Rehaping 100 year old hard wood floors

[John Hagen]

Yesterday we closed on an old craftsmen style house, we started painting and ripping up carpet and I found painted hardwood floors in good shape. We are happy to save on flooring now we have to sand and stain the floors but have no clue what to do. Would be better off doing it ourselves or hiring it done? If we should do it ourselves any pointers on what to do.

We also have some rooms with plywood on top of hardwood. This poses us two questions, should we assume the flooring is damaged under and leave the plywood? If we take up the plywood what is a good way to take it up without damaging the flooring?

[Larry P.]

I would contract this out.  I have found that the 110 volt floor sanders that you would rent to do this yourself are nowhere near as powerful as the 220 volt floor sanders that professionals use on floors.  Money spent on professionals with good references would be money well spent for this task.