Sanding thick paint off of wood floors?

[Clayton P.]

I have beautiful wood floors covered in brown, nasty paint in one of my units. I was planning on using a drum sander to handle it, with a very-low number grit. Has anybody done this? What's the best way to deal with the paint and still preserve the wood? Any tips would be appreciated

[Clayton P.]

Great to get all the replies. A mix of lack of capital & DIY spirit had me doing it myself. Never done it before, so it was trial and error, started upstairs in case something went horribly wrong. All in all it was about 1000 sq. ft., started at a grit in the 20's, and took it to 150, about 4 grits later. I'm happy. Spent about $850.00, instead of the quotes I got at $4/sq.ft., so it was about $3k+ of savings, and tenants love it 

Started at this: (After painting, & I regret not putting plastic on the walls for dust)

And took it to this:

It's not perfect by any means and the edges were a tough learning curve. One of the unexpected bonuses was the wood was different in every room, and especially in the room above, it absorbed the stain way differently. At first I was hating it but in the end when everything was done, it gave a nice contrast from room to room.