Beginner Guide to Refinishing Hardwood Floors on a Budget (I Saved Over $4,000)
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- čas přidán 1. 06. 2024
- Step by step beginner guide to refinishing hardwood floors on a budget! Refinishing the floors myself saved me over $4,000😱 This video explains the cost, equipment, process, and even warnings of refinishing your hardwood floors yourself.
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⏰ CHAPTERS ⏰
00:00 Intro
00:41 Cost
01:08 Warning
01:40 Choosing a Sander
02:28 Before and After
03:07 Sanding the Floor
05:04 Clean Up
05:29 Applying Finish/Stain
07:10 Final Thoughts - Jak na to + styl
My house was also built in 1952. My floors look Identical to your before photos less the glue. Now I'm seriously considering doing this renovation myself!
Go for it!!
Had a company give me and my wife a quote of 4,5000 and change to do our downstairs and upstairs hallway and bedrooms.Much like yourself we live in a older historic home and we have plenty of work the home needs so to save money so it can be put towards other projects were thinking of just doing a screen and recoat ourselves.Great how to video and your floors turned out really nice also.
Thanks! Goodluck to y’all on yours!
Thank you and have a good day.
One reason hardwood floors were covered up with carpet was due to maintenance. Poly coats (or other clear coasts) were not used, and I remember my mother stripping and WAXING the floors weekly or bi-weekly. A lot of work. Vacuuming was easier.
Yes, and it was because carpet was the trend, just like thick curtains over the windows.
What's the name of the finisher that you put on the floors last to make them shine a little
Awesome job. You actually made it look so easy 😂
I still paste wax mine
Yup, same. Actually she had US doing it 😂😂. But then years later my Mom took the carpet up and we have the beautiful hardwood floors again.
Good tip on turning off the air. Not only for the floor but for your air system itself. I work commercial construction and did a job where they sanded floors like this and they didn’t turn off the system and it clogged with sawdust and ruined the systems in there
Yes! Will cost you more to replace the HVAC than paying someone to do the floors!
Not all heroes wear capes - THANK YOU FOR THIS!
Refinishing floor in 2024 in Illinois costs about $2.50sf. including 2 coats varnish and extra $1.20sf. for stain color. However if the floor is less than 300sf. flooring company will charge you extra. Tip. if you use water based finish you should use sealer first than minimum 2 coats water based finish.
Cool👍🏼
WHOA!!! That's an amazing transformation 😲
Thank you!
Man this is a great video. Packed with awesome info. This is the best step by step vid I’ve found on CZcams for this type of project
Thanks for the support!
Beautiful job! WOW! Excellent video thanks!
Thanks for the support!
My house was built in ‘53 and the varnish has turned orange. Oof! We had my mom’s room done and stained a medium pecan color and sealed with a more dull sheen, not lacquer shiny. It turned out gorgeous.
That’s great!
Really the best video I’ve seen on this process so far. Thanks for this
Glad it was helpful!
Nice work. Floors turned out beautiful. Yeah, it's a lot of hard work, but man is it worth it to save so much money! Just got a quote for $7,200 to refinish my maple floors and I'm going to do it myself for about $1,300 when it's all said and done.
That’s great! It’s definitely worth it!
Just a heads up. Maple floors are very dense. You will have to go the extra mile on your finish sanding. I refinish for a living and maple floors are always some of the worst to refinish. They also don’t take stain well unless you waterpop the floor prior to staining. Just take your time and really look things over before finishing.
I love the floor! Thank you for this vid.
You’re welcome!
Thanks for this! I hope mine are this color underneath: love the lighter look! Great tips
Thanks! I’m sure it’ll look great!
Best video I've seen! I really like how you provided the visual with the red and green for the directions to sand.
Thank you! Happy to help!
Thank you for the informative video brother! Floors look killer!
Happy to help! Thanks!
That was very detailed, thank you.
You’re welcome!
Thanks Alex, super helpful!
You’re welcome!
This was extremely helpful my dude thank you!
Happy to help!
Thank you dude. This helped me alot!
Happy to help!
Those floors look incredible.
Thank you!
Ok. Thank you. Im feeling a bit more courageous now. Great video 😊
Thank you! Happy to help!
Well done!!!! Yo8r floors look fantastic!!
Thank you!
I did it in one of my rental properties when I first started buying properties . It’s very time consuming but not hard. Believe me I’m not a handy man at all.
It’s hard work, but it’s simple
Good video. Thanks for posting.
Happy to help!
Thinking about doing a small bedroom, so thanks for the personal experience of this process
You’re welcome!
