How to polish timber boards around the home

Polishing your timber boards and flooring yourself might seem like a fairly straightforward exercise, but DIY floor sanding and polishing is actually more involved than you may think.

Costly mistakes can occur if the process isn't tackled in a carefully managed fashion, so here's how to polish your timber floor without the stress!

Craig from Timber Care emphasises that proper preparation of the timber floor before polishing is crucial, and that means thorough sanding. "The better you sand the floor, the better the end result."

How do I sand my timber flooring?

At the beginning of the DIY timber floor polishing process, you will need to use a drum sander or a belt sander to remove all the roughness in the floor and any previous coatings.

"Normally for floor sanding and polishing you would use a range of sandpapers during the process," says Craig. And a tip for how not to polish a floor: don't even think about hand-sanding - it will take you months!

What sandpaper should I use on my floor?

Sandpaper coarseness is measured by 'grit' - the lower the grit, the coarser the sandpaper. For most floors, you would start with a 40-grit sandpaper, and then move up to a smoother 80-grit. "If you had a really rough floor made of reconditioned or recycled timber, for example, you might even want to consider something like 24-grit sandpaper," says Craig.

When do I use a floor edger?

The next step in timber floor polishing is to use a floor edger to smooth out all areas that the belt sander can't reach. An edger is a circular sanding disk of about 18 centimetres diameter. This polishing machine still won't be able to reach the corners, though; for those, you'll need a triangular sanding machine or a scraper.

Then, go over the floor with an orbital sander using 120-grit sandpaper; this will remove the 'linearity' of the sanding marks. Vacuum the floor to get rid of dust.

How do I coat the timber flooring?

Now the floor is ready for coating. The first step is to seal the edges (only of the room you're working on) - use a brush to do this, then even out the coating with a roller. Apply the first 'real' coat out of the roll tray, working along the grain as much as possible. "The first coat will look very ordinary, because that's the one that will cause any grain raising," says Craig.

Using an orbital sander on the timber

The next step in the timber floor sanding and polishing process is to use the orbital sander, with a 120- to 150-grit paper, to get rid of all the roughness that has occurred during the coating. "Normally you'd wait about eight hours before applying another two coats.

Those two coats should be done in a timely fashion. You'd probably get one coat down in the morning, then another one late that day," says Craig. Leave about 24 hours before you walk on the floor.

What safety measures should I take?

An essential tip in anyone's 'how to polish a wooden floor' guide is to wear ear muffs, a breathing mask and a dust mask when polishing your timber floors, to avoid inhaling fumes and dust. If you're working with solvent-based polishes, make sure there are no pilot lights on anywhere in the house, otherwise the evaporating solvent could ignite.

Always read the instructions on any equipment or products you use before embarking on DIY timber floor sanding, polishing and care. "Another big mistake is moving heavy furniture across the floor too early," says Craig. "If you're moving furniture, get two people to carry it rather than dragging it across."

If you’re still unsure as to what you should do, contact a professional floor polisher in your area and find out how to polish timber boards: