To restore a wooden floor covering without re-laying it, parquet sanding is done by hand.
Parquet flooring arrangement diagram.
Main indications and contraindications
If the floor surface is evenly trampled, it is sanded. It is not advisable to sand parquet in the following situations:
- the parquet has dried up;
- on the surface there are defects (determined visually);
- in the most trampled place from the surface of the boards to the dowel not more than 5 mm;
- there are bugs;
- the boards rot.
Parquet sanding scheme.To check the degree of mechanical wear, use an awl inserted vertically into the cracks between the parquet boards up to the tongue and groove. You can fix the depth of the awl penetration using insulation for the electrical wire or a fingernail. Do-it-yourself parquet sanding is performed using special tools:
- surface grinder - grinds the surface before varnishing;
- Drum sander - removes layers of old varnish and evens out the surface;
- industrial vacuum cleaner - removes dust before varnishing;
- Angle grinder - cleans corners, edges and hard-to-reach areas under heating radiators.
The following consumables will be needed:
- disks for surface grinding machine;
- abrasive sandpaper;
- plaster parquet without filler;
- varnish of parquet.
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Manual Technique
Manual sanding operation diagram.Experts recommend checking the condition of the electrical wiring in the house, since the use of grinding machines will require 1.3-2.8 kW. The sound level of the devices used is 110 dB. It is not recommended to replace the angle grinder with a grinder. The drum grinding machine "СО 206" is suitable only for stripping. Finishing grinding performed by this tool, despite 4 layers of varnish, leaves the parquet rough and dull. Machine sanding can be replaced by do-it-yourself parquet restoration. The process does not require skills in working with professional equipment, and dust can be removed from the surface before varnishing with a regular vacuum cleaner, since fine shavings are formed, not wood dust. Disadvantage: a beginner will need at least 12 hours to process 10 sq. m. To sand the coating, you will need an iron plane with a hooked blade. The blade is heated for 10-15 minutes over a flame until it glows cherry red and left to cool in the air. Then, together with a piece of pipe, it is clamped in a vice and bent with frequent, light hammer blows. The blade is made smooth on a circle or with sandpaper, and then hardened and cooled in water. Sharpening is done by removing the wedge from the outside of the bend. Productivity will increase and labor costs will decrease if you perform the work with a scraper designed for cleaning the seams of boards on small boats. The edges of the scraper must be leveled with sandpaper. Return to the table of contents</a>
Machine Work
Wooden floor sanding scheme.The drum uses a special sandpaper, it is necessary to insert it into the drum in accordance with the arrows on it. In the rented equipment, due to intensive use, the eccentrics for fixing the sandpaper turn. This can be corrected by placing a spacer under them. The surface must be processed evenly and continuously so that holes do not form in the floor. In the device (before switching on), raise the disks or drum. The device starts. Then you can start moving the machine, smoothly lowering the drum. Stop the unit in the reverse order. Experts advise not to allow long-term processing of boards across the wood fibers to avoid chipping and pitting. It is necessary to strip parquet made of straight-grain wood laid in a herringbone pattern by tilting the equipment at an angle of 45º to the boards, and final sanding is performed across and along. All actions must be performed in 2 stages. Figured straight-grain parquet is sanded in 2 mutually perpendicular directions 2 times. Decorative boards are processed with smooth movements in a spiral or in a circle, from the edge to the central part, using a surface grinding unit. Stripping is performed, if necessary, in 2 stages. It is not advisable to linger on a difficult-to-process area. Fine-layer decorative parquet boards made of valuable wood species are processed exclusively by professionals manually or in circular movements with an angle grinder, smoothly moving it over the surface taking into account the pattern. Return to contents</a>
The main stages of restoration
Example of a floor before and after sanding.First, remove the furniture from the room. Then dismantle the baseboard and remove dirt from the floor with a dry broom and a household vacuum cleaner. The next step is to load the drum with P36-P40 sandpaper and process the entire surface twice. In this case, the corners and hard-to-reach places are not touched. Processing starts from the far wall. Dust from the dust collector is collected in a plastic bag. Dark spots of old varnish in the corners and hard-to-reach areas are removed with an angle grinder in a circular motion from the edges to the center. Strip the varnish in niches and corners with pendulum movements from the area being processed to the wall. Then prepare the putty base and apply it evenly to the entire floor surface with a spatula. Smoothing the boards with equipment with P60-P80 sandpaper is carried out after the putty has dried. Varnishing and surface treatment is carried out after the varnish has dried or the wood lint has been removed with a flat grinder. It is impossible to restore parquet using equipment without generating dust. Belt units retain more dust, and using a respirator can reduce the risk of lung diseases. You can restore the floor covering yourself only if you follow safety precautions. You must protect your eyes and respiratory organs from dust using safety glasses and a petal respirator, and hide your hair under a helmet or scarf. Earplugs will help protect your ears from the high noise level of the equipment. Experts advise wearing thick fabric clothing that fastens to the neck, the cuffs of which should fit tightly around your hands to prevent the smallest particles of varnish and wood from getting on your body. It is necessary to apply layers of varnish after the previous layer has completely dried. The tool for applying varnish is a microfiber roller, it can be used 1 time. Plywood or herringbone parquet flooring cannot be sanded to a mirror finish.
