Sanding Vs Scraping Floors

That s not to say you can t get a killer finish prep with a well tuned scraper its just not my preferred way of doing it.

Sanding vs scraping floors.

On more even grained wood like maple the difference is a lot less noticeable provided the sanding was accomplished correctly. In this instance the goal of sanding isn t to remove every last speck of. Scraping actually cuts the wood fibers leaving a sharper contrast of the grain in porous woods like oak and walnut. Sanding vs scraping article november 26 2008.

These are capable of very fine cutting over a variety of grain directional changes characteristic of parquet floors producing a finer finish than sanding. Call me lazy but i would much rather sit there and let the sander. But i don t really like the surface they leave behind when compared to a nice 180 grit sanding. Sanding abrades the surface leaving scratches everywhere.

Which method is better. As for results it depends on the final finish. For example if you have a shallow nick or small scratch on your hardwood floor you may be able to buff it out by hand without refinishing the entire floor. Sanding is fine if you re planning to paint over the surface anyway.

Unlike sanding which requires tackling the entire floor you can buff only small areas of your floor if needed. You can avoid this dilemma by screening and re coating a procedure that refurbishes the old finish without. Sanding the floor erases the scraping and your hand scraped floor is now a smooth floor. When floors were first laid cabinet scrapers left which have two handles and a tiny hook edge were the scraper of choice.