hardwood floors

[blarkey]

Is it easier then it looks to sand and finish? Any tips or tricks! Its only one 12x12 room, do you need to strip it first or doses sanding do the trick?

[pureinsanity]

although I have never done it. Ive seen the work of people that tried doing it. best advice. Hire out. 12 x 12 shouldn't be that much. They will be quick, have it be mess free as well. All you gotta do is relax and pay the bill

[hawgchaser]

I've owned three homes that needed the floors sanded. I did the first one. I hired the second two done. It looks easy, like you said, but its so easy to sand too deep and you either don't see it until the finish is on, or you end up sanding way more material than necessary. I'm presuming you'd rent the floor sander & they're not cheap. JMHO. My signature says it better.

[daylate]

There's a place called sand and buff. I think they only charge a couple of bucks a foot.

[Steve Foss]

Is it easier then it looks to sand and finish? Any tips or tricks! Its only one 12x12 room, do you need to strip it first or doses sanding do the trick?

It is harder than it looks. I've refinished many a hardwood floor. One 12x12 room might be doable using good quality hand power sanders, but that really depends on how deeply the existing floor is finished, if there are any deep water stains, or if there are deep gouges. The more material you have to take off, the more you're going to want a drum sander, and there's definitely a learning curve with a drum sander.

Even if it's doable on your floor with smaller power sanders, it generally requires quite a bit of patience and a lot of sandpaper.

[SkunkedAgain]

I won't necessarily disagree with what's been said, but at 19 years old and again at 22 years old a few buddies and I refinished some floors. It's not that hard but does take good effort. The stand-up drum sanders can really sand your floors fast, so you need to be careful and go light until you understand how much it's removing. After that it's easy using the drum. The hardest part IMO was using the hand sanders to to the edges and corners. Once you've sanded, toss on your stain, let it dry, then poly, sand, poly, sand, and poly. Do three or four coats to make it last. It will look great.

[cavalierowner]

After having seen a few of my friends try it over the years (helping out 1 of them), I would never take a chance ruining my floors by doing it myself. I am a BIG time DIY advocate, but there is definately an art to doing a good job. I sure don't have it.

[Down Deep]

My brother tried his hand at sanding and refinishing his floors. He did about half a bedroom, stopped and hired a floor company for the rest of the job. His floors turned out beautiful and the finish still look like new 15 years later.

[SkunkedAgain]

Wow - you guys are making hardwood floor work sound a lot scarier than it is.

[pureinsanity]

Wow - you guys are making hardwood floor work sound a lot scarier than it is.

I installed them for years, I still wont ever attempt to sand them myself. Ive ripped up floors that were done by home owners that just ruined their awesome floor. You don't notice even the simple flaws until you get low and look at the room with the sun shining.

I can pick out a mistake, or flaw in just about any wood floor project. Most people wouldn't notice. But I would since I use to install them for a living. My whole house is Oak, Maple, and Beach flooring from the early `1900s. I won't even attempt to sand them down and refinish myself. I will at least hire out the sanding part.

[pureinsanity]

It is harder than it looks. I've refinished many a hardwood floor. One 12x12 room might be doable using good quality hand power sanders, but that really depends on how deeply the existing floor is finished, if there are any deep water stains, or if there are deep gouges.

I would personally stay away from hand power tools except in the corners where a drum won't get it. Ive seen too many waves and ripples in flooring finish from belt sanders and palm sanders.

However, if you are good with a sander and have years of practice I would say go ahead. me? No Ill pass, if I did it with a hand sander and you rolled a marble across the floor it would hit some big jumps lol

[Steve Foss]

Wow - you guys are making hardwood floor work sound a lot scarier than it is.

It's only scary if you're the type to get scared.

When refinishing a hardwood floor, I think in terms of refinishing a piece of antique furniture. While floors will get beaten up over time by use, far more than an antique hutch will, I prefer to leave the job with a floor as sweet and flawless as the face of a quartersawn white oak secretary. If you cause flaws by inept sanding, they will be magnified by stain and finish.

Refinishing floors ain't brain science or rocket surgery, but there IS a learning curve.

[SkunkedAgain]

Great point. If you rent the big floor sander, throw on the 50 grit, and let it dig into the floor you'll certainly ruin things. If you start off the way your grandmother would have (and not like a know-it-all guy) you'll be just fine...and proud of the great job that you've done.

[IamZombie]

Yeah, I'm going to get my hardwood floors done when I can afford it.

I already patched the floors, just need to get them sanded and finished.

I'm not going to attempt to do it myself.

I still have a few spots that need fixing, water spots from potted plants, screws, hole I put in the floor from below due to a bad measurement

[birdswacker]

Confusious say measure twice cut/drill once.

[Big Tom]

We're in the process of remodeling our lake cabin. There is Douglas Fir under the carpet.

We had to replace several boards that had holes from previous plumbing, add on for areas from the two additions and remove some boards that were quite damaged.

We found salvaged wood at Re Use It Center in White Bear and finished the board replacement a week ago. Last weekend we rented a drum sander and a 4 disc sander. These worked well in tandem as the old varnish was very thick and difficult to remove. The drum sander was much faster than a belt sander and the disc sander did a nice job of removing any residual marks and leaving a smooth surface after final sanding.

We took it down to bare wood last weekend and will stain and poly over the next couple of weekends.

The project was a challenge and rather time consuming. Having the right tools is most of the battle. My wife and I had no experience but wouldn't hesitate to do it again. The results are beautiful and very satisfying. We have less than $1k spent for adding on 200 square feet to the existing 450 square feet, buying a floor nailer, renting equipment and purchasing sand paper, stain and varnish.

[Steve Foss]

We're in the process of remodeling our lake cabin. There is Douglas Fir under the carpet.

We had to replace several boards that had holes from previous plumbing, add on for areas from the two additions and remove some boards that were quite damaged.

We found salvaged wood at Re Use It Center in White Bear and finished the board replacement a week ago. Last weekend we rented a drum sander and a 4 disc sander. These worked well in tandem as the old varnish was very thick and difficult to remove. The drum sander was much faster than a belt sander and the disc sander did a nice job of removing any residual marks and leaving a smooth surface after final sanding.

We took it down to bare wood last weekend and will stain and poly over the next couple of weekends.

The project was a challenge and rather time consuming. Having the right tools is most of the battle. My wife and I had no experience but wouldn't hesitate to do it again. The results are beautiful and very satisfying. We have less than $1k spent for adding on 200 square feet to the existing 450 square feet, buying a floor nailer, renting equipment and purchasing sand paper, stain and varnish.

Excellent that you had a great experience. Those Doug fir floors can be absolutely gorgeous! The warm deep colors of a stained and finished pine floor, well . . . .

And you get the deep satisfaction of doing it yourself.