sanding

Fräulein Elene — an introduction to sandingology

Hello — this girl has got me all shaken up. Elene... she called me last night. She's a friend from my student days, and she's planning to sand 150 square meters of floor with her own hands. Can you imagine? She's split up with her husband and I think she no longer knows where to direct all that surging energy.

She has parquet at home that her grandfather laid. I danced on that parquet in my student years and scrubbed it clean the next day. We girls used to get together when there was no electricity and the country was falling apart. We had a battery radio. We stayed up all night. We rejoiced in our youth and in life.

Now my dear Fräulein Elene is determined to sand 150 square meters without a craftsman (I say “tsiklovka” — “mokhvetsa” is, I think, the Georgian word; I use one or the other).

And who else would she turn to but me? She knows I've spent my whole life in renovations. Repairing, remodeling, changing the place and function of furniture is my weakness. But here I have to confess: floor sanding is new territory for me too, yet I can't say no to Elene. I have to help her. Will you join in? Let's slowly work through the details, and then maybe we'll even think about a dissertation in sandingology.

Sanding theory

For an academic degree we need theory, at least a little. In today's world, the first source of information is the internet. I wonder what Georgian Wikipedia says about the term “mokhvetsa” (sanding). We search, and not a peep. Apparently Georgian wiki authors haven't got round to floor sanding yet.

Have your tea, it'll get cold. Let's have a tea party today.

Delicious, isn't it? Now let's follow the story of floor sanding step by step.

Can every parquet floor be sanded?

No. Sanding makes parquet thinner, so it can't be sanded endlessly. For parquet to be sanded, it must have the resource for it — that is, sufficient wear thickness from the tongue-and-groove joint to its surface.

• Each sanding makes the parquet thinner by 0.5 mm to 1 mm on average. So if we want our parquet to serve us for a long time, we shouldn't sand it too often. For example, solid oak parquet withstands 5–7 sandings, while engineered (three-layer) parquet withstands 2–4 on average.
• The second reason parquet cannot be sanded is when it has come loose, is rotten or wobbles. In that case the floor must first be secured or the damaged boards replaced.

In this respect Fräulein Elene's parquet is still in shape — sanding is possible.

DIY floor sanding?

Nothing is impossible, but I'll confess: I don't understand why you would want to sand a floor at home yourself, especially as a woman. The only justification is probably that you don't have enough money for a craftsman while the damaged floor is really getting on your nerves. The Fräulein certainly has the money, but once she sets her mind on something, you can't talk her out of it.

The main principle: the floor must be sanded well — with sandpaper. In Georgian, sandpaper (“shkurka”) is called “zumpara” . Keep in mind that the floor must be sanded evenly so that after applying lacquer or oil the wood has a uniform, perfect look.

What tools are used and how many types of floor sanding are there?

Sanding is done with special floor sanding machines. In Georgia, Russian and German machines are actively used:

1. Russian sanding is the name for treating a floor with 1 machine — either a Soviet Russian machine or a German Hummel.
2. German sanding is the name for the full process that finishes with a German three-disc machine — the Trio.

Sanding a painted floor (“painted floorboards”)

Sanding a floor painted with thick oil paint is a much more labor-intensive process — the paint heats up, sticks to the sandpaper and costs go up. Many craftsmen refuse such floors altogether, and those who take them on work at a different rate.

In such cases it is ideal to use a coarse special Hummel sandpaper (for example, grit 12 or 16), which removes the paint quickly without damaging the wood.

Gaps have appeared in the floor — what should we do?

During sanding, the dirt accumulated over the years between the parquet boards is cleaned out and the gaps become more noticeable. These gaps must be filled with a special wood filler.

Back to our story...

Elene kept saying: “Let's rent a sanding machine.” She'd looked up videos online and already thought of herself as the queen of floor sanding. What else could we do — we started calling around. It turned out the machines are only rented to experienced craftsmen, and even then only to people they know. I was a little glad — hopefully my friend would change her mind.

The second option was to do it with small hand-held machines, but 150 square meters turned out to be too much even for Elene.

In the end we were saved — we called a floor sanding craftsman. He was polite, and came with German machines. He told us: “I'll do the sanding for you — you just choose whether you want lacquer or oil”.

The sanding awaits us. I'm very curious how it will turn out. I'll tell you that story separately. Take a look at the other pages too — I'd love to meet and chat with you everywhere.

Thank you for being with me. See you soon!

Yours, Nini 🌿