Simon Makes Some Dust

Once the guest bedroom walls and ceiling were painted (didn't we mention that?) it was time on Saturday to sand the floor. Previously it was stained and varnished - either that or it had tinted varnish applied. An added treat was that over the years it had been coated with lots of lovely wax.

To remove the resulting sludge I bought a belt sander and plenty of 40 grit belts. This is a really fast way of sanding, but it does require constant attention and plenty of muscle power, otherwise the sander runs away from you and gouges holes in the floor. Luckily I was feeling pretty attentive, even though it was very hot on Saturday: well over 30° and very high humidity.

The old and the almost new.

After seven hours on my hands and knees the floor was sanded, and we were able to sweep up the dust, of which there was quite a lot.

This is about 10% of the dust I made.
Those wall are actually pure white.

All that was left for me to do was give it a quick run over with some 160 grit sandpaper on an orbital sander, and the floor was looking smooth and ready for the next step.

Thus it was that yesterday morning we vacuumed (again) washed and then I gave the floor two coats of colourless varnish. I think it's an improvement: yes, you can see the occasional furniture mark, furniture beetle marks, parts where the floor is worn, and some water darkened patches, but the floor is now properly wood - and feels really nice underfoot.



Simon