Refurbishing wooden floors - sanding essentials

With the cooler months upon us, we tend to reduce our outdoor activities in favour of bundling up inside to stay out of the elements.

However, for many homeowners busy with outdoor renovations, this time of year can be frustrating with wet weather limiting projects and hampering efforts.

Focusing on indoor projects such as floor sanding is ideal during winter - whether you have a spot that needs repairing or whole rooms that need to be redone, embarking on indoor work will see you stay on track with your renovations.

Choosing the right sandpaper is essential for your project and specific care should be taken with each individual project.

There are a multitude of sandpapers out there for different purposes - as a rule, the coarser the sandpaper the lower the grit grade, and for a smoother finish, the higher the grit grade.

Floor sanders are the ideal machine for rejuvenating timber floors, while orbital rotary sanders suit cork and parquetry floors and can also be used for fine finishing of timber floors.

Floor edging sanders work right up to the skirting boards and provides a consistent finish - also ideal for sanding stairs and small decks.

When sanding floors, whether by hand or with a belt sander, care should be taken to always ensure that you go with the grain, not against it.

And an important factor to consider when refurbishing wooden floors is the use of appropriate safety gear, such as earmuffs, dust masks and breathing masks.

All are available for hire from Kennards, who also stock a selection of sand papers for each sander and your desired finish.