Floor Sanding London | Three-Stage Sand

The Question Everyone Asks First

Our Sanding Is Near Dust-Free

The number one worry people have about floor sanding is dust: clouds of it settling on curtains, drifting into the kitchen, coating every surface in the house. It used to be like that. It is not any more.

Every sanding machine we use, from the Lagler Hummel belt sander down to the triangle sander in the corners, connects to industrial dust extraction. The dust is captured at source, pulled straight off the floor and into a sealed bag before it reaches the air. You will not find a layer of fine dust through your home when we leave. The room we are working in stays remarkably clean, and the rest of the house stays untouched.

We invested in proper extraction equipment years ago because we are in people's homes every day, and nobody wants to live in a building site. It also makes a better floor: airborne dust that settles back into wet lacquer or oil leaves a gritty texture under bare feet. Extracting it at source means the finish goes on clean.

Guide Prices

Hardwood sanding from £30–45/m² · Pine sanding from £35–50/m² · plus VAT

Every job is quoted individually after a free site visit. The price depends on the condition of the floor, the finish you choose, and the amount of preparation needed. For a fully worked example with real numbers, see our floor sanding cost guide. If you are thinking about a new floor rather than sanding, the installation cost guide covers supply and fitting.

What Three-Stage Actually Means

One Sand, Three Distinct Stages

When our quotes say three-stage sanding, it means your floor is machine-sanded at least three separate times, each pass with a finer abrasive than the last. The first cut goes through the old finish and takes the boards back to bare timber. The middle passes flatten the floor and chase out the marks the first cut leaves behind. The final stage is the finishing pass, taken as fine as your chosen finish needs, and finer still if the floor is being stained, because colour shows every shortcut.

Belt sanding with the Lagler Hummel, not the drum sander you get from a hire shop
Edges done with a dedicated edge sander, corners by hand with a triangle sander
A buffer pass to blend field and edges before any finish goes near the floor
We own every machine we use, nothing is hired for the day

The clip here is one of ours, mid-job: the Hummel making a cut. The full process is written up in our pine sanding guide.

The Lagler Hummel mid-cut. This is what a three-stage sand looks like from the handle end.

From First Call to Finished Floor

What to Expect When You Book a Sand

1 Free site visit. One of us comes to your home, looks at the floor, measures up and talks through your options. No pressure, no hard sell. We will tell you honestly whether the floor needs a full sand, a light refresh, or something else entirely.
2 Written quote. A fixed price in writing, valid for 30 days. No surprises, no extras added on once the machines are in the room. If the floor needs board repairs or gap filling, that is itemised separately so you can see exactly what you are paying for.
3 Preparation. We move furniture where needed, tape up doorways, and protect kitchen worktops, fittings and anything else that needs shielding. You do not need to clear the room before we arrive, though it does speed things up if you want to.
4 Sanding. The three-stage sanding process with industrial dust extraction on every machine. Belt sander across the open floor, edge sander tight to the skirting, triangle sander in every corner and around radiator pipes, then a buffer pass to blend everything into one even surface.
5 Finishing. Your choice of lacquer or oil, confirmed with a free patch test on your own boards so you can see the colour and sheen before the final coats go on. Lacquer finishes get three coats; oil finishes get two. If you want a colour change, we apply the stain while the boards are bare, then finish over the top.
6 Handover. We clean up, put furniture back, walk you through your new floor and leave you with a care guide so you know exactly how to look after it going forward. Any aftercare products you need are available in our shop.

Timings

How Long Does Floor Sanding Take?

A typical room (around 15-20m²) takes two to three days from bare boards to a finished, walkable floor. A whole house might be five to seven working days depending on the size, the condition of the timber and the finish you choose. Oil cures faster between coats than lacquer, so an oiled floor can sometimes be done in a day less.

We will give you an honest time estimate on the site visit, and if the job runs into complications (hidden damage under old carpet, or boards that need more preparation than expected) we tell you before the cost changes, not after.

Our Kit

Professional Equipment, All Owned

We own every machine we use. The Lagler Hummel belt sander does the heavy cutting across the open floor. The Lagler Flip edge sander runs tight to the skirting. An orbital sander and a four-pad handle the finishing passes and blending. A triangle sander gets into corners, around radiator pipes and along stair nosings where nothing else fits.

