Whats The difference Between a Hire Shop Sanding Machine and Your Bona 10 Inch Sander ?

Hello and Welcome our latest Woodfloor-Renovations Blogpost.


This post is our first of 2012 and I'd like to wish all our readers the best of luck and good fortune for the coming year.


What I'm going to write about today is something I get asked quite alot, todays direct question is "Whats the difference between a hire shop floor sander and your Bona floor sanding machine ? "


This question was asked by a client we very recently completed a floor sanding project for, and who had sanded and refinished their own floors 8 years ago. In all honestly the columbian pine parquet block floor was in a relatively poor condition overall, which is pretty typical really when people use hire shop floor sanding machinery and tackle the job themselves.


Many people think that all floor sanding machines are all alike and do the same thing....but when it comes to getting a top quality finish on your pride and joy wooden floor then i'm afraid the quality difference between a battered and misused hire shop sander and a top of the range professional floor sander is quantum.

 

The two pictures directly above this text are both wood floor sanding machines, the picture on the left is an almost new Bona 10" belt Sander,[my own] and the one on the right is a typical hire shop model which i think is a HT7 or HT8. 


I won't go into all the technical differences between the machines as I don't want to be writing for another 2 hours, but I'll just mention the fundamental difference, which anyone who has ever used a hire shop floor sander will know all too well.


The main difference is Dust, professional floor sanding machines genuinely capture around 95% of dust particulates created during the floor sanding process, while the hire shop floor sanders will collect precious little dust, from what I have seen of these machines the dust spews out at a quite ridiculous rate and can quickly fill a room with dust to the point of hardly being able to see where you are pushing the machine....This I have seen myself at first hand.... 


There are many other differences between the two machines such as the ease of changing a sanding belt, changing the machine settings while running....I could go on and on and on, but as a floor sanding professional my allegiance is firmly entrenched with professional quality machinery, it really is in a completely different class to a lot of the hire shop equipment.


Although that being said you can hire professional quality machinery, but it will be more expensive, but if you want a top quality professional finish on your wood floor then you either do your homework and hire the right equipment to give you the quality finish you require, or you get the professionals in to do the job properly for you.....

That does sound a bit harsh I know, but in reality those are, in my opinion the best options  for someone looking to do the best quality job they can on their wooden floors.


The images below are direct 'before' and 'after' pictures from the floor sanding project where the client asked the initial question, a bit of a difference wouldn't you say :-)

I have recently written a comprehensive article on the Bona Belt Floor Sanding Machine at  the Woodfloor-Renovations website.

Hope this article has helped you in some way, Thanks for reading.......Gary

Waxed Parquet Block Floor is Sticky and Picks Up Dirt

Hello and Welcome to another Woodfloor-Renovations Blog Post.


Today I'll show you a couple of pictures from a recent Floor Sanding job of ours and explain a few things that many end users often do and wonder why what they have done looks rubbish and doesn't last.


Our client had previously done the floor sanding and sealing works herself, with poor results, and was asking many questions with regards to sanding/finishing/products etc.etc.


When she had last sanded/sealed the floor, [only 12 months ago] which is an original Pine Parquet Wood block floor, fitted in the diagonal herringbone pattern with no border approximately 90 years old, the area was, to cut a long story short, basically sanded and waxed, which had unquestionably been applied too thickly by our client, [a common DIY mistake] which was the reason the floor looked blotchy, felt sticky all the time, was difficult/impossible to clean and attracted dirt like bee's to a honeypot...[picture below] 

This picture [above] was taken about 30 minutes or so after we started sanding the floor, and you can clearly see the high traffic area's in the middle of the picture which were basically bare wood as the old seal had completely worn through.

The picture below is the floor in its finished condition, immediately after the 3rd coat of lacquer had been applied to this floor.

 Our client had specified a high traffic lacquered finish for this project, and in this case we applied 1 x coat of a solvent based primer to seal in any wax residues and negate any contamination of the new lacquered finish, this was then followed by 2 coats of Lobadur WS 2K Fusion which is a high performance 2 part lacquer, famed for its durability, which looked superb and will serve our client well for many a long day.

Looks a bit different from the first picture doesn't it !

Thanks for reading...Regards Gary

I'm Sanding a Wood Floor Myself, What advice would you give me ??

Hello and welcome to another Woodfloor-Renovations Blog Post.


Firstly I'd like to apologise for the lack of output from myself the last couple of weeks.....we've been pretty busy pushing and pulling the sanding machine and time has been at a premium.


Today I'll expand on a subject that many people try and do, but few do really well, the question [via email] is: "I'm sanding my wood floor myself, what advice would you give me ??"


The wood floor in the picture was sent in by our man asking the question, the species is also unknown to him and is apparently original to the property and looking a bit on the rough side I must say - I would hazard a guess at either Maple or Beech as the species [actual picture below]

This wood floor could be one of half a dozen or more different species, the orange 'glow' will be thanks to a seal called Bourneseal, which was commonly used back in the day - but any wooden floor it touched would end up this orange colour - avoid at all costs.

The worst mistake the average DIY floor sander makes is hiring poor quality sanding machinery, and by that I mean most of the hire shop fleet of HT7 and HT8 machines. These machines have precious little in the way of dust capture and are an absolute country mile away from the standard of Professional floor sanding kit.

If you are serious about doing the best job you can on your wood floors, then hire the better quality machinery which is available at many outlets nationwide [UK] it of course costs a bit more than the standard hire shop fodder but if done properly the results will speak for them selves.

 The minimum machinery level I would suggest you will need are as follows, [IMHO] if your budget can stretch to the professional kit, then try and hire either a Bona 10" Sanding Machine as the main sander, or the Lagler Hummel. 

These two beasts are arguably the best two sanding machines in the business, I personally have used both of them on several large scale projects, and as i run a nearly new Bona 10" sander on a day to day basis I would have to say its the better machine, but its close, the Hummel is a superb bit of kit also and can tackle the hardest of jobs with aplomb.

You will also need a good quality edging machine, both Bona and Lagler have these machines in their respective armoury's, both will do the job really well, if you have multiple rooms I would suggest hiring the 7" version as it is just more powerful and a little bit quicker than its 6" sibling.

Next on the list is the Buffing/Finishing machine, this is used to put the final smoothness to the floor, it is usually the last 2 or 3 processes that put the most quality into the job. Bona have an excellent buffing machine, cunningly called the 'Bona Buffer' its pretty easy to use and does a great job.

Lagler have arguably the best finishing machine in the business, the Trio - this is a superb machine and can put a world class finish on most floors, although Parquet floors are its forte its also tremendous on just about every Hardwood floor out there. The Trio is an expensive piece of kit and is consequently not cheap to hire, but you will get a superbly smooth finish to your wood floor if used correctly.

Many companies here in the UK that hire the professional standard equipment, will hire out the equipment individually or in a package form, where you can hire the relevant equipment that best suits your particular needs, if you tell these companies what type of floor you have, the size of the area and your time-frame and budget, they will give you the best advise they can I'm sure. 

Anyone contemplating sanding a floor themselves must be prepared to do their homework...and then some...Sanding a wood floor properly and getting a professional finish is not easy, and for someone with no experience or know-how the chances of getting a high quality finish on your floors are slim...even with professional kit...but, and its a big but, if you research the subject in depth, take your time and hire the best machinery you can afford you will give yourself a fighting chance.

Hope that helps - thanks for reading.