Sanding a Reclaimed Floor - DIY or Specialist?

[skwdenyer]

Hi there

I have a large floor (2100 square feet or so) which is made up of reclaimed (beech) gymnasium flooring. This is T&G boards with pre-existing court markings. Since the floor was clearly sanded "level" in the previous locations, all of the boards are a slightly different thickness.

What I need to achieve is a removal of the court markings and sanding back to a flat, level finish, followed by re-sealing.

I've got one quote in of £3000 (discounted from £3700) to do the job. The specialist concerned tells me that this includes £800 of varnish. Whilst on the face of it this seems reasonable, money for this project is a little tight at the moment, so I'm considering other options.

First, does anybody have any experience of such matters who could suggest whether this price seems reasonable? The building is in London, E1 (just off Brick Lane). The room is clear, about 8m x 24m, so no fiddly obstacles to work around.

If not reasonable, any suggestions of individuals or companies I could try to get alternative quotes?

And, finally, does anybody who has tackled this sort of thing before believe that it is a realistic DIY proposition? I installed the floor, having dug out 65 tons of concrete and levelled (every metre!) 800 running metres of new joist to support it, so I'm fairly competenet at many things, but floor sanding I've only tried once on a floor rather a lot smaller than this. If so, I've had conflicting advice so far - some have said use paint stripper to remove the court markings before sanding, others have suggested just sanding-off everything. Can anyone advise on this?

Thanks!

[Simpo Two]

This 24m room of yours - does it by any chance have 10 wooden skittle things at the far end?

[skwdenyer]

Simpo Two said:

This 24m room of yours - does it by any chance have 10 wooden skittle things at the far end?

LOL. I'm afraid not, no. Although that's an interesting idea. Here's a picture of it for you (with the current, unsanded floor) (but with a fair amount of clutter, in the form of an exhibition, in it!):

[softtop]

the equipment would cost about £200 to hire and then add on your varnish £800. Assuming £1,000 of cost, have you about eight days to spare? If so it is probably worth doing yourself. Did you knock all the nails in well or will you have to prepare the floor in that manner also? What about doing something arty with the existing marks?

[skwdenyer]

softtop said:

the equipment would cost about £200 to hire and then add on your varnish £800. Assuming £1,000 of cost, have you about eight days to spare? If so it is probably worth doing yourself. Did you knock all the nails in well or will you have to prepare the floor in that manner also? What about doing something arty with the existing marks?

The floor is concealed nailed (by me), so nothing to worry about there. The chap who has quoted has suggested 5 days of work, but then of course he knows what he's doing

I'd love to do something arty with the existing markings, but:

(a) the boards are different heights due to prior sanding in their old location, so it is not smooth and sealing is a little bit of a problem, and
(b) the space is used a lot for exhibitions, and the artists worry that the floor is more interesting than the work itself

Here's a close-up, enhanced from the above picture. You can clearly see the difference in levels between adjacent boards, which is the main issue to be resolved in sanding.



Without fixing the levels and sealing properly, cleaning with water-based products is a no-no, so that creates its own problems.

[benmc]

skwdenyer

I sanded and sealed about 700 sq ft of new parquet with lumps and bumps that took me 3 days to sand and polish.

My advise is to be the professionals in. Mine is OK and I am happy but it is not totally smooth and there are still some sanding marks where I got it wrong.

Ben

[garycat]

I was going to recommend using an acrylic varnish as it is easier to work with, doesn't stink and you can get 3 coats done within a day but I don't know if it would be hardwearing enough for a commercial area.

http://www.agwoodcare.co.uk/gbu0-prodshow/rustins_...

[sleep envy]

skwdenyer said:

Simpo Two said:

This 24m room of yours - does it by any chance have 10 wooden skittle things at the far end?

LOL. I'm afraid not, no. Although that's an interesting idea. Here's a picture of it for you (with the current, unsanded floor) (but with a fair amount of clutter, in the form of an exhibition, in it!):

if the space is to be used to show art, I'd leave it - I think it looks great

[.:ian:.]

sleep envy said:

skwdenyer said:

Simpo Two said:

This 24m room of yours - does it by any chance have 10 wooden skittle things at the far end?

LOL. I'm afraid not, no. Although that's an interesting idea. Here's a picture of it for you (with the current, unsanded floor) (but with a fair amount of clutter, in the form of an exhibition, in it!):

if the space is to be used to show art, I'd leave it - I think it looks great

Haha, I do too (Plus my consultancy fee for this advice is a snip at £500, a significant saving over sanding the floor!)

[russ_a]

I sanded and oiled our hall and lounge (3m x 4m plus 3m * 1m) Brought the quick drying stuff and it still took over 2 days to go dry to the touch in certain areas. The hall is a nightmare to keep clean too.

Wooden floors are hard to keep looking perfect. I have just come to accept that ours gets scratched by the dog and dirt marks are almost impossible to remove.

PS it took me nearly a full 24 hours to sand and oil that area. The amount of dust produced is far more than I would have expected. Plus it's quite difficult to get a perfect finish as using a large floor sander is something of an aquired skill.

I would pay the 3k and take the week off.

[skwdenyer]

.:ian:. said:

sleep envy said:

skwdenyer said:

Simpo Two said:

This 24m room of yours - does it by any chance have 10 wooden skittle things at the far end?

LOL. I'm afraid not, no. Although that's an interesting idea. Here's a picture of it for you (with the current, unsanded floor) (but with a fair amount of clutter, in the form of an exhibition, in it!):

if the space is to be used to show art, I'd leave it - I think it looks great

Haha, I do too (Plus my consultancy fee for this advice is a snip at £500, a significant saving over sanding the floor!)

Thank you, all. I agree on one level - I love the look. But the level differences mean that it isn't properly sealed and, even if we can seal it, we can't really clean it. At present, for instance, you can't mop it as the water gets into the wood, and commercial scrubber / polishers won't work properly, too.

So sanding is the only option I've got, I'm afraid, so will have to work out how to get it done, one way or another! The problem is that this is a non-profit operation, so budgets are extremely limited