Suburb · greater Brisbane
Densely packed pre-war workers' cottages on steep stumps, most of them with original hoop pine or early hardwood boards under whatever went down later.
Floor Sanding and Polishing Brisbane puts Paddington property owners in touch with QBCC licensed floor sanders working across greater Brisbane. Tell us the rough area and what condition the boards are in and we'll match it to someone who covers your suburb — free call, no obligation.
Paddington is almost entirely pre-war workers' cottages on stumps. That one fact decides most of the job. A stumped cottage has a suspended timber floor, so if there is carpet down, there is a real timber floor under it. Very little of this suburb is slab-on-ground, which is why the usual Brisbane question — is there a floor at all — barely applies here.
The species matters more than the age. The earliest cottages used hoop pine, a softer timber. The slightly later ones used hardwood. Hoop pine blotches badly under a dark stain, and it goes patchy in a way no amount of extra coats fixes. So if you want a dark floor in a Paddington cottage, sample on your actual boards before committing. Floor staining covers what each timber does with colour.
Thickness is the other check. Many of these cottages have been renovated more than once, and each renovation may have taken a sand off the floor. What is left above the tongue decides whether a full sand is possible or whether a recoat is the honest answer. A technician establishes that at a vent or a doorway before quoting.
Access is a genuine cost driver in this suburb, not an excuse. Paddington streets are narrow, the blocks are steep, the frontages are tight and parking is poor. Machines and dust extraction have to be carried in. A quote that ignores that is a quote that will change on the day.
Indicative pricing on this site is $35 to $60 per square metre for a sand and polish, plus $8 to $15 per square metre to lift carpet and pull the staples. Those are indicative. You get a fixed quote after someone has seen the floor.
Pre-war workers' cottages on stumps, so there is a suspended timber floor under almost everything. Hoop pine in the earliest cottages, hardwood in the slightly later ones — and hoop pine blotches badly with dark stain, which is worth knowing before choosing a colour.
What comes up most around Paddington: floor sanding, under the carpet, board repairs. Pre-war hoop pine stock, so that mix is typical for the area.
Paddington is inside the Brisbane City Council area, so those rules apply.
QBCC licensing is state-level, so it's identical here: a Floor finishing and covering (hard sector) licence for the sanding itself, and a licensed contractor for any building work over $3,300.
Floor sanding is quoted per square metre, so the single biggest thing you can do is have the area measured properly rather than estimated over the phone.
Indicative ranges are published here, with a firm price after the boards have been inspected.
The core job — taking a tired timber floor back to bare wood.
Lifting carpet to find — and rescue — the original boards underneath.
Replacing damaged, cut or borer-affected boards before sanding.
Changing the colour of a floor — and the one thing to do before committing.