Owning your own home

Gonna have to talk to my girlfriend as we are suppose to be hiring a sander today locally, Thank for all the input, I’ll have a quick rethink, we were quoted £450-500 for the whole room.

I'd give it a go tbh but then I've sanded loads of shit so know the drill;

• seal the workplace well
  
• cover your clothes and hair
  
• keep the bastard thing moving
  
• empty it often
  
  

depending on the size of the room you might need an edging sander or you might get away with a detail sander or a multi-tool with a sanding attachment if you value your money more than your time. Will be a fair amount of time spent on your knees though!

Famous last words ;) FWIW, did the upstairs of our 3 bed house and it took us a weekend to do the main bedroom and box room and my back was destroyed by the end. I don't think I've ever sweated as much.

It takes hours and hours to get a good result as you need to be patient and to through all the different grits when you've done a good enough job on the previous one. Don't under estimate how long the prep can take.

Also, hire sounds cheap initially but adds up really quickly with all the accessories and belts you'll need to buy. Ended up costing us £450 to do ourselves for a weekend.

I'm happy that I've done it and know what it's like but wouldn't want to do it again. I'm personally going to be giving Zen a call for the living room downstairs.

(Fuck that edge sander)

Ended up costing us £450 to do ourselves for a weekend.

Ours was definitely under £200 all in (varnish etc) for a sitting room and hall. Luckily it was all ground floor.

I would say the extra you spend on hiring a good sander (a Bona or Lägler) you'll get back in not having to deal with the dust and in easier changes of grit.

A long time ago @Bobbo the wood god posted a series of videos from this guy on YouTube and I wouldn't have done it myself without them.

But yes he can't stop the edging sander from being a twat.

just put an underlay and a nice office grade laminate and forget about it

People like real wooden floorboards for some reason.
Not yet had to deal with toddler piss and vomit I expect.

Well, we crossed the rubicon, paid deposit already so no turning back.

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It will be a voyage of discovery

Pray for Ed's back and knees

There are drainage channels between the boards, then it's out of sight, out of mind.

God speed salutes

Made me laugh as I'd taken a very similar photo

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That’s true, and it’s then your downstairs neighbours problem.

Under £200 for hire of belt sander, floor sander, all the grits and primer and lacquer!?

Best of luck mate you've got this!

And an even smaller car than an old Fiesta!

It’s really my mistake of thinking it just sanding without asking around, as the cost of hiring one isn’t much but vs. A professional might be a decision I may regret.

Will ask for Zen for the sitting room once done, the good thing is so far the bedroom will be insulated for winter.

Not yet had to deal with toddler piss and vomit I expect.

We’re those evil people who don’t want children, so there’s that.

That’s fair enough, spilling a bowl of cereal milk has a similar outcome also.

@edscoble For an even finish, do not lean.

Forgive me if this is a silly question. What would that give me/them?

It’s an insurance for the chance that the council will come to you in the future and force you to fix it, and worst case, put it back to how it was originally. Pays put money to cover those costs if it happens.

Normally around £100-150 paid for by the seller, because the risk is normally pretty low for the above happening.
If it was high risk, or done very recently, the insurance might cost more, or not be able to be offered at all.

It should be noted that the insurance is pretty pointless but a legal standard. From my understanding, it only covers fines for not getting the necessary building control, not the cost of putting right what was done wrong. Also the council have to take action within 12 months of the work being completed so unless the works were just completed then it isn't worth the paper it's written on.

Did it once, got the satisfaction, don't need to do it again!

You'll be fine @edscoble I'm sure.

Iirc hire was £120. Just used two grits and wickes matt floor varnish, plus a long broom handled style paint pad.

Most of the varnish has held up well after 6yrs. But obviously a huge amount is covered with rugs and furniture.

Before we had kids I wish I'd have done a better job. Now I'm glad we only spent one weekend on it.

It'll all go at some point anyway.

Pretty sure it's the selfish narcissists who have children that are the evil ones.