Well I found that I had a little extra time on my hands these holidays so I finally lay the hallway floor! It has been sitting around for a good 6 months. I tried a couple of different things this time. Some worked some didn't.
1) I used a v notched trowel instead of a notched trowel (square) to lay the adhesive and I found I had more air pockets under the floor. So that didn't work too well. But I felt I had less glue in the joins... so it kinda worked as well.
2) I tried my hand at drum sanding! I think i did ok. The only problem was that the hallway is narrow and had lots of obstacles so.... dont look too closely at the finish as i kept on bumping into things. But not bad for a first time. I started with an 80 grit paper instead of a 40 grit so any damage wasn't too drastic. It meant I had to go over it an extra time or two but I preferred that than doing major damage.
3) The last thing I did different was that I used a commercial grade two part polyurethane on the floor. The product I used was by Toby and is called Aquamax commercial sport. It is designed for sports arenas. I added a wet edge extender and used a sealer to help as water based vanishes dry way to quick. The reason I am trying a new product is that the kitchen floor has worn terribly. In some areas it hasn't survived 10 months and is back to bare timber! I wanted to try something different before giving up on water based finishes on floors. Well so far the finish of the product is fantastic! love it! The wear will be the true test. The product was easy to lay and had a self levelling quality to it making the final finish very smooth. Fingers crossed..... but if my hands are anything to go by it sticks really well, wont scrub off and isn't effected by water : )
Next will be the pantry... (finally!)
