Hi, this is my first post here. I have a house built in 1910 and after removing carpet, linoleum and yucky black glue all that is left is some type of finsh around the edges (about 3 feet) of the room. I rented the drum sander and have gone through about 4 of the 24 grit and 3 of the 36 grit and all it is doing is gumming up the paper. Should old finish be doing this? Is it wax? Should I strip the finish first? It is going to cost me an arm and a leg for all the sandpaper. I would love any tips! Thanks.

Sara

what type of sander are you using? I know you said drum sander, but what maker? (ie hummel, clark) Is it a 110V or 220V, How fast are you walking behind it?

Have you tried a 20 grit? May even take a 4 grit

It is a Clarke 110 V. Each piece of sandpaper costs 6 bucks! But I notice there is another kind of sander and the papers are only 1.25. It uses the kind of paper that is just a sheet. The kind I am using is a round piece that is already connected. As for walking, I am trying to walk fairly slowly, how fast should I be walking and would that help with the gumming up?

you should be walking fairly slow, Id say about 1/2 the speed of your normal paced walk. IMO 110 V machines dont have the power/aggression of the 220's that I am used to, and dont work as well.

But you should be able to remove the finish with it, It may take a while, and use a fait amount of paper.

I would try using a 20 grit piece, sand on a 15 degree angle, A professional may cross cut the floor, But I cannot recomend it to someone who doesnt sand floors on a semi regular basis, because if not done correctly it can really mess up your floor.

SO do a 20 grit cut, may have to do it 2 times or more, it shouldnt gum up the paper as much, when a fair amount of the finish is removed, move up to the next grit.

thanks, I'll try that!

You may also try lowering the drum only while walking backwards. The back of the drum is moving up and will lift the finish from the floor while walking backwards instead of pushing it down between the drum and the wood while walking forward causing more friction and melting the finish more. The bits of finish that are torn from the floor may be everywhere so vacuum these up as you go so you don’t pass over them again. Also clean the dust bag often to get as much finish off the floor as you can.

The finish is probably a build up of shellac and or wax.

The finish will still clog the paper but this may help.

Here is a job we recently refinished, it was shellac and wax.