Home Improvement Tips, Tool Reviews, How-To Articles, Cool Products, Free Tools, and DIY Resources, All Delivered Funny
We imagine when they developed the I.D. Wood iPhone application – an index of wood samples and information – there were a few name ideas that went straight into the FAIL folder. Our minds went straight for:
- Pocket Wood
- Little Woody
- Mr. Wood
- Wood Hunt
- miWood
(If you wonder why they’re fails, enter them in Google images and turn the Safe Search feature off – at your own risk.)
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1) Rent a rectangular sander like the Clarke American Random Orbit Floor Sander and use you’re own palm sized random orbit sander for the very edges. The big sander can actually get very close to the edge, so you’ll likely find very little left to edge-sand. Put your baseboard or shoe moulding on after the flooring is finished if possible. Since your baseboard or shoe moulding will cover the outer edge of the flooring (or the expansion gap recommended in my article on installing hardwood flooring), it makes sanding to the absolute edge less critical. If you’re sanding a new floor flat or refinishing an old one, [click to continue…]
What’s the big deal about 2″ Wide, 5/8″ thick White Oak flooring you ask? It turns out that if you go to most mainstream flooring outlets, including places like Home Depot and Lumber Liquidators, the narrowest width hardwood flooring you’re likely to find is 2- 1/4″, and it won’t be 5/8″ thick. If you’re a regular reader of HomeFixated, you won’t be surprised that the notion of putting hardwood flooring a full 1/4″ wider and 1/8″ thicker than the original vintage flooring in our house was a distressing idea to contemplate. In my mind, that 1/4″ expanded to several feet, and I imagined the new floor taunting me with its cruel obesity. However, after a couple months of unsuccessful tries to find flooring to match, and some obsessive soul searching, I decided to proceed with the 2-1/4″ by 3/4″ white oak. It pained me, but I made my peace with that spare 1/4″. . . . until one fateful day. [click to continue…]
So, you want to sand your own floor, but don’t want to dig a hole to China with one of those scary drum sanders? Then read on for our hands-on review of the Clarke American OBS 18DC Orbital Floor Sander. Whether you’re sanding a new floor smooth, or sanding between finish coats, this sander works great. And it’s do it yourself / DIY friendly. After hearing several horror stories about drum sanders, typically involving the massacre of beautiful wood floors with unsightly trenches and gouges, I decided orbital was the way to go. The sander sports features like an enclosed fan-cooled 1 HP motor, 3450 orbits per minute sanding speed, heavy duty cast aluminum main frame and pad plate, bristle dust skirt, independent dust pickup fan for effective dust containment, and torque-less operation. The torque-less operation means you don’t get tossed around the room like Keanu Reeves vs. Agent Smith in the Matrix. The sander works by attaching a giant bristle pad to its base plate. The specialized sanding sheets then adhere to the bristle pad. The pad itself can also be used for certain types of light buffing or polishing. Since I didn’t have a chance to test it on removing existing floor finish, I don’t know how the sander would do with that. However, I suspect it would work fine assuming a fairly low number sandpaper grit and minimal old finish build-up. I found the Clarke American surprisingly easy to steer given how heavy it is. You can even day-dream briefly during operation without destroying your floor. Just keep the sander moving while you romanticize the glamorous life of a floor polishing janitor. Dust collection is fairly effective, but it’s still a dusty affair. A mask, some hearing protection, and a sealed off work space are definitely recommended. The unit is also available minus the “DC” in the product number, sans dust collection, but I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want the dust collection. I rented the Clarke American Orbital Floor sander for a little over $40/day from a local Home Depot Rental Location. I could not find a quoted price for a new one online, but you can check ebay for used floor sanders here, sometimes under $1000.
