Hi everyone,

I'm getting ready to sand my new unfinished oak floors. I've done some research on here and came up with the following links.

http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwo ... floors.htm

http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwo ... r++orbital

http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/floo ... g/drum.htm

I'm nervous about using the drum sander to removed the ridges, due to the potential for creating dips and chatter marks. I'm wandering if I can accomplish the same by using a square 12x18 square sander or a round orbital sander. I've had experience using the square sander before so I know what to expect.

If I take the square sander or round orbital sander route, do I still need to sand at a diagonal? Any online tutorials you can recommend?

Finally, I'm ok if it takes longer using the square sander method. Just want to avoid the chatter marks of the drum sander.

Thanks, everyone.

Any of those will work. The drum sander will be the fastest but also has the greatest potential of causing sanding marks. And most rental drum sanders are pretty crappy. The square buff orbital type sander will work as well but it will be SLOW going if you have considerable overwood. Try to get one that vacuums as well because it will create lots of dust. You will need to start with a pretty course grit paper, 30 to 40 grit I would think. Then when the floor is all leveled and flatened, you jump up to 60 grit then 100 grit, followed by 100 grit screen. You may be able to get away without using an edger sander but expect to spend some time sanding edges, corners and small places that square buff couldn't reach. You could use a ROS, hand held type for those areas. The other type is a orbital sander but uses three to four sanding wheels. I have not used one personally but many have reported good results with those as well. And they say it is somewhat faster than the square buffer. Neither of these machines require you to sand at an angle. You just keep pushing them around at a slow even pace, back and forth until you achieve the desired results. The nice thing about the square buff is you can use it to buff between coats of finish as well. I'm thinking the other ROS maybe a little too aggresive for sanding between coats. Good Luck.

Excellent feedback, Gary. Thank you.

Best...Stan

I am a contractor and professional woodworker, not a floor installer. I just finished sanding and finishing 1000sf of new maple and brazilian cherry hardwood flooring and it came out absolutely beautiful. Even better than the job that the local professional did on the other parts of my house. This was a top quality Solid 3/4 product from Hoboken. It had very little overwood and minor planer marks. The only way we could get the floor absolutely flat and level with rental machines was the following.

We ended up using the silverline sl7 and sl8 tilt sander and edger. professionals on this site are correct . This machine did a great job but is not poweful enough to level and flatten a floor , even one that was as smooth as ours to start. The only way we could level the floor was to go to 20 grit paper and sand the floor twice before we went to the 40, 60 and 100 grit. It work great but was a ton of work. We spent 18 hours on the drum sander alone. The machine was very easy to use and gouging was not a concern because of the lack of power as long as you didnt stop with the drum engaged on the floor. The edger did a wonderful job and was very aggressive. We only used the 60 and 100 grit on the edger.

there is no way a random orbit or square buff would level this floor. I think these machines are only good for final buffing after the drum is complete . The random orbit was great for the final buff before the first coat. The square buff is not even as aggressive as the random orbit.

anyhow , the floor came out great but it was a ton of backbreaking work. If I were to do it again the only way would be to get a hold of a 220 volt drum sander like the professionals use. It would have saved 18 hours of standing behind a drum sander. However we found the process very easy and our fear of gouging (due to reading other submissions) was unfounded. You would have to be a real rookie to gouge your floor with this machine.

Just wanted to give others my experience because I learned so much from this site and the professionals who take the time to answer. Thank you all for that.

Scott