how long do i need, got a couple of days of between christmas/new year and would like to get this done and out the way. don't want to start something I cant finish in 3 days.

floorboard are in pretty good nick, two rooms (10x15ft and 10x12ft) a small landing.

Prepare for a world of dust and don't expect anything too spectacular – you'll be fine.

Make sure you knock all the nail heads down.

Don't do it, a whole world of dust and pain awaits!

Price up the equipment hire and consumables and then compare against a quote from your local eastern european operative. Its a horrible job!

Its not the sanding that takes the time if you hire an industrial sander, its the varnishing. Depends on the floorboards as some will seemingly have no end to the varnish absobtion limits and still end up dry and a bit rough.

you need at least a day for the varnish to dry enought to start puting/moving furniture all over it, and that's if your house is nice and warm. Otherwise, as above, you will find the price of getting someone in to do it is not a great deal more than machine hire, consumables and really good varnish.

Make sure all the nails are punched in, get more belts than you think you will need if you can get them sale or return. Small areas take much longer than you think. You'll need fairly quick drying sealant.
+1 re dust – wear a mask unless the sanders have very good extractors.

Price up the equipment hire and consumables and then compare against a quote from your local eastern european operative. Its a horrible job!

+1 for this suggestion.

Get a price for somebody to do it.

I've been considering doing mine, but there is paint round the edges (about 18 inches) and I'm worried its got lead in it.

Anyone know if this is likely?

Should I be worried?

depends how old the paint is – try a magnet?

Seriously the lead will only harm you if you ingest it – but as you should be wearing a dust mask/goggles it won't affect you.

It's not a nightmare of a job, then again I did it on a brand new house (2 rooms).

Rent a box/float sander (£30 for the day), these are bloody heavy so get some help to shift it up the stairs.

Hammer in all nail heads, it was easy for me as house was brand new and the nail heads very obvious, but I used a flathead mop run over the whole surface to catch any I had missed. Fill any knotholes with filler. Place black bag, soft brush and dustpan in room.

Open windows and seal yourself in with masking tape on the door. Don't rush, let the sander do the work and drift around nicely.

Tidy up the dust repeatedly until you can bring the hoover in – we had an old one I wasn't bothered about but once you unclog the filter you're fine, the wood dust did no damage.

Do corners manually (you can rent a belt sander, but they are a pain in the arse tbf and still don't do all the corners – a "mouse" is handy but not essential), shouldn't take too long.

For varnish I just lashed on ronseal diamond coat, and I mean lashed it on – with a big 8" brush 3-4 coats, and it pretty much filled the small gaps between the floorboards.

5 years later and it still looks great – easy to clean and cheap, coat me <£100 to do the 2 rooms in 2 days (it was summer though, so quicker to dry the varnish).

+1 on taping yourself in – I did three bedrooms in our victorian house and the dust was horrific. A decent mask is essential.

A water based varnish should dry in a few hours anyway. Consider getting a two part polyurethane lacquer – it'll last years…more expensive but worth it over time. Your last run of the sander should be with fine paper (120) parallel with the grain. Whatever you do, get rid of any perpendicular scratches before you lacquer/varnish – they'll show up quite a bit.

I'd still advise GSI-ing it though.

I have, over time, done the whole house (and I've just re-done the bathroom*; one more coat of varnish to go).

I would say don't be afraid to do it.
Preparation is key: remove all the old carpet tacks, and bash the floorboard nail heads below the surface. Make sure all the floorboards are actually solid especially where they may have been lifted in the past; if they move at all they'll simply move out of the way of the sanding belt and never come up clean.

Strip off any old paint, varnish or wax because it will clog up the sanding belt and then burn, and put burnt residue straight back on to your tiles.

The big sanding machines are ace, but for small rooms/areas are a pain as you'll be forever turning it around. Be especially careful when you lower it into contact with the floor (and lift it off again) or you'll groove the floor.

The big edgers are less impressive, and it is quite easy to leave circular marks near the edges. It might be worth using a small belt sander instead/as well. No sander will get all the way into corners so you'll have to improvise/do them by hand.

A couple of days is OK for what you have in mind. Dust will get everywhere; wear a face mask and block up as many of the gaps around doors as you can. In fact my best tip of all would be to sand the floors before you move in…

HSS do sale or return on belts. Get lots because a few will explode.