Owning the kit matters because we know every machine inside out, we maintain them ourselves, and we are never waiting for a hire shop to deliver. It also means every machine has proper industrial dust extraction fitted, not a domestic vacuum adapter bolted on as an afterthought.

Before and After

From Near-Black Back to Natural Oak

This oak came to us stained near-black, and the brief was the opposite of most: take it back to how the tree intended. Sanding out a dark stain is slower and less forgiving than sanding a clear finish, because the colour sits down in the grain and shows any unevenness. It's routine work for us. If you've inherited a colour you hate, it isn't permanent.

The Order of Work

Repairs, Gaps, Sand, Finish. In That Order.

A floor that has been walked on for decades rarely just needs sanding. There is almost always preparation first, and the order matters.

Damaged boards are repaired or replaced before the machines come out. Where the floor is original pine or reclaimed hardwood, we source matching reclaimed timber so the repair ages with the rest of the room rather than standing out as a bright new patch: here is how we do board repairs. Loose boards are screwed down. Protruding nails are punched below the surface so they do not tear the abrasive belt on the first pass.

Gaps are filled with flexible filler rather than hard resin, so the filler moves with a suspended timber floor through the seasons instead of cracking out and leaving the gap worse than before. The widest gaps get traditional timber slivers, fitted the way it was done a century ago. You feel the difference in draughts as much as you see it in the floor. We have written up why flexible filler wins.

Then the three-stage sand, then the finish: two coats if you choose an oil, three coats if you choose a lacquer. Not sure which suits your home? We have written an honest comparison of the two. And if you fancy a colour change while the boards are bare, that is the moment. Our staining page shows the twelve LOBA colours and how the free patch test works. You can even upload a photo of your room to the visualiser and preview the colour before we start.

Wondering about money? The real numbers, what moves them and a fully worked example are in our floor sanding cost guide.

Not Just Sanding

Wood Floor Installation Across London

Floor sanding is half of what we do. The other half is fitting new wood floors: engineered oak planks, solid hardwood, herringbone, chevron and parquet. We supply the boards and fit them, or fit boards you have already sourced.

Herringbone and chevron are always glue-down, no exceptions. Wide-plank engineered oak can be floated on underlay or glued depending on the subfloor. We will advise on the right method during the site visit, because the wrong one leads to movement, noise and callback jobs that nobody wants.

If you are replacing an existing floor, we handle the full scope: lifting the old boards, preparing the subfloor, fitting the new timber and sanding it in if the boards arrive unfinished. One team, one quote, one point of contact from start to finish. Details and pricing are on our installation page, and the installation cost guide breaks down the numbers.

We also restore existing parquet. Parquet floors are common across London, from Victorian terraces to 1930s mansion flats, and they need a different touch. Blocks come loose, the bitumen adhesive underneath can fail, and a careless sander will dish the edges of individual blocks. Our parquet restoration page explains the process in detail.

Freshly re-oiled wooden floor at The Bread and Roses pub in Clapham, revived without sanding

Straight Talk

We Will Tell You If It Does Not Need Sanding

Every floor only has so many sands in it, so we do not spend one lightly. Some tired floors, especially oiled ones, just need a deep clean and a fresh feed. The pub floor in this photo, The Bread and Roses in Clapham, was revived without a single pass of a sanding machine, and the bill was a fraction of a full sand.

If that is the truth about your floor, that is the advice you will get on the site visit. We would rather tell you it does not need sanding and lose the job than sand a floor that did not need it. The full story is in not every floor needs a full sand.

We sand and install floors all over London. If you are local to one of our regular patches, see the area pages for Balham, Clapham, Dulwich, Wimbledon, Purley, Kensington, Gipsy Hill, Brixton, Tooting, Crystal Palace and Streatham Hill. Schools, pubs and offices are on the commercial page.

Family Run Since Day One

The Two Names on the Van

Howard Naish is Dean Naish and Luke Howard. The company name is both our surnames. Between us we have over 40 years of hands-on flooring experience, and one of us is on every single job. The person who comes to your home to look at the floor and write the quote is the same person who turns up with the machines and does the work. That is the promise, and it is why 50 reviews on Google give us a 4.9-star rating.

