diy help!

[mindimplode]

I am soon to be renovating a 3 storey house. My friend lives down the street in an identical house, and his floor has had the carpets removed and the floorboards sanded down and varnished. The effect is good and I want to do the same. I do not have a clue what I'm doing - please help!

[buildersmate]

Check the condition of the boards first. Holes or knots or boards that have been lifted by previous attempts to get underneath by tradesmen. Check also for excessive gaps between boards. Sink all the nails below the surface by about 3mm using a punch and hammer. It will rip the sander belt if you don't. Hire an industrial sander from the hire shop. An upright one for the main areas is probably best. There are smaller sanders for hire for use in the corners and really close to the edges. The shop will advise you and sell you the abrasive paper, but depending on condition you will probably need coarse to level the boards off then fine to achieve a smooth finish without abrasion marks left by the coarse paper. You will produce a great amount of dust doing this (even though the machine collects most dust) so clear the rooms completely, open the windows, wear a face mask, seal around the doors to rooms where you have put your furniture with masking tape. Finish with Polyurethane Ronseal or similar product, which comes in Shiny, Matt or somewhere between finishes, according to the effect you want.

[jake-the-peg]

If you do a sarch on google for "sanding floorboards" you'll find a ton of pages with tips and pictures.

I'd emphasise what buildersmate says about going around the floorboards with a hammer and punch and making sure that the floorboard nails are well below the surface of the floorboards.