Thanks for sharing and good job.
Thank you!
Very nice video. Thank you for taking the time to make and post. Just subscribed
Thank you! Happy to help!
THIS IS SO HELPFUL
Happy to help!
@@agentalexcamp I may have missed this, but what sealer did you use?
@@kaitlinkates6703 “Benjamin Moore Benwood Stays Clear”. I didn’t use a stain
Good video, concise and solid advice!
Thanks!
Thank you very helpful!
You’re welcome!
So beautiful!
Thank you!
I do floors 2, you did great jobb,
Thank you!
That was the same as my quote! I'm renting a sander this Friday and starting the sanding myself. I'm planning on spending the whole weekend to do it. Thank you for your video.
Goodluck!
Great job
@@aleesheacosby8332 thanks!
Thank you.
You’re welcome!
I grew up in a 1903 house with pine floors. We had dark blue carpeting everywhere (came with the house) till I was 18 then took up the carpeting and the floors were in great shape to we didn't refinish them. They needed refinishing by the time we moved around 14 years later. Pine doesn't hold up well. Pretty though.
Good looking job
Thanks!
great video !
Thank you!
Good Job!
Dude, this is surreal! I watched all of your videos before tackling this project! Thanks for the support!
Rugs just held a room together. They muffle and catch sounds in a hard surfaced room. Its much quieter to shuffle around on.
You did a great job on your floors...very helpful tutorial, thank you 👍
Anything to help! Thanks for the support!
Thank you
No problem!
Nice and helpfull video! One small thing (and I'm not speaking from experience): I see many professionals coating the floor against the grain (sideways) first and then finishing that coat rolling with the grain. Seems like you might get an even better finish that way.
Maybe so!
Yo Al, I'm with ya Dawg this video is tight baby,, and I'm definitely feeling you on this. Cause I think I can actually do the rooms in my house now.,,, Yo Al, good look baby, keep-em coming.
Thanks for the support🙌🏼
Beautiful. ..👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
Thank you!
Real good work... I think I will go with the buff sander my floors are even and has scratches and scuffs but great video Alex
Thank you!
The square buff is a finish sander. You cannot refinish your floors with it. I know people do all the time but it is not the correct way to go about it. I refinish floors for a living and I would not waste the time or money trying the buffer. No matter the shape of the floors if you are refinishing you need to use a drum
@@nicholastoel729 If the floors only need the slightest work, a drum isn’t necessary. I understand how and why you choose to always use a drum in your business, but if we’re talking about “necessary”, the drum sander isn’t necessary for the lightest of work, and a DIYer could really screw up their floors with a drum. I’m not saying any of this for myself, but speaking from the professionals I have discussed with, as well as professionals that post on CZcams.
@@agentalexcamp I guess if you’re ok with that diy look in the end then yes it’s fine. However in my opinion it never looks anything close to a full sand job which if you’re looking to refinish your floors to achieve a new look it would be imperative to drum sand.
@@nicholastoel729 once again I’m not speaking from myself. I’m speaking from professionals that I’ve discussed with. The difference in full refinishing and just fixing light scuffs/scratches.
Where did you get the sander? Do they include the pads or did you need to get those separate? Thanks
Wow. Finished project is gorgeous!! Im moving into my grams old apt, and they never took care of the floors. Clearly barely even mopped. I need to rent a sander but the Home Depots near me never have one available to rent. Im going to have to move in with these lousy floors :(
I would say move everything to one side of the apartment, do the other side, and then vice versa, but that is definitely not going to be fun! Luckily, a small part of our house wasn’t hardwood, so we just lived in that area while I did the floors. Goodluck!
WOW 🎉
This was so helpful. Do you have to apply some sort of sealer after the last stain?
This actually was the sealer. It’s clear, because I wanted to keep the wood looking natural
Looks great!!! Thank you for this simple and informative description!!
Where did you rent the machine from?
Weekly rental or daily?
Thanks! I rented from Home Depot! I believe I did the math and ended up doing daily rental
We have about as much as a 1/8th inch gaps between boards. Is sealing better than hammering them closer?
Enjoyed your flick and it gave me confidence
czcams.com/users/shortsZEAQhdibR_8?si=XlirD3tihn72wp1m
This is what I did with my gaps
Thanks Alex. Planning on doing this in our kitchen. Would a water-base still be good or should I consider oil-base? Thanks for your video. Cheers.
I would think either should work, but oil based is supposedly more durable. Goodluck!
@@agentalexcamp No it's not! Oil based finish: each coat dries 12h. they yellow and they are easiest for scratching. But they are the cheapest and the easiest to apply.
