Hardwood Floors October/November 2025

10 minutes to strip around 80 lineal feet of wall edge. That is unheard of with any conventional sandpaper. It took me about 10 minutes to strip 100 square feet of flooring. I must add, this was with zero effort. No need to walk back and forth with the belt sander, and no need to change belts every few minutes. Even though the tools were doing the hard work, they did it so smoothly and effortlessly. This job had solid ¾” red oak floors with a deep bevel. I had to strip the finish and then switch to my belt sander and edger to remove the bevel throughout the floor. I’d like to emphasize the importance of vacuuming the floor regularly and frequently. Any aluminum oxide particles left on the surface will dull your sandpaper quickly. Basically, after you are done removing the finish it is a normal sanding job. Move up in grits and follow NWFA guidelines for proper sanding and finishing techniques.

I remember seeing a guy running his belt sander on a waxed floor very slowly because the wax was not coming off. He thought maybe he was going too fast. The problem was he was building up heat by moving slower and making his sanding impossible. He should have moved the machine much quicker to avoid building up heat, essentially making more light, faster passes than slower and fewer. Same goes for hard finishes like aluminum oxide. The material on the sanding machine needs to be hard enough to stay sharp and at the same time not overheat. The set I purchased for my planetary sander has diamond heads. That allows for efficient sanding of these hard finishes. They also are easy to use. After you inspect and vacuum the floor, install the plates onto the machine. Set it on the floor and start sanding in any direction. The direction of sanding is meaningless at this point. You are merely just removing 80-90 percent of the finish. Since there is much more sanding to do, just enjoy the fact that the finish is coming off easily. The idea is to move the machine fast enough to remove the finish without causing excessive heat. When you lower the moving plates on the floor, it feels like you are sanding with big rocks on the wood. The sound is different than running a belt or a disc. I recommend working the sander in about 200 300 square feet sections and check the plates for heat. My edger has the same diamond attachment though the attachment is a lot more aggressive. With this tool, you must move fast and let it almost glide on the floor with minimum pressure. It took me about

Avi Hadad is the owner of Avi’s Hardwood Floors Inc. in San Pablo, California. He can be reached at avi@avisfloors.com.

Lignomat: For Measuring Moisture

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Lignomat