A Floor Sander:
A Floor Sander is a specialized sanding machine using abrasive materials to sand off the top surface layer of wood floors, or even to sand off old carpet adhesive to get down to a nice looking fine finished wood floor. A floor sander is perfect for certain types of floors such as timber, cork, particle board and parquet. They are usually used by home renovation contractors and other professionals to get a floor sanding job done quickly and efficiently, and even by the smart home do it yourselfer.
Floor sanders give the opportunity to the average home renovator / home owner to give their aging wood floors a quality sanding to renew their finish. Given their high cost and the fact you only need to use a floor sander once every decade or more, your best bet is to rent a machine. A Floor sander rental company can help you get the machine that best suits what you need.
Different Types of Floor Sander
There are several kinds of Floor Sanders. A floor sander can be a belt sander (or drum sander) for the main flooring areas, while corners, stairs and other hard to reach area are done using an edger.
Belt Sander/Drum Sander
This is the most common and latest technology in floor sanding and comes in all shapes and sizes. These types of sanders use sandpaper on a drum or belt which is operated using a clutch type lever, making starting and stopping the sander much safer. You can make short work of a floor sanding job but it pays to read up on best practices as it can be easy to mess up your expensive hardwood floors if not careful. Belt Sanders are virtually mess free thanks to their large dust bag which keeps dust to a minimum.
The belt floor sander is a super heavy machine so more than likely you’ll need two people to carry it when you get it from the floor sander rental store. Again, be super careful with this machine, it doesn’t take much to put a huge, unsightly gouge in your beautiful hardwood floor.
There are several good manufacturers of floor sanders and just as many reputable floor sandal rental places so find a decent unit at a fair price isn’t difficult. Some of the better manufacturers are:
- Hummel
- U-Sand
- Silver-Line
- Hiretech
- Clarke – American
Floor Edger
The floor edger is the type of sander you’ll want after the belt or drum sander to sand areas such as near walls / baseboards, stairs or any other areas missed by the rental floor sander.
Vibrating Floor Sander
You may need to utilize a vibrating floor sander if you find that you need to blend any areas between where the belt sander was used and where the floor edger was used. If you’re careful, you may save yourself having to rent this one.
So, these are the main tools you’ll need to use to sand your hardwood floor quickly, safely, and get a great finish.
Instructions on How to Rent a Floor Sander:
The average home owner certainly doesn’t need to go out and buy one of these expensive, bulky, and downright heavy machines, given that you don’t need to refinish hardwood very often. So, renting a floor sander makes absolutely perfect sense, both financially and convenience wise. There is no doubt floor sander rental may be the most inexpensive way to get the sanding work completed.
First, determine the type and size of Floor Sander you need taking into consideration the size of the floor area, and the condition of the floor’s finish.
Second, call local heavy equipment companies, floor maintenance companies, and home improvement places like Lowes or Home Depot that offer rentals, and compare prices. The cost for these can vary by quite a bit, depending on the type and size you’ll need. Usually when renting large equipment you may need to put down some sort of security or damage deposit.
Once you’ve figured out who to rent a floor sander from, figure out the best day, or days, to rent the unit based on your work schedule. This way ,when you can get the finishing job done as quickly as possible so you can get the unit back to the floor sander rental company quicker and pay for fewer days.
Third, and most importantly, to keep within budget be sure to get the floor sander back to the rental company on or before the agreed date and time as most companies will charge a late fee.
