Clint Fudge of Melbourne, Australia-based Clint Fudge Floor Sanding says this is "one of the most amazing transformations my wife and I have ever done"—which is saying something considering the pair's experience. The home where the Tasmanian oak transformation took place was 70-plus years old, and in that era, trees were milled to create "very spectacular" flooring 4 or 5 meters long (13 to 16 feet). The home had undergone multiple renovations over the years "without any rhyme or reason." Fudge and his wife, Lisa, removed particleboard, false joists and a section of pine laid in the late '70s, along with boards that were damaged and stained, replacing them with boards from a used flooring supplier. Then they sanded with 40-grit using their "beloved Big Bertha" (see her in this article). With the floor flat, they sanded with a rotary sanding machine with 40-grit and 60-grit, doing edges with the orbital sander. With a hand-applied coat of "Black Japan" stain and two coats of solvent-based finishes, the transformation was complete, or, as Fudge says: "a floor from 'shit' to something 'special'."
SUPPLIERS: Abrasives: SIA | Big machine: Vincomatic | Buffer: Polivac | Edger: FG Taifun | Filler: Timbermate | Finish: Handley LO-Sheen | Palm sander: Ozito | Saws: AEG | Stain: Feast Watson Prooftint
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