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cowboyro
Premium Member
join:2000-10-11
CT

1 recommendation

cowboyro to TheSMJ

Premium Member

to TheSMJ

Re: Sanding/refinishing oak floor a DIY job?

Whether it's a DIY job or not depends on the state of the floor, the area and the amount of time you have.
If the floors are old and uneven you'll have to do multiple passes, rental tools are totally underpowered.
It's a messy job too. There *will* be sawdust everywhere unless you seal the room and create negative pressure.
Then there is the smell. You won't be able to live in your house for 1 week, assuming you manage to coat all the surface in 1 day and do the buffing passes in 1 day, then re-coat the same day.
Yes there is water-based polyurethane that doesn't smell so bad, but it doesn't last nearly as long, so unless you want to repeat the job in 5 years stick with oil-based.

I've done hardwood floors in my house as DIY. After doing 2 rooms (that's how much I could sand in 1 day due to uneven floors) I decided that between the multiple rentals it was easier to just hire a company. The results weren't as good as mine, but they were done in 1 week. They used much more powerful tools which were cleaning the floor in 1-2 quick passes vs 5-6 for the rental tool. But again, my floors were uneven, on even floors you may have better luck...

aurgathor
join:2002-12-01
Lynnwood, WA

aurgathor

Member

said by cowboyro:

Then there is the smell. You won't be able to live in your house for 1 week, assuming you manage to coat all the surface in 1 day and do the buffing passes in 1 day, then re-coat the same day.

If you only do rooms you can just open the windows, close the door, and optionally, seal it with some tape, and the smell shouldn't be a big deal. Been there, done that.
67845017 (banned)
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL

67845017 (banned)

Member

said by aurgathor:

said by cowboyro:

Then there is the smell. You won't be able to live in your house for 1 week, assuming you manage to coat all the surface in 1 day and do the buffing passes in 1 day, then re-coat the same day.

If you only do rooms you can just open the windows, close the door, and optionally, seal it with some tape, and the smell shouldn't be a big deal. Been there, done that.

Use water based poly, e.g. Bona Traffic, and it has almost no smell and dries in a few hours.
67845017

67845017 (banned) to cowboyro

Member

to cowboyro
said by cowboyro:

Yes there is water-based polyurethane that doesn't smell so bad, but it doesn't last nearly as long, so unless you want to repeat the job in 5 years stick with oil-based.

That's a load of crap. Bona Traffic is more durable than almost any other finish out there, including the non-water based.

aurgathor
join:2002-12-01
Lynnwood, WA

aurgathor

Member

Bona Traffic is apparently a 2 components poly with a hardener, so it's a little different from the more common one component polys, be it water or oil based.
67845017 (banned)
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL

67845017 (banned)

Member

That's true, but it's a well known and very commonly used finish.

In our house that's all we used for the floors. Six years gone by and the floors look fabulous. Not even close to needing refinishing. It's about $110/gallon, but very well worth it. This is where I purchased the stuff: »floormechanics.com/manuf ··· mfg=Bona