We are not a franchise. We do not subcontract the work out to people you have never met. When you ring us, you speak to one of us. When we are on site, you can ask questions about your floor and get an honest answer from someone who has been doing this since they were seventeen.

We are based in Balham, South London, and we work across the whole of London and Greater London. Domestic work is the core of the business, from single rooms in Victorian terraces to whole-house sands in five-bedroom family homes. We also take on commercial jobs: schools, pubs, offices, church halls. The process is the same; the scale is different. Read more about us here.

Straight Answers

Floor Sanding Questions, Answered

What does three-stage sanding mean on my quote?

It means the floor is machine-sanded at least three separate times, each pass with a finer abrasive than the last. The first cut strips the old finish and takes the boards back to bare timber. The middle stage flattens the floor and chases out the marks the first cut leaves behind. The final stage polishes the timber ready for its finish. It's the difference between a floor that looks sanded and one that feels flat under bare feet.

Will you get into the corners and right up to the skirting?

Yes. The belt sander covers the open floor, a dedicated edge sander runs tight to the skirting, and corners, stair nosings and awkward spots around radiator pipes are done with a triangle sander. A buffer pass then blends the edges and the middle so the whole floor reads as one surface.

My floor was stained dark years ago. Can it go back to natural?

Usually, yes. Dark stain sits deeper in the grain than a clear finish, so the first stage is slower and less forgiving, but it's routine work for us. The oak floor pictured on this page came to us near-black and left natural. If you've inherited a colour you hate, it isn't permanent.

Do you fill the gaps as part of the sand?

Where it makes sense, yes. Gaps are part of a suspended pine floor's character, but the big ones whistle in winter. We fill with flexible filler that moves with the boards through the seasons instead of cracking out like hard resin, and the widest gaps get traditional timber slivers, fitted the way it was done a century ago. You feel the difference in draughts as much as you see it in the floor.

How many coats of finish do you apply?

Lacquer finishes are applied as three coats; oil finishes are applied as two. You choose the finish from real samples, free of charge, and we confirm it with a patch test on your own boards before the final coats go on.

Who actually turns up to do the work?

Dean or Luke, the two partners the company is named after, on every job. One of us prices your floor and the same hands sand it. Between us that's over 40 years on the machines, and it's why the reviews all say the same thing.

Is floor sanding dusty?

Not the way we do it. Every machine connects to industrial dust extraction that captures the dust at source, before it reaches the air. You will not find a layer of dust through your home when we leave. The room we are working in stays remarkably clean, and the rest of the house stays untouched. It is one of the first things people comment on when the job is done.

How long does a typical floor sanding job take?

A single room of around 15 to 20 square metres usually takes two to three days, including drying time between coats of finish. A whole house might be five to seven working days depending on the size, condition and finish. We give you an honest time estimate on the site visit, and if anything changes during the job we tell you before the cost moves.

Can I stay in the house while you sand?

Yes. We work room by room and keep doorways taped up, so the rest of the house stays liveable. With dust extraction on every machine, there is no cloud of dust drifting through the property. The only thing to be mindful of is drying time between coats of finish: we will let you know when a room needs to be left alone overnight.

Do you install new wood floors as well as sanding?

Yes, installation is a big part of what we do. We fit engineered oak planks, solid hardwood, herringbone, chevron and parquet. We can supply the boards or fit ones you have already sourced. If you are replacing an old floor, we handle the full job: lifting the old boards, preparing the subfloor, fitting the new timber and finishing it. One quote, one team.

What areas of London do you cover?

We are based in Balham, South London, and we work across the whole of London and Greater London. Our busiest patches are Balham, Clapham, Dulwich, Wimbledon, Brixton, Tooting, Crystal Palace, Streatham Hill, Kensington, Purley, Gipsy Hill, Sutton and Camberwell, but we are happy to travel further. Give us a ring and we will confirm.

Thirty Seconds, Four Boxes

Tell Us About Your Floor

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Floor Sanding in London