Well, the worst is over: the sanding is done! Tomorrow we paint the ceiling and the two walls which are not timber-panelled before we start on varnishing the floor. Depending on how smooth the first coat turns out to be, we may have to sand it one more time before applying the second and third coat - and that is it!
So how long does it take and how much does it cost in material and equipment hire to sand and varnish sixty square metres of pine flooring?
Removing the wall-to-wall carpeting and re-nailing some of the boards took up a full day. Using the big floor sander was another day. Going round the walls with the smaller edge sander added almost another day. And applying the three coats of varnish will probably take three half-days. That's a total of about 35 hours.
Hiring the two sanders for a day each and paying for the sanding discs cost about $300. Ten litres of varnish was close to $200. And applicators, face masks, and knee pads added another $200. That's a total of $700.
A professional sander and floor varnisher will quote anywhere from $30 to $60 a square metre. The best quote I received was for $44 a square metre, or $2,640 for sixty square metres (and that did not include removing the carpets!)
I may have shaved a thousand dollars off that price by doing it myself with the help of a mate at mate's rates - and it wasn't all that hard really!
A photo of the finished work will be published here. Watch this space!
