Floor Refinishing and Polishing " Have a good wood floor covered?....Uncover it and make it gleam. Rent Floor Refinishing Equipment." Refinishing a wood floor in your home is not a job to take too lightly. It does require pre-planning, preparation, a strong back and time. How much time depends on whether you are merely applying a new finish, completely sanding and refinishing or preparing rough flooring for finishing. Be prepared to put the room out of service for a time and remove everything possible. If starting from " square one " be sure you plan ahead so that you do not have the rental equipment sitting idle while you are preparing for the project. We can help you with your planning and with the selection of the right equipment and accessories to give your floor the " showcase " appearance. Our trained staff will give you complete operating instructions as part of our service. Some Tips... Before the floors are sanded, these five steps should be observed: 1. Wear clean, soft-soled shoes. 2. Remove all furniture, pictures, shades, etc. from the room. 3. Fasten loose boards, replace broken boards, countersink nail heads were needed 4. Remove base shoe mouldings. This makes it possible to sand close to the wall. Be careful not to break mouldings. 5. Open all windows; close doors of adjoining rooms. There are three phases of sanding: Rough sanding; preparatory sanding and finish sanding. For rough sanding use coarse sandpaper such as #24 or #40 grit. Be sure dust bag is securely attached to dust pipe on the sander. Lower drum gently at the start and raise smoothly at the end of each path. raise and lower drum while moving - never at a standstill. Pass the sander slowly over the floor going with the grain of the wood; that is parallel with the boards. Start at one wall and move straight to the opposite wall.Then, walking backwards, pass the sander back along the same path. Each complete pass (forth and back) should overlap previous pass by 3 inches. IMPORTANT - Never stop forward or reverse motion of machine while drum is in contact with the floor. Empty the dust bag often for best vacuuming results. Use an edger to sand borders, closets and stairs. Start near corner by baseboard, working outward to blend with edges of board areas. Roll edger parallel with wall doing about an 18" section at a time. In preparatory sanding, use a medium sandpaper such as #60 or #80 grit. Purpose of this operation is to eliminate the roughness caused by the coarse sandpaper used to remove the old finish. Sand in the same way as the first passes. Where possible work away from outlets rather than toward them. Carry the cord over your shoulder to keep path clear and to not damage cord. Again use the edger to get the borders, closets and stairs. All traces of old coatings should now be gone. To finish use a fine sandpaper such as #100 grit. This operation is vital. Its purpose is to obtain a perfectly smooth surface, primary requisite for a first-class job. Though the floor may appear smooth enough after the second sanding, this fine sanding is most essential...don't skip it. Sand the floors in the same manner as the first two passes. Use the edger with the same grade sandpaper also. Examine the floor for any marks left and smooth out. Clean-up is very important...sweep up and vacuum all sanding dust, use a "tack cloth " to pick up tiny dust particles. Apply finish according to the manufacturers directions. Remember to clean up the residue (vacuum and tack cloth) each time before applying finish. Remember, we can help you by providing the right floor equipment, instructions and accessories to give you a sparkling refinished floor.