Refresh your floorboards with Greenplant.

Get your floorboards ready to invite visitors in with this step-by-step guide. Looking for a way to give your flooring a fresh new look, without having to splash out on an entire new deck? Here at Greenplant, we’ve got the guide for you!

Step 1: Prep the room.

Remove any furniture that may get in the way or be cumbersome to use machinery around. If there are any pieces of furniture you might struggle to move, get your hands on a sack truck to help you out. To use these, simply tip the item up onto the foot of the sack truck, lean the tool back and get wheeling. Let gravity do all the heavy lifting for you.

Step 2: Prep your boards.

Prep your flooring by vacuuming up any dust or debris. If you haven’t got a vacuum, have no fear! We’ve got one that you can hire, which will have your boards ready for the next step in no time.

Step 3: Start sanding the edges

Starting with an edge sander to tackle the more fiddly areas, and working inwards from the edges of the room, begin to sand your flooring. When used in conjunction with our floorboard sander, this machine will strip and level floors right up to the skirting board. Make sure to check the look and feel of your brand new layer.

Step 4: Sand the centre of the room

Be sure to wear a dust mask for this step – our floorboard sander has integrated dust-catching technology, but it’s always best to wear effective PPE when completing DIY.

Make sure you have a good grip on the machine, and spend time getting used to how they move. Once you have completed the perimeter of the space, move on to the floorboard sander – This machine will restore most wooden floors to new by removing old varnish, stains and smoothing out surface imperfections, effortlessly taking off the boring layer, revealing a fresh new one to greet your guests post-lockdown.

Step 5: Let the dust settle

Once your floors are sanded from old to new, the next step is the polishing. Leave the room for 10 to 15 minutes to let the dust settle. It’s important to clear away any loose dust before adding polish. Using the vacuum from earlier, get rid of any dust on the floor. You can also use a broom or a felt-bottomed mop in order to catch any dust that has fallen into the cracks. Make sure you’re sweeping in-line with the grain of the floorboards.

Step 6: Varnish, Wax, Polish... The possibilities are endless

The next step is to choose your sealant. Using a mop head, cover the entire floor with an oil or was-based floor sealant of your choice, which will depend on the type of wood and finish you’d prefer – whether it’s a reflectively glossy finish, or a mattified wax polish.