Rooms were carpeted bc ppl needed an excuse to buy a vacuum cleaner.
What do you know about the new buffing system, out and just showing ware
Absolutely nothing lol. This was my personal home. I don’t do floors as a business
Thank you for the video ! How long it took you to stain the floors?
Took about 1 day for each coat because it was most of my house.
Looks great. I might have missed it, but how long did the sanding process take from start to finish with all the different grits? Looking to refinish about 800 square feet (first timer) and I'm wondering if a one-day rental would be enough time to get both types of sanders in the same day.
It took me like a week to do the whole house (about 1,200 sq feet of hardwood). My floors were 70 years old and needed a lot of work. The video is sped up, but you have to go slow with the drum sander.
Also, you’re going to have to rent both the drum sander and edger at the same time, because you cant do all of your grits with the drum sander and then go back and do all of your grits on the edges. You have to do your grits together before moving onto the next grit. After you’ve done all that, you can take those back and then get the buffer to do the final pass.
Was the stain you used a 2 in 1 staining and poly type?
Did you buffer the floor afterwards?
Nope, I didn’t stain. I just used a clear sealer because I wanted the wood to stay the light natural color
How would you sand a herringbone/parquet wood floor?🇬🇧
You’d have to watch one of the videos on CZcams that covers that
You mention that the drum sander could harm the floors. What exactly would the harm be? I bought an old farm house and like you said they covered the wood floors with carpet. I would like to refinish the hardwood floors but messing them up is my biggest fear!
This is the best way I can use text to give you a visual: instead of the sandpaper being on a flat disc that slides around on the floor, the drum sander has sandpaper in the shape of a tube, that you slide onto the drum, and the heavy drum rotates like a wheel on a car.
Because of this, if it stays in one spot for even a split second, it digs into the floor, creating a gouge in the wood at that spot. So every single time you start a strip you have to ease the drum down as you’re going forward, like landing a plane, can’t stop at all for that strip, and when you get to the end of the strip you have to ease it back up like taking off in a plane. Did any of that make sense?
Quick Question: How Many different sanding belts were needed for each grit? Wondering how often you changed the rolls for the entire home?
Also: Do you have an alternative for the edge sander? I cannot find one for rent anywhere close by. Would an orbital sander work for this?
I don’t remember exactly how many, but the first passes took more because you’re trying to get the floor flat, and in my case, getting the carpet glue off also. What I did was just get more than I needed, and returned the ones I didn’t use.
I don’t think it would be impossible to use an orbital sander for the edges, but it would take a lot more work
What are you using to remove the carpet glue, shellac, etc? I have hardwood floors from 1951 and can tell from a little bit of sanding there was an oil based stain + shellac still on the floor. Not sure the best way to get this off to start the sanding.
I just used the drum sander. My floors were in rough enough shape that I was starting with a very low grit anyways, so that removed the carpet glue with the top layer.
What type of roller are you using to apply the stain
amzn.to/4delm6C
Because they had to strip, wax and buff hardwood floors prior to polyurethane. I watched my grandmother and great aunt do this and it was an all day job!
Yes a lot of work!
Did you have gaps in between some boards? Or were they all tight? I’ve got some gaps and debating adding wood filler. What are your thoughts?
I have a short on my page that directly addresses this problem!
How heavy or hard is the drum sander to use? Compare to a big lawnmower is it harder?
It’s not hard. It pulls itself. But you have to learn how to use it or it’ll tear up your floor
Looks great! I have seen so many videos and everyone tends to do things a little different..is there a reason why a sealer is not needed?
Thanks! What I used was a sealer. I didn’t stain the floor because I wanted to keep the light natural color
@@agentalexcamp Got it! I looked up the product you used. Another video someone used a sealer and then a finishing product after that. I want my floors like yours so I am going the way you did with it. Thanks a bunch!
@@christianricketts3757 happy to help! Goodluck!
Hey! Looks great and thanks for the warning that it is work - because it looks simple! How long did it take you start to finish? Thanks.
Thanks! Definitely simple, but definitely hard work also, especially the edges! I believe it took me about a week or so to do the whole house, and that includes dry times with the sealer and all that.
It's a simple process, but physically hard on your body. Wrestling the drum sander takes muscle. Sanding the edges kills your knees. Staining and wiping stain means crawling every inch of the floor with a rag in your hand.
@@lazygardens I’m guessing you didn’t watch the video? I didn’t stain with a rag.
@@agentalexcamp No, but I've refinished lots of hardwood. It's a very PHYSICAL DIY project.
