I am curious how many times the various brands of engineered wood floors can be sanded.

Mirage claims 3-5 times which is the same as their solid flooring.

Does anyone have an idea about any of the other brands such as BR111, Schon, and the various others.


As a separate question, I was wondering if solid wood flooring could be glued over tile or should I only use engineered or snap lock flooring for this? The tile floor is not on concrete nor a problem with moisture. Just trying to avoid removing all that tile...

Thats a question I hear time and time again. First to answer your question. It depends....it depends on the thickness of the veneer. But...what I tell all my clients is that you should never need a total sanding & refinishing if you take good care of your floor. Meaning, do not wait until the finish wears down to the wood or even close to it. Unless your floor has lots of insightly deep scratches and dents all you should ever need is a screen recoat.

And it's a question not answered honestly by manufacturers as they consider all conditions to be perfect to be able to sand more than a few times.

Two elements many don't include:

Condition of the subfloor- If it isn't flat sanding possibilities are reduced
Experience of those doing the work

Ken, the new clarke FA-8 is able to avoid those flat issues the other big sanders have with cutting to deep I hear since it is like a big brush me thinks.

Anyone out there use one yet? I'd love to get one or be able to rent one and try it. But have not many reviews by the old guard so far.

I agree. It depends upon the thickness of the real wood top layer. The thicker the wear layer the better.

Let me know SP. I always need updated information. Thing is how many contractors would go out and buy such a machine just for that purpose. With this economy I can't see it. And trying a new machine where the old has worked for eons would not be in the cards for nine out of ten floor sanders(my guess)

I'll have to look into it more.

Now wait a second, your supposed to update me....you got all the contacts. I just keep thinking about all those prefinished engineered floors out there the finishers don't like touching like you mentioned for fear of ruining the floor. With the FA-8 thats not going to happen. And with the popularity of prefinished increasing I invision lots of dull looking prefinished floors out there.

You've seen the youtube videos from the manufacturer yes?

You would think so, but I'm so far out of the loop these days. Could be a great business plan for you.

I'm just dying to get my hands on one Ken. No one out here has one, I've called around. I gotta old timer friend finisher out here who has done hundreds on miles of hardwood S&F. He hates the thought of tackling a prefinished GD, let alone a prefinished floater. The money is there just waiting to be taken. Thats the way I see it.

Your right on SP. I also think that machine is a goldmine waiting to happen. I see the big bucks with all the handscraped floors going in.
I know sand and finish guys jump all over recoats,(easy money), but what are they doing about handscraped? Or maybe that hasn't come around quite yet?. I dont see how they can properly abraid the scraping and pillows with pads. Maybe they're just wingin it, playin Russian Roulette?

I have an old 12"Clark drum sander that runs great. I wonder if I can get one of those FA 8 type brushes on it? Or I wonder if us installer guys may get into trouble thinking about recoating

If you guys are sold on the idea, why not go for it. Out of curiosity I called these guys

http://www.hardwood-floor-sanders.com/floor-abrader.asp (HFS)

I said I was in Arizona and asked for a price because they don't show it on their site(Clarke rules and many others these days with the internet it seems)

They said call Clarke for a distributor near you. Now if you want to buy direct from HFS you can but they won't give a price until you walk in their shop in Oklahoma!

Road trip SP

HFS just emailed me a price...2748.00 (no tax) and they pay 1/2 the shipping. I would think 2-3 nice size jobs and it's paid for, hmm.

You could market the service to all your past customers, hmm.

I think I'll call Virginia Hardwood, see if they can beat the price, tax incl.

Heck, I ain't driving to Okiehoma. lol I'm too busy. Cept I am taking off the rest of the week.

Howard, let me know what Virginia says. They are in Phoenix too. I could do Phoenix. Or maybe Ken could drop a couple off on his next road trip out west. heh heh Ya'll got that Finish Inspection Handbook I sent ya's? Should come in handy when we becomes finish guys eh? Sure looks easy on theur youtube videos.

Haven't called Virginia yet. Maybe I'm chickening out? Starting to really think if I want to get involved in re-coats, there's a heck of a lot to it. Was thinking on posting a thread on Floormasters, but I think those guys would run me over. I pulled up an old thread and a couple guys thought the FA8 was useless,( Ofcoarse that was Dale ) Then I start thinking shoot, I have 2000' of wood in my home that's gonna need a coat...Am I gonna call someone else!

I'm sooo confuused

I did receive the hanbook, thanks! Valuable info in there.

Practice on your house Howard. I have about the same amount of wood but it's been waxed and I think the only thing that can help it is the FA-8. It's got the deep V grooves too. Then I can do a Rubio Monocoat finish on it.

Those guys on floormasters don't think. They all want to sand off the bevel and many just don't have the meat for it. So, what do you tell a client....no it cannot be done? Replace hundreds or perhaps thousands of sf instead? Heck no! I take everything Dale says with a grain of salt.