Sanding floorboards.......worth it?

Contemplating removing the carpet in one of our rooms and sanding back the floorboards.

Any advice re doing this? Pitfalls to watch for etc?

Cheers in advance.

Mark

noisy, cold - make sure they are actual floor boards and not just crappy chip board.

They look to be the original floorboards.

Look like they have been up and down a few time over the years

Check where radiator pipes come up and also around the fireplace if there's a gas fire fitted to make sure the boards haven't been butchered. Also if you can get underneath the floor its probably worth fitting some insulation under them as it'll be drafty and cold without it.

get one of those big sanding machines - but beware they don't quite get to the edge of the room!!

we have problems with drafts coming up through the gaps so get some insulation underneath if you can.

Pay someone else to do it for you- life's too short

Andy

fatfixie":2n5mjlq1 said:

Pay someone else to do it for you- life's too short

Andy

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correct, it was surprisingly cheap. Worth it if you have pets or kids(bikes too), easy to keep clean. Looks great in an old house. Beware of high heels though(yes I know your secret) :twisted:

kaiser":2fy27y7b said:

(yes I know your secret) :twisted:

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Wouldn't bother...noisy, cold and dusty.
Bung some shag down

I did my own. It was horrible work. First going around and knocking all of the nails in further (the paper on the sanding machine tears otherwise).

Then sanding. I gaffa taped myself into the empty room - the dust gets through cracks around doors.

If you do decide to DIY it and you hire the big floor sander, don't go across the boards (it would be bad ). You need to follow the grain or you end up ripping the grain up and it looks rubbish

Make sure you wear a mask and have goggles and have some eyewash handy.

My 4 metre x 3.5 metre room took about 16 hours elapsed time to get some really rough looking boards to a point where I was happy with them.

If you have a cavity floor underneath, don't fill it, it's cavity for a reason. I would advise that you take up any floorboards and run any extra cables or cable pulls through before you start work. The thought of having to pull up boards for a room you've just done is not a pleasant one!