sanding
Floor Sanding (Tsiklovka)
I'll tell you the most important thing upfront. Here are the prices for floor sanding:
Russian-style sanding with a Russian machine or Hummel — 17 GEL per m², sandpaper included
German-style sanding, finished with Trio — 25 GEL per m², sandpaper included
The lacquer application labor cost is included in the sanding price.
The lacquer itself will be a separate purchase, and you may also need filler (შპაკლი). For quality German lacquer, budget approximately 12 to 16 GEL per m².
For sanding and lacquer, call us at
599 695964
If you want the full story, read on.
Fräulein Elene — An Introduction to Tsiklovkology
Hello, this girl shook me up. Elene... called me last night. She's a friend from my university days and is planning to sand 150 square meters of flooring by herself. Can you imagine? She split up with her husband and I think she no longer knows where to channel her overflowing energy.
She has parquet at home that was laid by her grandfather. I danced on that parquet as a student and cleaned up the morning after. We girls used to gather there during the power cuts when the whole country was in chaos. We had a battery-powered radio. We stayed up until dawn. We were happy being young and alive.
Now my dear Fräulein Elene is determined to sand 150 square meters without a craftsman. (I say tsiklovka, though mokhvetsa is the Georgian word — I'll use both interchangeably.)
Well, who else would she turn to but me. She knows I've spent my whole life surrounded by renovations. Fixing things, redesigning things, repurposing furniture — it's my weakness.
But I have to confess:
Floor sanding is new territory for me too, yet I can't say no to Elene. I have to help. Will you join us? Let's work through the details together, and maybe one day we'll even write a dissertation in Tsiklovkology.
The Theory of Floor Sanding
For academic credentials, we need at least a bit of theory. The first source of information in the modern world is the internet. It's interesting what the Georgian Wikipedia has to say about the term mokhvetsa. https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki — apparently nothing at all. We search and hear only silence. It seems Georgian Wikipedia contributors haven't gotten to floor sanding yet.
No matter — let's define it ourselves, for example like this: Floor sanding (tsiklovka) is the process of treating a wooden surface, during which a thin layer of wood is scraped away in order to subsequently lacquer or oil the surface.
Drink your tea before it gets cold. Let's make today a tea-and-knowledge session.
Delicious, isn't it? Now, let's go through the story of floor sanding step by step.
The logical question that arises is:
Can All Parquet Floors Be Sanded?
No. During sanding, the parquet gets thinner, so it cannot be sanded indefinitely. For a floor to be sanded, it must have sufficient resources — meaning enough sandable thickness. This thickness is otherwise called the working thickness: the distance from the groove to the surface of the parquet.
Sanding reduces the parquet by 0.5 mm to 1 mm. Therefore, if we want the parquet to serve us for a long time, we should not sand it constantly.
A second reason why sanding may not be possible is when the parquet has come loose and wobbles. In that case, it must first be secured.
Fräulein Elene's parquet is still in good shape from this perspective — sanding is feasible.
Nothing is impossible, but honestly I don't quite understand why anyone would want to sand their own floors at home, especially a woman. The only justification I can think of is that you don't have enough money to pay a craftsman and at the same time the floor is already driving you crazy. Fräulein definitely has the money, but once she sets her mind on something, there's no talking her out of it.
Are you the same way?
So we need to figure out how to do the sanding. It shouldn't be that difficult.
The main principle is: the floor must be thoroughly sanded — evenly. The key is that every part of the floor is sanded uniformly, so that after the lacquer or oil is applied, the floor has a consistent appearance.
What Tools Should We Use?
Sanding is typically done with specialized machines. In Georgia, both Russian and German machines are in active use. Let's understand when each is used.
How Many Types of Floor Sanding Are There?
In Georgia, "Russian sanding" refers to processing the floor with one machine — either a Russian one or the German Hummel.
"German sanding" refers to sanding that finishes with the German Trio machine.
Russian Sanding with a Russian Machine
The Russian machine works on a belt system and is designed for rough work. It does not use a seamless belt, so the joints leave marks. If the craftsman is inexperienced, the Russian machine will leave grooves in the parquet. The surface produced by this machine is not ideal.
