. Although most tradies would expect this. The faster you pay, the better service you will get next time.
I’m married to a plumber. We have learn’t that the people who seem to have the least money are the ones that are most likely to pay you!A bit off track, sorry,
Keep smiling,
Sue []Be careful not step on the flowers when you’re looking at the stars
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] Powmow [
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