I'm toying with the idea of sanding and sealing our floor in the living
room (small - about 20' square), but the wife wants us to get quotes
from pros.

So far we've had one quote for £1,350 to "sand and seal" - is there
anything extra I should get them to agree to? Eg fixing any minor
holes/damage, applying treatments (other than the sealant). Oh, and what
sealant's good? I'd like to specify they use decent one (or just buy it
myself).

"Jonathan" wrote in message
...
I'm toying with the idea of sanding and sealing our floor in the living
room (small - about 20' square), but the wife wants us to get quotes from
pros.

So far we've had one quote for £1,350 to "sand and seal" - is there
anything extra I should get them to agree to? Eg fixing any minor
holes/damage, applying treatments (other than the sealant). Oh, and what
sealant's good? I'd like to specify they use decent one (or just buy it
myself).

Well, were you to DIY it you could do the whole thing for not much over
£120,
that including hire of an industrial belt and disc sander, abrasives, stain
and
varnish. Depends on how you shop around.

OTOH if you do it yourself it's the weekend from hell. At least.

My thoughts a you need to agree about who takes up the present carpet
and underlay, who removes the carpet grippers, who removes any underlay
staples or bangs flush any itinerant nails. Whether it costs extra if you
have
yukky black paint stuck to your floorboards. Whether there is any need to
fill holes as you say, especially if woodworm have ascended through the gaps
in the boards and you find it is like swiss cheese when you look under the
carpet.
Whether you need woodworm treatment ( three coats, takes days to dry, tough
folks say that the advent of central heating has discouraged the little
blighters these days.
Whether you need to replace any floorboards because they have been smashed
upby
crappy workmen in the past. Whether any need relaying because the gaps vary
from
nothing to something a large spider could crawl up through. Whether the gaps
need sealing
as may well be a good idea if you have a suspended wooden floor and
airbricks, as a
howling gale can come up through those gaps if left alone. Arguments rage as
to the best
gap sealing method. Some recommend letting the gaps fill with fluff, others
recommend
papier mache, others sawdust and pva, whilst I recommend acrylic frame
sealant.

As for varnish, use a low-vapour quick dry water-based acrylic, three coats,
maybe a light
sand after the first couple of coats. Do not use a tinted varnish - the
first time you chip
any from the floor you will clearly see bare wood underneath. Better IMO to
stain if
required, then varnish. Others recommend oil. Make sure your furniture does
not have
little metal wear pads in its feet otherwise your new floor gets lots of
dimple marks in it ( mine
has! )

Andy.

Jonathan wrote:
I'm toying with the idea of sanding and sealing our floor in the
living room (small - about 20' square), but the wife wants us to get
quotes from pros.

So far we've had one quote for £1,350 to "sand and seal" - is there
anything extra I should get them to agree to? Eg fixing any minor
holes/damage, applying treatments (other than the sealant). Oh, and
what sealant's good? I'd like to specify they use decent one (or just
buy it myself).

At that price i'd rather go and buy new tongue&groove which will probably
be a damn sight cheaper and easier than sanding yourself and any pitfalls
along the way.

Andy wrote:

OTOH if you do it yourself it's the weekend from hell. At least.

snip

required, then varnish. Others recommend oil. Make sure your furniture does
not have
little metal wear pads in its feet otherwise your new floor gets lots of
dimple marks in it ( mine
has! )


And make sure that if SWMBO weare high heels, if the litle rubber pads
wear off the bottom of her heels, you don't let her anywhere near your
newly-prepared floor or you'll find that after you've lovingly fitted a
stack of beautiful, reclaimed pitch-pine boards, duly undergone the
'weekend from hell' (and some) with the sanding machine, and finally
varnished it all to a beautiful finish, that it will be covered with
deep pock marks for evermore. :-(

Closest we've ever come to divorce I reckon...!

David

On Tue, 27 Sep 2005 06:56:39 GMT, Lobster
wrote:

| Andy wrote:
|
| OTOH if you do it yourself it's the weekend from hell. At least.
|
| snip
|
| required, then varnish. Others recommend oil. Make sure your furniture does
| not have
| little metal wear pads in its feet otherwise your new floor gets lots of
| dimple marks in it ( mine
| has! )
|
|
| And make sure that if SWMBO weare high heels,

If someone in the house wears traditional leather shoes with nails, forget
about polished wood floors.