So you either have to hire the young and muscular or spread it out over time so you don't end up with $3K of massage therapy bills.
@@lazygardens 1: You don’t have to spread it with a rag.
2: Why are you commenting to people on my video, without even watching the video? Do you just scroll through CZcams and click on videos just to go down to the comments and start answering people? lol
Between first and second coat, did you use just a sandpaper or something like fiber pad to make it shine?
I used 220 grit on an orbital palm sander to knock down the wood fibers
@@agentalexcampthank you!! One more question- can I use the acrylic polyurethane if it was covered with oil or lacquer before sanding the floor?
I will try sanding my floor this weekend!
@@ghkddms84 when the floor is sanding to bare wood, what was on it before is irrelevant. My floors are 70 years old, so they used oil based originally
If you don't have access to the types of sanders you used, would smaller sanders like a belt or palm sander do the trick?
I wouldn’t advise to do that. There should be a Home Depot or other tool rental store you could get one from
Yeah I got this. 3 rooms.
Do it!
How did you removed the glue? I have rooms with old carpeting that I’m looking to redo the floors but like you they glued the carpet down straight to the floor. So I’ve been searching for the best way to remove that so I can sand them down.
I just used the sander. Didn’t have the time or energy to try to scrape it off
@@agentalexcamp oh cool! Did you start with a 36 grit? Also, thank you for responding!
@@kylecakes1 yea I had to start that low to get the glue off, and also because these floors are 71 years old, so it took a more coarse grit to get them back to level. You’re welcome!
Sander with coarse grit can work, but having just done some of this, I’d warn folks that the glue will clog up the belts or sander sheets much faster. If there’s any way to get more of the glue off before sander hits, I recommend.
I had some success actually using a heat gun, very carefully heating the glue and use a tapered scraper (use a file to round off the sharp corners on scraper) to remove, again very carefully to not damage the surface. Anyone dealing with old carpet glue stuck all over their hardwood, I definitely feel your pain, good luck!
@@james396 yes will definitely clog up the sandpaper faster! Basically you have to decide between saving time or saving money on sandpaper!
How did you remove the carpet glue spots?
With the drum sander
How many different sanders did you use? Can you list them?
Drum sander for most of it. Edge sander for the edge of the rooms. Buffer for the final sanding before and between sealing
How long did it take to complete and put furniture back on the floor?
The whole process took me about a week, but I wasn’t working on it nonstop.
Please help!
How do you we keep the roller from leaving tiny bubbles in the finish? We're having a tough time. My wife and I did a great job on stripping the floor to the bare wood BUT cannot get the sealer go on evenly. If we do, we have bubbles. The floor is splotchy right now. I have to re-rent a floor machine to sand the finish coat back off.
What kinda roller are you using? Also, you have to keep moving along with the roller. As it’s drying, you can’t get bothered by how it looks and roll back over it because that’s going to mess it up.
@@agentalexcamp, I used a 1/4" roller and later a sheep wool roller. Both left bubbles.
I appreciate the advice about keeping moving. Am I messing up by treating sealing the floor like when I paint walls?
@@terrymofmich I just went a few boards at a time and went all the way to the other side of the room. A lot of people, including myself, think they missed a spot or it looks bad as we’re going, so we roll the roller back over it real quick, which ends up messing it up. Just gotta trust it and let it dry, and do multiple coats so it evens out.
Stirring your sealer too fast could also trap air bubbles also.
@@agentalexcamp, thank you !
How long did you wait in between clear coats? How long do you let it dry before you can furniture on it?
This was water based so it dries faster. Waited 3 hours between coats. I’d probably wait atleast 24 hours before furniture
@@agentalexcamp I’m still trying to decide between the Benjamin moore poly or using the hd bona
I’m sanding my floors beginning Tuesday
@@perfectchaos_official that was the two choices I was deciding between. I only chose the Ben Moore because my friend had it in stock and I was able to get exactly how much I needed, and easily return the extra.
What is the number of the buffing pad no.? 120 grit ?
100 grit. Don’t want to go too high on grit or the floor won’t absorb the stain/sealer good enough
Nice. God's Love and Blessings 🙌 ✝️ 💜.
Thanks!
The carpet glue can be removed with Sentinel products. There is also a three head counter rotating heads sanders. Water popping would have evened out the color.
Yes, I didn’t have the time to remove all the carpet glue first. I Needed the drum sander because of the age and condition of these particular floors. And my clear sealer was water based, so it water popped the floor on the first coat. That’s why I said to buff after the first coat to knock the swollen fibers off
I’m a noob so I don’t know what I’m talking about but this looks kind of easy? Would love to know what made it feel difficult.