Russian Sanding with a German Machine
The German Hummel machine also works on a similar belt principle to the Russian machine. Unlike the Russian machine, however, it uses a seamless belt sandpaper, so there are no joint marks.
If we're going with Russian-style sanding — which is significantly cheaper — it's better to find a craftsman who will do it using the German Hummel. The price difference may be just 1 or 2 GEL per m², since Hummel sandpaper costs more, but as they say, you get what you pay for. The result is a better surface.
We were also told that operating the Hummel requires proper skill. For example, if you bump a running Hummel into a wall, it will create a crater in the parquet — and you'll have fallen right into it.
German Sanding
If we're doing German-style sanding, it doesn't matter much whether the rough work is done with a Russian machine or a German Hummel. What matters is that the Trio finishes the job and polishes the floor properly.
Depending on the condition of the floor, the craftsman may also choose to use only the Trio.
Will the Room Get Dusty?
If the sanding machines are properly maintained, the dust collects in a special bag and the process proceeds without dust spreading into the room.
How Are the Corners Done?
Sanding in hard-to-reach areas — such as under radiators, in corners, and along room edges — is problematic. Some craftsmen use an angle grinder for these spots. The angle grinder is dusty and the quality, to put it mildly, is far from "ideal." For such areas there is a small German machine called the Flip.
Floor Sanding Prices — How Much Does It Cost?
Prices on the Georgian market vary by region. In Tbilisi, the standard rates are generally as follows:
Russian-style sanding with a Russian machine or Hummel — 17 GEL per m², sandpaper included
German-style sanding, finished with Trio — 25 GEL per m², sandpaper included
Lacquer application is typically included in the price. Some craftsmen charge separately for filling (შპაკლი), so this should be agreed upon in advance.
It also turned out that busy craftsmen won't come for small areas. If they do come, they won't work at standard rates. This is probably logical — they have their own overhead costs.
Sanding a Painted Floor
Sanding a painted floor — commonly known as a kraskiani poli (painted floor) — is a more labor-intensive process and consumes more sandpaper. Some craftsmen refuse to sand such floors, while those who agree work at different rates. In such cases, using the Hummel with grit 12 sandpaper is ideal.
How Much Do Sandpapers Cost?
For Russian-style sanding, approximately 2 GEL worth of sandpaper is used. For German machine sanding, approximately 4 GEL worth.
You can browse sandpapers here: Sandpaper
Gaps Have Appeared in the Floor. What Should We Do?
During sanding, dirt trapped between the parquet boards rises to the surface and the gaps become more visible. These gaps must be filled with wood filler.
Wood filler is made by mixing a special liquid with clean wood dust collected during sanding. This creates a paste-like mass that must be spread across the entire floor. If filling is done only in spots rather than across the whole surface, the filled areas may show up as patches after lacquering.
There is also a second option: ready-made paste fillers are available and should be selected to match the color of the parquet.
Back to our story:
Elene says we should rent a sanding machine. She's found videos online showing how to use one and already considers herself the queen of floor sanding.
What else can we do — we have to make some calls.
We call around and are told they have machines, but they only rent to craftsmen — and not to strangers at that. I'm slightly relieved. Hopefully the lady will reconsider.
The other option is to sand the floor with small handheld machines. In theory this is also possible, but doing 150 square meters that way is excessive even for Elene.
The Floor Sanding Craftsman
I'm relieved. I think we've been saved — we're calling a floor sanding craftsman. He turned out to be very courteous. He comes with German equipment. I hope we'll learn something from him too.
I told him our story. He said: I'll do the sanding for you, and you watch and learn. Fantastic... He asked whether we had chosen lacquer or oil. That's a separate topic we need to cover. Once it's ready, we'll link to it here: Lacquer and Oil.
The sanding awaits. I'm very curious to see how it turns out. I'm also curious about the craftsman. I'll tell you that story separately. Browse the other pages too. I want us to meet and talk everywhere.
Thank you for being with me. Until next time...
Your Nini