Don't sand through radiator pipes… And don't paint yourself into a corner (I did! And then nearly did it again on the second coat).

UrbanHiker: are you sure it is paint? If it is dark it could be wax. Either way, you need to get it off first. For wax, scrub it off with white spirit and wire wool. For paint, use a heat gun, or nitromors, and you won't be exposing yourself to any lead. And you don't want to just sand it off anyway because you'll just trash the sanding belts. Once you have removed it and sanded the floors you may find that the floor is lighter where the paint/varnish/wax was.

* I don't recommend sanding and varnishing bathroom floors because the water damages them.

cheers for all the advice.

decided to leave it until the summer when I'll have more time and can do it properly.

Might be worth looking for belts from Screwfix etc, hire company see these as useful extra money – and charge you plenty for them.

Top tip for varnishing; roller on a broom stick, bish bosh, job done.

Jambo, where are you I have a briliant American floor sander that has a dust extractor integral to it. It is brilliant (I have done 7 rooms done so far at home only 4 to go!) you could borrow it if you are local (LA2 8DG). I think they are about £3k to buy this model but I picked this up on fleabay for £150 after nearly a year of watching and trying

C

[edit, just found the model, it is this one – http://www.vacuumcleaners.net/vacuum_cleaners/products/clarke_ez_8_drum_sander__1191.html ]

Really good advice from WillTheRealForumPleaseStandUp

The only thing I'll add – think about what kind of finish you want at the end. I.e. 'new floorboards' look or 'slightly weathered' look and adjust the amount of sanding accordingly.
I decided on a water based natural wax, rather than varnish (to avoid cracking etc.) the best value I found to be in Wickes. I can let you have more info if needed.

[Edit] I did a big lounge, bedroom and hallway in 3 days – sanding and waxing so it is doable if you are prepared to put in long hours!

Word of warning, had a builder friend that taped up the door before demolishing a wall, all the dust dropped down through the floorboards, got blown along in the draught and came up in the customers study. Floor to ceiling bookshelves full of books, all ended up coated in brick dust.

He wasn't popular…

Chris – thanks for the offer but i'm in deepest darkest devon.

my suggestion

get a big, powerful vacuum cleaner (I have an industrial one anyway, so used that, but you can hire them if you don't have one. a dyson won't cut it) and gaffa tape the hose from it to the bag outlet on the sander. keep the vacuum on ~30 seconds before and after using the sander (and during, nach) and it cuts the amount of dust down hugely – I hardly had any kicking about with this and the windows open

went through 4 big vac bags, and nearly 20 sheets of corse sandpaper doing it though – my boards were slightly warped, so took ages to get them flat. Did the whole job over a weekend.

H

jam bo: Having originally done 1 house using varnish, I tried Rustins floor sealer in current house. They either do a 2 part mix ( incredibly smelly ) or latterly a water based sealer, less smelly.
It requires a second coat in an hour, dries in 1 or 2 hours.
Much better wearing than all the polyurethane type varnishes, never re-coated in 16+ years, my old 'varnish' house needed re applying after ~ 2 years.
Bought it at a Crown trade centre in Exeter, but others must do it. Recommend either matt or satin, as gloss reflects too much light!
best of luck
Q

Any gap sealer you have, presuming the house is old, will last only several months rather than years, and soon on the ground floor you'll be able to fly a kite in the draught and your heating bills will rocket.

I've got sanded floors in my kitchen/lounge/dining and bathroom. I just paid someone to do it because i couldn't be bothered. Used a water based 2 part matt varnish (its an incredibly sunny room and i hate the shiny ones which show every scratch). Took them 2 hours to sand it all and 2 coats of varnish one day then a further coat the day after. The longer you stay off it the better. They are cold though, and we have underfloor polystyrene insulation, heat pumps and lots of roof insulation. Bathroom esp is quite nippy. But easy to keep clean and look nice with rugs in places to break up the woodyness. Ours are rather lovely Tawa.

Top tip – seal with osmo hardwax oil. Beautiful finish and patchable. Also Eco-cuddly and non-toxic (ideal if you have pets or small children)