I messed up my hardwood floor....


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Old 03-06-19, 05:01 PM
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I messed up my hardwood floor....





I tried to sand and stain a bedroom floor with just a regular 3x21 belt sander and 5in orbital sander. Should have rented proper equipment but I was curious to see if I could make it with what I already had on hand. Well I couldn't... The result of the staining came out really botchy and patchy. Clear spots here, dark spots there.Not something really good looking. I did not varnish it yet and I'm contemplating renting a sander to do it over again the proper way. The old varnish is all gone so I was wondering if a drum sander or a rectangular vibrating sander was the best option. I heard that applying a conditioner before staining with a darker color helped with making the stain look even everywhere.

Any help and opinions would be highly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
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Old 03-06-19, 05:10 PM
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You will probably want to rent a large random orbit floor sander and an edger.

Wood conditioner is supposed to help with blotchiness, but it also usually prevents hard to stain woods from getting dark enough. The time frame you have between wood conditioner and stain is also limited, so if you intend to do both, you need to work quickly and methodically or it can cause problems.

And just a hint for next time... if your stain isn't turning out the way you want on the first several square feet of flooring, don't continue to stain the entire floor. The whole point of testing in an inconspicuous area (like a closet) is to avoid this exact problem.
 
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Old 03-06-19, 05:18 PM
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Is this the model of sander you're talking about?
 
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Old 03-06-19, 05:21 PM
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Yes, they are very easy for diy'ers to use. Assuming your floor is already quite flat, that is the sander to use. If not, you need to go over it with a drum sander first. If you notice a lot of cupping... like the edges of boards are well sanded but the centers or boards got missed.... you probably need a drum sander first.
 
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Old 03-06-19, 05:41 PM
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I didn't noticed a lot of uneven boards. Took some of it down too with the initial ''sanding'' I managed to do. I'll try it and see where it gets me!

Thank you!
 
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Old 03-07-19, 02:57 AM
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I've never known of anyone using wood condition on flooring. The stain's unevenness is probably from uneven sanding. The large orbiter sander is a lot more diy friendly than a drum sander.

FWIW - I've seen worse looking floor jobs.
 
 

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