How to Sand a Floor

Many people love the look of refurbished floorboards. The fashion for stripped floors began in the Seventies, and it remains as popular today. The style is now an interior design classic.

You can strip floorboards yourself, but the work is hard and very dirty. It’s also easy to ruin a floor with bad sanding techniques if you don't know what you are doing. If you live in a flat, check your lease. It may be a breach of its terms not to have carpets covering your floors. Floorboards are much noisier than carpet, and any downstairs neighbours have the right to peaceful enjoyment of their property. You may need to install a layer of soundproofing beneath your floor.

To start, you need to clear the room, sweep it free of dust and knock in any nails that sit proud of the boards. Watch out for the location of central heating pipes.

For a really professional finish you could lift the boards and push them together so the floor is completely flush. You will need to add more reclaimed boards or borrow some from another room.

Otherwise, leave them where they are and fill any gaps with a porridge-like mixture of sawdust (if you have some in your sander bag from sanding another room) and PVA glue or wood filler.

You don't need to wait for this to dry as once you start sanding, the heat of the machine will blast it dry. When sanding the boards, you should start with a coarse-grade sandpaper and work diagonally. Old boards will 'cup' and you need to even this out. If you work up and down the boards immediately, you will exacerbate the unevenness.

Only once the floor is flat can you go up and down each board. Remember to tilt the sander right back off the floor when you turn to avoid stop marks. Use an edger or hand-sander to do the extremities.

After a second sand with a finer sandpaper, sweep to remove all the dust and wipe the boards with a cloth dampened with white spirit. Then apply stain if you are using it and at least two coats of floor varnish.

A semi-matt finish looks more contemporary than a high gloss. When choosing varnish, or lacquer as it is known in the trade, you can go for oil-based, which is hardwearing but can crack as the boards dry, or water-based that won't crack but will wear.

Get some help in finding the right tools for the job by browsing the sites listed in our DIY Hire category (http://www.uknetguide.co.uk/Homes_and_Gardens/DIY/DIY_Hire.html).