--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
The London suicide bombers killed innocent commuters.
Animal rights terrorists and activists kill innocent patients.

On Tue, 27 Sep 2005 06:56:39 GMT, Lobster
wrote:

And make sure that if SWMBO weare high heels, if the litle rubber pads
wear off the bottom of her heels, you don't let her anywhere near your
newly-prepared floor or you'll find that after you've lovingly fitted a
stack of beautiful, reclaimed pitch-pine boards, duly undergone the
'weekend from hell' (and some) with the sanding machine, and finally
varnished it all to a beautiful finish, that it will be covered with
deep pock marks for evermore. :-(

Closest we've ever come to divorce I reckon...!

David

Surely you can make the gaps between the boards of a similar size to
the tips of her heals, then hopefully she will get her shoes stuck
between the boards and learn fast not to wear them in there!

Mr F.

ben wrote:
Jonathan wrote:

I'm toying with the idea of sanding and sealing our floor in the
living room (small - about 20' square), but the wife wants us to get
quotes from pros.

So far we've had one quote for £1,350 to "sand and seal" - is there
anything extra I should get them to agree to? Eg fixing any minor
holes/damage, applying treatments (other than the sealant). Oh, and
what sealant's good? I'd like to specify they use decent one (or just
buy it myself).


At that price i'd rather go and buy new tongue&groove which will probably
be a damn sight cheaper and easier than sanding yourself and any pitfalls
along the way.



Thanks for all the tips. I'll collate and present the findings to SWMBO.

Jonathan wrote:
ben wrote:
Jonathan wrote:
I'm toying with the idea of sanding and sealing our floor in the
living room (small - about 20' square), but the wife wants us to get
quotes from pros.

20' square is for most people a very large room.


So far we've had one quote for £1,350 to "sand and seal" - is there
anything extra I should get them to agree to? Eg fixing any minor
holes/damage, applying treatments (other than the sealant). Oh, and
what sealant's good? I'd like to specify they use decent one (or just
buy it myself).

Best idea, DIY.


At that price i'd rather go and buy new tongue&groove which will probably
be a damn sight cheaper and easier than sanding yourself and any pitfalls
along the way.

You'd still probably have to sand it...

Chris Bacon wrote:
[snip]


At that price i'd rather go and buy new tongue&groove which will
probably be a damn sight cheaper and easier than sanding yourself
and any pitfalls along the way.

You'd still probably have to sand it...

Why would it still have to be sanded?

ben wrote:
Chris Bacon wrote:
[snip]
At that price i'd rather go and buy new tongue&groove which will
probably be a damn sight cheaper and easier than sanding yourself
and any pitfalls along the way.

You'd still probably have to sand it...

Why would it still have to be sanded?

It's very unlikely to be smooth, or flat, as put down. Boards
cup, shake, shrink - however, I must say I personally don't
like a very flat and glossy boarded floor....

Chris Bacon wrote:
ben wrote:
Chris Bacon wrote:
[snip]
At that price i'd rather go and buy new tongue&groove which will
probably be a damn sight cheaper and easier than sanding yourself
and any pitfalls along the way.

You'd still probably have to sand it...

Why would it still have to be sanded?

It's very unlikely to be smooth, or flat, as put down. Boards
cup, shake, shrink - however, I must say I personally don't
like a very flat and glossy boarded floor....

Tsk! I'll remember not to give you a call when I'm laying new T&G. :-)
I've laid new T&G in large room and the only problem I found was, the
boring task of taking up the old stuff.

ben wrote:
Tsk! I'll remember not to give you a call when I'm laying new T&G. :-)
I've laid new T&G in large room and the only problem I found was, the
boring task of taking up the old stuff.

I bet they weren't "off the shelf" PT&G boards that are normally
used... I've seen floors made with special (expensive!) timber
that came out flat, but even these tend to show movement after
a while.... hm?