Take a few moments to watch our step-by-step video on how to sand a wood floor.

Attach the coarse abrasive to the sanding machine. If the machine has variable pressure, set it to high. Make sure that the sanding drum is raised from the floor before starting the machine. Start the motor. Slowly release the sanding drum towards the surface.

Tip: Move softly. It’s important that the sanding drum is always lowered and raised while the machine is moving. Imagine an airplane softly landing and lifting off.

Start from the left of the room, and sand in the direction of the wood. If the floor is very uneven, we recommend sanding diagonally. Walk slowly forward, and gently lift the drum when you reach the wall. Lower the drum again, and return in the same path that you've just sanded. Lift the drum, and start a new path to the right. Overlap by about 5-10 cm on the previous path.

Once the whole section has been sanded, turn the machine around and sand the other end of the room. Repeat this process until the floor is flat, and all residue from the old coating has been removed. Always empty your dust bag before it gets completely full, to ensure optimal dust collection.

• Attach a grit 40 abrasive to an edger, and start sanding in one of the corners.
• Move the machine in small circles, moving from left to right.
• Don’t place any bodyweight on the machine; just let it do the work.
• Sand until all of the old coating has gone.
• Empty the dust bag.

• Set the drum sander to medium pressure, and attach a grit 60 abrasive.
• Start sanding in the opposite corner, and follow the direction of the wood.
• Move slowly, and return in the same path that you have just sanded.

• Check that you've emptied the dust bag.
• Attach a grit 60 abrasive, and sand the edges of the room to remove scratches and smooth the surface.

Tip: If you plan on filling gaps in the floor with a joint filler later, you will need some of the wood dust from the sanding. When you empty the dust bag, collect some of the clean wood dust, which you can put in a seperate container for later.

Now it’s time to remove the old coating from the corners. The most efficient way is to start by scraping off most of the old coating with a scraper, then finishing off by sanding with a fine sandpaper.

You don’t always need to fill gaps in floor, but it gives the surface a finer, more professional impression. The joint filler is intended for small gaps (of between 0.1 – 2 mm) and on floors that are dimensionally stable.

• Shake the Bona Gap Filler container and mix its contents with the wood dust you collected from the medium edge sanding. You can either do this directly on the floor, or mix it in a separate container (this might be easier). The typical mixing ratio is about 1-part wood dust to 3-parts filler. Try to achieve a consistency that's similar to yoghurt.

• Pour the mix onto the floor, and distribute it with a stainless-steel trowel. For the best filling, apply it diagonally to the direction of the wood. If the mix becomes too thick and hard to work with, add more filler to make it less viscous.
• If there are gaps across the whole floor, use a wider spatula.
• Let it dry for 30-60 minutes. If the gap is large, the filler may slump. In that case, it will need a second application.

Note: Joint-filling is not recommended for large cracks, planks or end-grain floors, or parquet with bevelled edges.

• If you used gap filler, remove any residue. You can do this at the same time as the final sanding.
• Start with the edges. Attach a grit 100 abrasive to the edge sander and sand all the edges of the room.

Finally, remove the filler and fine-sand the rest of the floor using the drum sander with abrasive grit 100. Sand systematically, and ensure that there's no remaining filler residue.

If you plan to protect your wooden floor with varnish, your sanding work is complete. 

But if you want to use oil or hard-wax on your floor, we recommend an additional fine-sanding to achieve an even finer surface. This is because oil and hard wax oil tend to highlight abrasive scratches. Use grit 100 on the edges, and grit 120 for the main surface.

Tip: Use an eccentric sander on edges and in front of doorways for a perfect finish.