Which Is Better to Use for Sanding Floors, a Drum or Disc Sander?

Power sanders give wood floors new life.

Hardwood floors can last for hundreds of years as long as they are well maintained. Normal household use gives the floors a pounding, and from time to time they may need a face lift. Most homeowners keep wood floors finished with polyurethane, varnish or stain. Occasionally, it is necessary to sand away the old finish and begin again. Sanding floors can be a messy, noisy business, and can take several days from start to finish, but the shine of the finished floors is well worth the effort.

Disc Sanders

The disc sander is properly called a random orbit sander. It has a vacuum suction tank built into it. Instead of a rotating sanding belt, the disc sander has several round sanding discs that stick onto the bottom of the machine, sometimes with Velcro. These are changed when worn out or when a coarser or finer grit is needed. The sanders are pushed in random directions across the floor. The random path reduces the chance of sanding pattern marks showing on the floor.

Drum Sanders

Drum sanders are upright machines that resemble the shape of floor buffers or upright vacuum cleaners. Sheets of sanding paper are wrapped around a cylinder on the bottom of the machine. This is changed periodically throughout the process, when the belt is used up or a different grit is needed. Once the sanding belt is loaded, the user walks up and down the floor pushing the machine. They are intended to sand wide sections of the floor.

Drawbacks

Each kind of machine has its pluses and minuses. Some people find drum sanders bulky, heavy and hard to handle. You can dig deep grooves or dips into the floor before you get the knack of handling the machine. Drum sanders create a lot of noise and dust. Disc sanders use a lot of discs to finish the sanding. The discs occasionally fall off their mounts, stopping the operation, and the vacuum suction is sometimes inadequate to handle the amount of dust created.

Guidelines

Use the drum sander when tackling floors that are covered with several coats of finish. Use them when the floor is very uneven or stained with water or paint. Use the disc sander when you want to knock off a light coat of finish from a floor. Use the random orbit sander on delicate parquet or floors that are extremely old and fragile. Hand-sanding or work with an edger may also be needed in every case.

References

• The Wood Floor Doctor: Orbital Floor Sander
• Popular Mechanics Complete Home How-To, Albert Jackson, David Day, 2009