I live in Central Virginia and am finishing up building my own house. So far the only outside help is I hired a masonary contractor to do the basement floor (3,200 sq feet was a bit much for a solo pour). I now have 4,500 sq ft or red oak floorinhg I need sanded. That is one job I’ve never tried and realy don’t want to now. The lowest price I’ve gotten is $3 / sq ft. This is an empty house, no shoe down yet and the flooring went down nice. By my calculations I’m buying someone the best sanding machine in the business and as a bonus paying them $1,000/ day for their time.
I left the building business 15 years ago and have been outside the US most of the time since but I think a buck a foot was the going rate back then. I know prices are going up like everything else but to $3 a sq ft on and empty house with nothing to move and no need for operating room dust standards?
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Bump
Roto,this bump will put your post back to the top so others will see it and give you the info you seek.Good Luck.
george c.
If you give me a private way to contact you, I can give you the name and number of an outstanding flooring refinisher who is in Richmond.
Coming to you from beautiful Richmond, Va.
Thanks, I'm 80 miles from Richmond and that would be quite a round trip but if he's looking for work it's a fast job as I only want the sanding done. I'll do the finish. My handle works on AOL.
RotorW333,
That does seem a bit high but you may be in a situation where the floor sanding guys are all swamped and not looking for more work right now..
Floor sanding isn't one of those areas where you want to grab a sander and have at it.. Technique really is king and the great sanding guys seem to get it flat and leave most of the wood still on the floor. I've seen more than one amature who's removed too much material and left the splines showing or too near the top.. (usually to cover up another mistake)...
Here in the Boston area the low bidder is $1/ft, the high end is about $3. I've used both and there is a noticeable diff in quality.
$2/sf on Long Island, NY
I just got a price for sanding and finishing newly installed wood floors, $3 SF, again that includes finishing. I live in NJ.
$2/sf on Long Island, NY>>>
My price is $2.45 to sand, stain, 3 coats of poly. I've been using this Co. for about twenty years. If you need the name ever email me.
Be floored
andyThe secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..
I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides,
I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace.
I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you
and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
I should have talked to you earlier, mine are done already and the $2/sf was just for sanding. They did do a pretty good job though and that was on wide plank heart pine. I gotta drop by your place someday on my journey's back and forth.
<<I gotta drop by your place someday on my journey's back and forth.>>>>
Anytime...I'm always here at work. Floor guys'll be here tomorrow to last coat poly the kitch/family room tomorrow now that those tooms are finally finished.WhewwwwwwwwwwwwThe secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..
I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides,
I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace.
I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you
and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
"By my calculations I'm buying someone the best sanding machine in the business and as a bonus paying them $1,000/ day for their time."
If that's the case then why aren't you doing it yourself?
Thanks for the imput, have to finish up the RF heat and put the AC in then I may do it myself. 13 grand covers a small 'screw up' allowance
Get a professional to sand and finish the floors. If you don't you will be sorry, I have never seen an amature sanding job that looked good. The crap that the rental places have does not compare with a pro's equipment. If the rest of your home looks like you want it, don't screw up the floors to save a few bucks.
mike
There is a floor sander out there that is four random orbit sanders together. I've never used it, though I intend to in the next year or so. I think it's very forgiving, which of course means you have to spend a little more time because it's not as aggressive, but who cares?
My local HD just started renting it a few months ago. Check it out.
MERC.
For the amt that he will spend to rent that for a house this size, he would be better off to buy one.What I am wondering is if he just wants the floor sanded - or totally sanded and finished. I can think of reasons why I would maybe charge more to just sand than to sand and finish.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
That is the Cherry Hill U-Sand machine.Only $40/day.AndyE used it on his home and had a review in FHB a couple of years ago.IIRC said that it was near foolproof, but slow on flatening on a new floor.
Southeastern Ma. $2.25 ft. including 3 coats oil poly and typical staircase ( treads ) upcharge for staining and Complex staircases ( lots of bullnose etc.)
Bing
I rented 2 of the random orbit sanders - they weigh ~125lbs - to sand my last (new) house - 3,000 s.f. of oak and it was all day w/2 guys. the floor came out great. I'll be sanding the 1700 s.f. of yellow pine in my new house this fall the same way.
I've tried the belt sanders, but never got a good job - if you have the time, the ROS machines are worth a look.
$1-$1.50 a sq ft would be a good price. The guys we use will work the weekends for Cash $1 per sq.ft. During the week the company they work for gives them .65 a foot & supplies the Van & tools.
4500 ft, that would take a few days 3-4 just to fill,sand & 1st coat. Did you install the floor?
TN to just sand newly laid floor that was laid well in a new house situation like yours... one truck guy that knows what he's doing... .75sf max prob $1500 for the job is more inline... refinish around here strip sand refinish 3 coats and them move'n ur stuff is $2sf... in situations like yours I wouldn't feel bad get'n 3 bids... I usuaing only get one if they are within 20% of what i was expect'n ... if first bid is 3-4x what I'm expect'n... i then want to know what the market is... it could well be in your area he gave you the going rate... at 13k i'd be looking to buy a machine use it then sell it on ebay after... even if it took u 5 days of sanding be'n extra careful ... thats still over 2k a day I don't care what the guys knows or how great he is... I just want him to sand my floor not rent me his wife while he's do'n it....
jmho
p
Could it be that the guys you've contacted haven't seen the floor and are hesitant to spit out a low number in case there is a lot of work to level it out?
