Hi, I searched for this topic but there were surprisingly little details. I want to refinish oak floor that is more than 10 years old and probably an oil based polyurethane finish. It was covered with a carpet for about 10 years.
I want to take it down to new wood. I am not a floor pro, but have used drum sanders about 4 times before, getting better, but still not leaving a perfect finish. My own house, using drum sander, came out really well, considering 50 % of strips were slightly cupped up. But if I bend down against certain reflections of light, I can see spots where the drum either started or dropped.
For this reason I want to try random orbit sander, but I don’t want to take forever either. I am not talking about vibrating sanders. I am talking about 4 disks on the bottom kind of sanders. Compared to the drum sander, how fast does ROS remove the finish? Does it take 20, 40, 60, 100% more time than drum sander? Would you start with 40 grit or 60 grit paper to take off the old finish? How close does it sand to the edge? At the edge, how much of the floor does it remove?
For rental from Homedepot, did you use 15 amp outlet, or did you have to look for 20 amp outlet?
Thank you in advance.
Replies
I have never used a drum sander but I have used the random orbit for 4 rooms. The floors were all VERY worn and significantly cupped. The sander did the job and was fairly easy to control. If you have a 3/4" base shoe it will get close enough to the wall. You will find that the sand paper will cost more than the rental. Start with 36 then jump to 60 and finish with 80 or 100. I rented a vibrating pad sander to use between coats.
floor sander
Thank you for the reply. Can you remember about how much time you took for one room? For example, what was the approximate size of one room (liv or bed) and about how many minutes or hours to do that room? Starting at the beginning, in a given room (dimensions please), and using the 36 grit paper, about how much time did it take until you thought most of the old finish was sanded off (and not the cupping)? I get your point about the cupping, but I think I can approximate from there.
Everybody says ROS is slower, but I am thinking my back will be better for it just not having to edge sand as much. I get the worst back pains after edge sanding.
I used the vibrating pad sander, too. I once tried orbital buffer and it ran all over the place.
Again, thanks.