Summary: Learn how to sand a wood floor, prepare the floor, using a drum sander, using an edging sander and using a corner sander.
Waxed, varnished or stained floorboards can be an attractive feature. But unless you are fortunate enough to be working with new floorboards you will probably have to sand the boards to remove the old finish and smooth any rough areas. The tool used to do this is an electric sander. To reach all parts of the floor you will need two or possibly three sanders: a heavy-duty drum sander, an edging sander and a corner sander. Drum sanders and edging sanders can be hired from tool hire companies. Corner sanders are smaller tools and relatively inexpensive. You will also need to use different grades of sandpaper, starting with heavy-duty sandpaper and reducing the coarseness as you progress.
The drum sander does not work effectively at the edges of the room, so for these areas you will need to use an edging sander.
A corner sander has a pointed sanding pad and is designed to sand floorboards in the corners of rooms where the drum and edging sanders cannot reach.
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