Floor Sanding Old Nails

Nail down any loose boards with finish nails.

Floor sanding old nails.

Basically you want an empty clean surface to start working from. So countersink all nails by at least 1 8 in. To detect nails drag a metal snow shovel across the floor upside down. After mopping the floor and letting it dry you use the buffer to run a 120 grit sanding screen over the surface.

The other problem you will have is trying to sand the floor flat you don t want to be sanding down more than 1 32 inch on your new floor because you will run into nails very fast and be out of wood to hold them in place. When it hits a nail you ll hear it. This fine detail work can make your diy project look more like a professional job. Most hardwood floors are installed with invisible nails and those that aren t are either old or intended to look old.

It will still squeak if you don t lift and renail the floor. Floor sanding is the process of removing the top surfaces of a wooden floor by sanding with abrasive materials. It totally sounds like it s. When you re sanding nail heads will rip the sanding belt which costs you money or gouge the sanding drum which costs you more money.

A variety of floor materials can be sanded including timber cork particleboard and sometimes parquet some floors are laid and designed for sanding. Using a 120 grit sanding screen buff the floor along each board moving back and forth with the grain. This floor restoration method requires a floor buffer with a sanding screen to scuff the old finish of the floor which is why it s called a screen and recoat. This type of sanding will level minor unevenness left by the drum sander and edger as well as buff away sanding scratches.

Avoid using roofing felt as the asphalt may heat up while sanding and bleed into the floor. Some people rent an industrial floor buffer for this step but a pole sander pictured is another great option. Sanding floors really isn t difficult it s just a lot of hard work. Normal flooring nails don t have a wide head so it is possible to drive them below the surface but these have a big head.

After completely emptying your room remove any old floor coverings nails and anything else that is attached to the floor and then give everything a good vacuum and clean. If you just sand over the nails it may not work leaving the heads high. Next use a floor buffer fitted with a fine grit screening pad to screen sand the flooring. The use of those common nails seems to be somebody s desperate attempt to reduce the problem.

How to refinish floors with antique nail heads.