Hardwood floor rehab

[Steve B.]

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Hello Hardwood gurus,

Unlike all my rentals, which I use lower end flooring materials, my primary residence has original 1924 oak hardwoods.  I'm selling my house (to buy more rentals) and I have a challenge i'm hoping the hardwood experts can help me with.

When I first bought my house and moved in the hardwoods looked great, eight months later a lot of the sheen was eroded and it started looking like bare, untreated hardwood in certain areas.  Now I assumed the previous owner did a light sanding and finish knows as a "screen and coat" and that's why it wore off so fast,  I was looking to do the same thing for about $1 a sq foot, however I had two floor contractors say I needed a complete sanding and 3 coat urethane process as a screen and coat wouldn't help the floor look good at all.  One floor contractor said the previous owner just did a heavy wax and polish to make the floor look great temporarily but it still lasted eight months.

My question is would another wax and polish last 3-8 months? What process could they have used before I bought the house to get those results? I'm hesitant to do a full sanding as the house is fully furnished and I don't want to move everything out or pay $2k+ when I wasn't giving a fully restored floor originally. Any advice on what process was used or what I should use to return luster to the floor for the house for the sale would be appreciated.

@Steve Babiak  

@Sam Wilson

@Steve StMartin

@Joshua Crossman

[Nicholas W.]

If it were me I would do it right and have them do a complete sanding and re-coat. You should get most of that back in an increased sale price or quicker sale as most people want a move in ready house.