Split level areas, or any flooring that can be seen closer to eye level than usual requires a bit more work for the same apparent quality and would add to the price. Also the location of strong light sources could highlight imperfections and require more work. Windows or doors that let the first morning light cascade across the floor are a big red flag.
Large areas of flooring are also challenging since the gradual imperfections in the floor framing will show in glancing light.
If you are finishing with a gloss finish that's also going to highlight imperfections.
Once we were pricing some work in an upscale neighborhood and it became apparent that the house was spotless. Not just spotless, but surgically clean inside and out. The apparently obsessive/compulsive stay at home wife was a big red flag for problems down the road and the personality and quirks of this client were taken into account and prices were adjusted accordingly. This same couple was involved in a lawsuit with a past contractor for poor quality work--another red flag and price adjustment.
All in all, there are a lot of factors that we would take into account.
As to finishing the floor yourself, I'd say most mechanically/construction inclined folks who are patient and pay attention to details can do a very good job with rental equipment. The downside is that professionals do have better equipment, sometimes much better, but not always. Two contractors I've worked for had the finish carpenters install and finish hardwood floors and we used rental equipment exclusively. It helps a great deal if you have someone who knows what they are doing walk you through the process and head off potential problems early.
What I usually tell people is that drum or big belt sanders are best used for the rough sanding to simply take off the high points. Always, always, always insure that the drum is not leaving divots at the beginning or end of your passes across the floor. Use a work light glancing across the surface to highlight the divots. They will make or break the entire floor since they are so hard to remove. Beware of someone trying to fine sand a floor with a drum or belt since I've never seen a good flat floor come of it.
For the remainder of the sanding we'll use a buffer (sander) to finish flattening the floor and for medium and fine sanding. It's possible to use the buffer for the entire job, but rough sanding a new floor with coarse sanding disks can be a workout about as fun as being thrown into a kick boxing ring as the buffer jumps and bucks with the uneven surface. As the floor's high points are reduced the buffer really flattens the area well and I'd go as far as saying it is almost essential for a novice to get a good result.
The large vibrating sanders would be good for very fine finishing, but that's about it since they are not good at flattening areas, but rather they follow the contours of what is already there. We wouldn't waste our time with these.
The corner/edge sander is also essential since the large buffer is terrible at getting into corners or close to finished walls/trim. Then throw in a small hand-held orbital for smaller areas that the edge sander can't reach. A good sharp wood scrapper (not a paint scrapper) is essential if there are tight corners or areas directly against finished trim (or use a lot of elbow grease with sandpaper and sanding block).
4,500 sqft is a bunch of new floor to sand and it's something that you probably won't want to do all at once, or at least you'll not want to repeat it. The good thing about that much floor is the amount of practice you'll gain quickly. Maybe try a section and check your results.
Some will scoff at this, but a thinned coat of sealer will instantly show the flatness of the wood and, when sanded off with the buffer, shows the low spots really well. Always use the sealer that will go with the finial finish or you may get color variations from residual sealer that isn't sanded out. I'd go so far as to suggest keeping an extra gallon of sealer and finish for touchups and partial refinishing down the road since the chemical composition of brandX finish may not be the same one or five years from now.
You'll be surprised how long it takes to sand and finish 4,500 sq ft of floor if you are learning the process by going slowly and checking your quality often.
Good luck!
~D
Thanks agin for all the input. My problem seems to be living in a region where there is currently a lot of building going on. I ended up doing the heat and ac only because I couldn't get anyone to show up at any price. This is an 8,000 sq ft home that as I mentioned I'm doing solo. I just got an apprasial last week for 1.2m and the out of pocket at the moment is at 250k. It has taken 3 years but although I have no plans to sell it that is good 'sweat' equity. When the fellas delivered the 44' LVL for the ridge board going on the second story they had their doubts but I got it up solo and lived through it (gotta love come-alongs and good wall jacks) .
I have looked at the 4 disc machine made by Cherryhill and that I think will be my first attempt. The flooring at the moment is pretty good, it doesn't need any deep cutting to take out stains etc. It overlays a RF sandwich instalation so it is over 2" thick all together so it's nice and stable.
Good luck if you use the multi-disk machine. I used it 3 years ago on 600 sq.ft. of 5" red oak. It took me 18 hours to sand the floor. In my application I felt that the machine was not heavy enough. It also did not go far before the sanding disks needed to be replaced. The floor was new and did not need deep cuts. It looked good when I was done but there were a couple of sections that noticibly absorbed stain differently. Probably where I changed over from worn to new sanding disks. I had high hopes when I started the floor(I had also read the FHB article issue #140), but my expectations were not met. I would say it is better for refinishing a floor. I have used drum sanders since on new floors I have installed with good results using a bright light at floor level checking for imperfections.