Step 1: how to sand the floor
You have to start your finishing with sanding the floor.
1. Take everything out of the room-rugs, furniture, and everything else. The entire room has to be empty.
2. Go over your floor very, very carefully. If you find any nails in the floor, then you will need to pound them into the floor so that they don't stick up out of the floor. If you find any tacks or staples from a carpet, then you need to take them out of the floor.
3. Look in the phone book for your local equipment rental shop. You are going to need to rent a floor sander-you don't want to sand the entire floor by hand. Drum sanders are the regular way to go, but if you have never used a drum sander before, then you might want to rethink the drum sander because they are heavy, difficult to maneuver, and always have to be moving.
4. Think about renting an orbital sander. These are easier to control than drum sanders. Whichever way you go, ask for a demonstration of the sander.
5. Go buy a bunch of sandpaper for your rental machine. Buy a range of different grits; you will need 36, 60, 80, and 100.
6. Put the 36-grit sandpaper in the machine.
7. Turn on the sander. Run it across the floor in the same direction of the grain. Go straight and even and don't go across the grain. Always keep the machine in motion and try not to gouge the floor.
8. When you have gone over the entire floor with the 36 grit sandpaper, switch to the 60 grit. Sand any lines and scratches in the floor that you find.
9. Move to the next lighter sandpaper, and then the next lighter.
10. If you can't get all the way to the edges of the floor, you will need to rent an edging machine.
11. Make sure that you close all of the doors of your house and turn off the furnace fan. Otherwise you will get dust all through the house when you sand your floors. You can also hang wet sheets over the doors.
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