Sand & Polish at what stage?

[vGolfer]

We have just had our new Sydney Bluegum floors laid - 130mm x 19mm boards and so far they look fantastic. I can't believe how much larger our hallway now looks!

Anyway, all our skirting boards and architraves need to be replaced and the floor guys have said that the skirts and architraves should be replaced before the sanding & polishing is done. They were saying that it is possible for dust to be circulated if there are any gaps between the floors & the walls (about 10mm) and that if the architraves are not put back, the polishers could conceivably brush some dust from the raw wall onto the floor if the architraves are not put back.

Does this sound normal?

[Paul B]

The big problem is dust from the floor getting into a gap, only to be blown onto floor by a draught through the gap, while the finish is still wet. This can bugger up the whole job.

Having said that, we had our new Sydney blue gum floor sanded and finished two days ago, the final coat (satin polyurethane) went on yesterday. We didn't have time to get the skirting on first. I had a look this morning and couldn't see any problems, I guess we were lucky.

Wait til you see it with finish on it, looks better than fantastic.

[vGolfer]

Thanks for that - I'm getting excited!

Did you consider going for a semi-gloss or gloss finish? I'm having quite a few people try and convince me not to get it too glossy, but I love the look of glossy floors.

I also don't want to have to worry about scratches and clean it every five minutes!

[elphingirl]

Does this sound normal?[/quote]

We just had our floors done, and they were happy to do it either way. If you dont have the skirts on, do a bloody good vacuum/compressor blow out before sealing. Their equipment is really good at getting right in next to the skirting though, so they do it that way too.
Cheers
Justine

[Paul B]

No, Satin floors are about the only thing we've agreed on so far. We didn't want to have to worry about scuff marks and scratches and polishes etc etc.

But whatever floats your boat, if you go with satin and everytime you look at it you are going to be wishing you went with gloss, then go with gloss. Either way it'll look great.

[Wood Butcher]

I also don't want to have to worry about scratches and clean it every five minutes!

I did some floors a while ago and I used Feast Watson Floorproof. It is a nice semi-gloss finish and apparently one of the hardest single pack finishes you can get. I have two kids under 7 and the floor stood up really well!!

[vGolfer]

I'm a bit confused now. I was just at the flooring place where we bought the timber and organised the installation. When the installer was on site he said we should get all the skirt and architrave on first then sand and polish.

Today at the timber place they told me I should get the sanding and polishing done before the skirts go back on.

If I put the skirt on first, will the sanding & polishing be able to get right into the corners or will someone with a keen eye always ber able to tell the difference?

Thanks

[glock40sw]

G'day.
Sand & Seal B4 the skirtings go on.

If the skirtings are on first, you will see where the edger and the sander have cut the floor down next to the skirting board. It looks like crap.
Also, the edger cannot get into the corner. It would need hand scraping or a palm sander to do it. the skirtings will hide some of it once they go on.

Hooroo.
regards, Trevor
Grafton

[Trav]

yup. My floors are being sanded and finished as we speak. It looks fantastic already.

We pulled off all the skirting boards and will install new boards (eventually) when the floor is finished.

Trav

PS be careful when removing boards as it is easy to lut a dirty big hole in the wall with your pry bar. Or so I ahve heard

I cut a square of MDF about 300 each side and put that between the bar and wall - it spreads the load out and you can pull the boards off pretty easily.

[vGolfer]

I probably should explain my situation a bit better.

I live in an old Victorian solid brick house. When we pulled all the old crappy skirt off, there was about 100mm of raw brick wall underneath - no plaster at all. Similar situation with the architraves - not so bad but some pretty average wall exposed. The bricks and mortar are pretty powdery.

That is why the installer suggested putting the skirt back - so none of the brick or mortar somehow gets brushed onto the floor before the polish has set.

I am really quite confused now. If I put all the skirting back on before the sand & polish, will I be able to notice any raw unpolished board near the skirt?

[glock40sw]

G'day.
Go to a discount store and buy a few cans of elcheapo hair spray.
Spray the exposed brickwork with it.
That will stop any dust from the bricks or the mortar from contaminating the finish.

I've seen it done and it works great.
Also, The hair spray doesn't hurt the sander's equipment (sander belts).

Hooroo.
Regards, Trevor.
Grafton

[Shedhand]

I probably should explain my situation a bit better.

I live in an old Victorian solid brick house. When we pulled all the old crappy skirt off, there was about 100mm of raw brick wall underneath - no plaster at all. Similar situation with the architraves - not so bad but some pretty average wall exposed. The bricks and mortar are pretty powdery.

That is why the installer suggested putting the skirt back - so none of the brick or mortar somehow gets brushed onto the floor before the polish has set.

I am really quite confused now. If I put all the skirting back on before the sand & polish, will I be able to notice any raw unpolished board near the skirt?

You could do one of two things before replacing the skirting. 1) paint the brickwork with a masonry sealer like Bondcrete:
2) cover the bricks with cement sheet strips
That way the polishers can work right up to the edge of the new floorboards.
my threepenny worth
Goodluck

[vGolfer]

Thanks for the tips guys!

I have covered some exposed brick walls at home before with a Matt Estapol and that did the trick as well but it would have been a bit pricey.

[Trav]

I like Trevor's solution. Cheap and quick and it would probably work perfectly! Good suggestion mate.

Trav

[mudguts]

me tink udaman trev