Hardwood floors for newbie DIYer.

[Paul Winka]

A rehab is nearly done and the occupancy permit will be granted shortly afterward. I still have to take care of the hardwood floors and paint after moving in. The painting shouldn't be too bad, but about those floors, I need to sand, stain, and put down polyurethane. I am contemplating doing that myself. They are somewhat water damaged but salvageable, see pic. I plan on staining a darker color. 

For those first-time DIYers that did their own floors, was it as tough as you expected or did you mess your floors up? What's the trickiest part of getting right and any other tips? What grit of paper did you use on each stage of the drum sanding? Thanks!

[Sam Wilson]

@Elizabeth Wilson - ok, family getting in on the same conversation here. Elizabeth and I used to own this business- we sold it in 2012:  Floor Craft Sanding. Just follow the link and you'll see what we used to do for a living.  I was also a National Wood Flooring Association hardwood flooring inspector. I'd go to problem jobs and determine "who done it?". I have refinished millions of square feet of hardwood flooring- no exaggeration. That being said- I still do not sand my own floors.  

Here's why, in order of importance:

1) The equipment you can rent vs. the equipment you buy. The stuff you rent is 110v lightweight equipment. It doesn't cut like a 220v heavyweight piece of equipment can. And nobody rents the good stuff. You can spends DAYS doing what would otherwise take a pro with the right tools just a few short hours. I know how to run a drum sander- and this stuff just won't do the job. Trust me, I've tried. We fixed loads of DIY attempts at sanding a floor. Also, I don't own any of the equipment anymore- so it makes hiring it out a no-brainer for me.

2) Your sand job is going to suck. Sorry mate. It's true. There's a lot to know about how to finish a floor properly and make it look good. And the more you attempt to make it look good with inferior equipment, the more its going to suck. I know how to finish a floor properly- and my sand jobs suck with bad equipment.

3) It's a killer job. There are guys here in Memphis that I can get to  sand and stain w/ 2 coats (3 is better) of poly for less than $2 a sq ft.  That's below what my cost used to be when I was in business. Another reason to hire it out.

Lets run some assumptions here:

lets say you have 1000 sq ft- that's $2k if you're paying $2 sq ft. Then start subtracting your cost of materials: 

$8 each belt (*10) = $80

.75 cents each edger disc= $75. 

5 gallons of poly= $200 (if you're buying decent poly). 

2 gallons stain = $80

4 screens $30

Buffer, drum, edger rental $350 or more

Now you're fast approaching $800 in materials and rental equipment, plus your 4 days of labor and opportunity cost. (side note: What happens if you're heads down in sanding dust when another opportunity passes you by that could have made you another 20k instead? But you didn't see it because you wanted to save money on your flooring job).

So if a pro costs you 2k and you can do it for $800 is it worth the $1200 in savings? Maybe. Maybe there are no opportunity costs. Maybe this is your first run at flipping or renting and you want to know it front to back. Go for it. You'll figure it out. And hey- maybe you're just really good at stuff like this and it will turn out amazing. I've seen it, but off all the DIY jobs- I've only seen it once, maybe twice that it actually looked professional grade. Also- is this a flip or a rental? If rental- I may not even bother with sanding them- depending on the price of the rental. It may behoove you to paint them a brown color and slap some poly on them. That's way less labor and $ intensive, and you can certainly do that yourself and for the most part-rental location and $ dependent- it won't matter. Just food for thought. And to answer your initial question, How to refinish a wood floor. This is the manual produced by the NWFA. Sort of lame really to be honest, but if you skim through it you may end up with some nuggets that will help you sand the floors! All the best and let us know how it goes!