Drum sander?

[IndianaResident]

I need to refinish some wood floors, and think I need a drum sander to do so. I've looked at menards and small engine warehouse for rentals, anyone have any suggestions of cheap places?
I'm in muncie and would like to have it for a week so I can work around work, but at 50 dollars a day that is cost prohibitive.

 

[sgreen3]

Here ya go, give this place a try Harbor Freight Tools

 

[ATOMonkey]

Do yourself a favor and forget about belt sanding your floors. Sounds like a good idea now, but it is not.

1) Move all of your furniture

2) Take day off work

3) Rent big-ass disc sander (3 heads, 3 discs per head)

4) Sand house in one day.

Have a helper to move furniture around so you won't have to stop.

Any kind of sander that you would buy that would put you money ahead of renting is going to take FOREVER, and the bearings in them typically aren't sealed, and like to overheat. For info on how to order and replace bearings in your belt sander, PM me. That is if the bearings don't melt any plastic parts.

So, there you have it. Take the day off work (or on the weekend), rent the biggest monster sander they've got, and buy a LOT of sand paper.

 

[Westside]

Do yourself a favor and forget about belt sanding your floors. Sounds like a good idea now, but it is not.

1) Move all of your furniture

2) Take day off work

3) Rent big-ass disc sander (3 heads, 3 discs per head)

4) Sand house in one day.

Have a helper to move furniture around so you won't have to stop.

Any kind of sander that you would buy that would put you money ahead of renting is going to take FOREVER, and the bearings in them typically aren't sealed, and like to overheat. For info on how to order and replace bearings in your belt sander, PM me. That is if the bearings don't melt any plastic parts.

So, there you have it. Take the day off work (or on the weekend), rent the biggest monster sander they've got, and buy a LOT of sand paper.

^^^^^^^^^^ THIS.

If you have never refinished floors before doing it with a belt sander will leave scratches in the wood and the floors will not look as good. the large disc sander is your best bet.

 

[littletommy]

Years ago I used a drum sander on floors, and it is very difficult to get good results with, unless your using one all the time. It doesn't take much to ruin a floor with one. Yep, disc would be much better, and is generally more forgiving.

 

[Suprtek]

Like suggested above, if you have the RIGHT equipment, it doesn't take long at all to do a whole house so proper planning and spending a little more for the right machine is the way to go. I would suggest testing on a piece of plywood or at least an inconspicuous area before you tear into your floor because it also doesn't take much to destroy a floor if you do it wrong. Whatever equipment you end up using, take very special care to check and double check whatever depth adjustments may be available. You can always remove more material, but you can't put it back.

 

[PeaShooter]

check with anderson rent all..

 

[IndianaResident]

check with anderson rent all..

Thanks, will do.

Appreciate the other tips too......The procedure outlined is what was already planned, except for using a disk sander.

Would anyone care to link me to an image of the disk sander you are imaging? All google will show me is table mounted ones....

Also, which one of you is coming to help?

 

[IndianaResident]

If the floor is badly damaged, you'll need to rent a floor sander. Typically, there are two types of floor sanders available. A floor belt
sander is the tool most pros use. These tools are big, heavy, hard to maneuver and if you sneeze when you are using one, can damage your floor for life. We don't recommend renting a belt sander for your floors. If they are that bad, hire a pro to do the sanding. Nothing short of using one of these behemoths every day is going to give you the experience to use one without making the floor look worse than when you started. A better option for the DIYer when refinishing hardwood floors is a machine known as a U-Sand . A U-sand is a 4 disk random orbital sander that does a fabulous job sanding the floor and is goof-proof regardless of the skill level of the user. It also does a good job of sucking up the dust it creates, making for a much neater job and smoother finish.

From another website. Guess everyone else agrees with ATOmonkey and Westside.
Usand it is. Thanks

 

[Dirtebiker]

I prefer a drum sander myself.I can only say that I've tried the triple disk sander that Menards rents. Way too slow for me, but as others have said , it is probably the best bet if you have never used a drum sander before.
The drum sander does a much better job, much faster, but that is the problem. If you are not extremely careful you can ruin your floor. You must move the drum smoothly and evenly, then use the edger to get all the edges and corners. It's also easier if you are able to remove the baseboards and shoe mold so you can get closer to all the edges. If you are not confident in your ability then hire a pro.
And remember... You will most likely cover everything in your house with a layer of dust.

 

[tradertator]

Rent the Varathane Floor Sander from Menards or Lowes. It has 3 heads, sucks up it's dust, and is self leveling. A drum sander can create a "dip" in your floor if you don't know what you are doing. Move your furniture before hand, and you will have the floor knocked out in no time.

As far as finish, I suggest using Varathane as well. It's Soy based rather than most of the competitions linseed, giving it a clearer finish. Their polyurethane is spectacular as well.

Good luck.

 

[IndianaResident]

Thought this thread was going to sip away, but since it didn't....

I pulled all the furniture out and all the baseboards off, then used a U-Sand from a local hardware store. Its 4 disk grinder/vacuum combo and worked pretty well. I could not get rid of a couple of dark stains, even with bleaching, and it wasn't worth replacing the wood, so I went with it.
Initial stain went on poorly due to user error-I had insufficient light to do a smooth coat, and pooled it at the edges of the room. Went back over it the next day with a sponge and light stain and evened it all out with a truckload of elbow grease.

Light sanding 8 hours later, followed by 1 coat of MinWax semi-gloss polyurethane has the floor looking pretty legit. Second coat to follow shortly.

I was in a fairly unique position of the color not mattering to anyone besides me, and I didn't care at all, so I chose based simply on the label "Gunstock". It ended up being almost a mahogany color.

 

[tradertator]

Much better

 

[littletommy]

Very nice, glad it worked out for you. I know the last time I sanded floors (about 12 years ago) my lower back killed me for several days, just from pushing and pulling the sander, guess I was using muscles I hadn't used in a while.