What Grit First Sanding Unfinished Hardwood Floor

The final grit on most hardwood floors is 80 but if you want a super smooth finish or you re sanding old maple or birch which are especially hard and susceptible to noticeable scratches you ll probably want to finish with 100 grit.

What grit first sanding unfinished hardwood floor.

Pete s carries seven different sanding grits for sanding floors but not every floor needs all seven grits. The medium grit paper smooths the floor by. A typical first cut with an edger is 60 or 80 grit then completed with 100 grit after the floor has been filled. Use an edger sander or small orbital sander to sand corners edges and small areas such as closet floors bathrooms or stairs.

As with the drum sander start with course grit paper and then move to finer grades. An edger can be difficult to control so practice your technique on scrap wood first. To soften the cut of the abrasive there are edger pads that are used under the bolt with an abrasive disc for the final edging. A complete sanding job always involves multiple passes with sandpaper of progressively finer grits.

So the first step to take is to determine the sequence of the grit of the sandpaper. The sanding sequence might start with 60 grit sandpaper proceed to 100 grit sandpaper and finished with the 120 grit screen. 12grit available for edgers only. You need to sand the floor at least four times using a finer level of sandpaper each time for getting a smoothly nice hardwood floor.

By using edger pads the abrasive disc cuts less aggressively and also leaves a finer scratch. The first grit is meant to take off any finish the next is to smooth out the pattern of the first grit and the final grit is meant to smooth out any remaining sander marks and provide the. The area should be sealed of with plastic to prevent dust contamination into other areas of the building. For refinishing a hardwood floor you will have to sand over that floor multiple times.

Once the entire room is down to bare smooth wood switch to a medium 80 grit sandpaper. Here is a rough guideline for what the various grits do. The floor has been cleaned and inspected. Any damaged boards that were found have been repaired.

In your case a sheet of 36 grit should last about 200 300 square feet. You can tell when the paper is wearing out when you have to really push the machine to remove the over wood on the newly installed floor. Sanding levels the edges of the floorboards which can vary from one another by as much as 1 4 inch. Not sanding a freshly laid hardwood floor and finishing it as is makes the installation less messy and time consuming but it would be a mistake.

The more damaged your floor and the harder the wood species the coarser your first grit pass will be. When it comes to sanding a hardwood floor grit sequence is everything.