It’s very difficult. I would say it’s a “simple” process, but not easy. It’s very physically demanding, specifically when doing the edging. It’s also very tedious work, because the floor may look perfect, but if there are imperfections, they will show up as soon as you apply stain/sealer.
how many hours did it take for that room in the video? I have a 1200sqft house I gotta get done.
I couldn’t give an accurate estimate, because I did each step through the whole house, but only recorded that one room. That room, maybe 5-6 hours?
How long did it take you from start to finish? How many people? Thanks.
Maybe a week. Just me.
How o
Long it took you to finish one room? How many hours all the steps? House of 3000sf how many days it will take?
Took me a week to do about 1,200 square feet
how many hours would yu say it takes to do 150 square feet?
Completely depends on the condition of your floors. Mine took around a week to do around 1,200 square feet
How long did it take you to do it from start to finish ? I've bought a house with a hardwood floor that has pet toenail scratches. Our living room, dining room, and 3 bedroom have hardwood floors.
If it’s just scratches then it should be a much easier process. These were 70 year old floors with deep scratches and carpet glue. Took about a week or so. Because of the state of my floors, I had to go all the way down to 36 grit. If yours is just a generally scratched floor, might can skip the lower grits
I varnished my unfinished wooden floor with oil varnish and it turned the floor yellow. I hated it as the wood looked beautiful pale. I tried sanding it out and it didn't work. Is there anything I can do to bring it back to its original colour?
I only found out about Decorators varnish dead flat after I had applied the oil varnish. I'm gutted.
Other than sanding it I wouldn’t know. Maybe wood bleach, but sounds like it would take a ton of that
@@agentalexcamp Thanks for your response and advice.
@@Insp.CountMortisWinshipKlaw no problem! Keep searching CZcams to see if someone has faced that same issue!
What did the electricity bill look like after this?😅 I don’t know much about those types of machines, and the electricity is really expensive in Norway.
Wasn’t much different from normal, but I also live in an area that has one of the lowest electricity costs in the entire United States
So just one room was 4k? Or 1k in your example? That seems high. Did you rent the equopment?
I was quoted $5k to for all of the hardwood in the house. I spent $1k on the equipment, sandpaper, floor finish, etc. to do the whole house. The video is only 1 room because it’s the exact same process for the whole house.
Can you list everything you use in the links so people can find it fast ?
If it's not a problem Alex I would appreciate it if you could put the products you use in your video. It would be helpful thank you for your videos
What grit do you use when buffing it? 100?
The screening before any stain/sealer was 100. The buffing after the first coat was higher because it’s just to knock the swollen wood fibers back down
@@agentalexcamp buffing between coats, can that be done with a pole sander at 220 grit?
@@k3vinyAng I’m not sure, but if I had to guess, I would assume that may leave visible scratches. I didn’t want to pay to rent the buffer again, so I actually used my orbital hand sander and 220, just between first and second coat, because the first coat is when most of the fibers are going to swell.
@@agentalexcamp okay thanks! Wish me luck this weekend! I’ll be my next project. Never touched a drum sander before but i’ve watched lots of videos and read lots of thread.
@@k3vinyAng you can do it! If your floors are really bad, the drum sander is the most heavy duty, but also can do the most damage, so just make sure to practice with it and get used to the motions before the actual floor. But I had never touched a drum sander before I did my floors either, so you can do it!
How long did it take you?
About a week to do the whole house
🧡
Thanks!
Do you need to remove nails in floor?
Any nails I had were holding the floor down, so I did not. I just hammered down any that were raised.
What that machine called ?
Which machine? I stated in the video every machine I used.
Did you have a lot of dust?
The machines have vacuums on them, but yes there will be a lot of dust, which is why it’s very important to turn off the HVAC before starting
how did u save 4000$ for 180sf room?
Because I clearly had a whole house worth of floors to do. I recorded one room for video purposes.
Did you rent the equipment?
Yes you can rent sanders
Yes I did from Home Depot!
Should you fill the gaps if there are a lot of gaps? if yes, with what?
A lot of “pros” will use a thin wood filler/epoxy that they pour onto the floor and then spread it all over to fill all the gaps, and then sand everything smooth. The problem is that wood filler hardens and isn’t flexible, and wood floors expand/contract with hot and cold seasons, so the filler ends up cracking.
But if you only have a few really bad areas to fill, I posted a short that shows what I did for a bad area⬇️
czcams.com/users/shortsZEAQhdibR_8?si=r57CTF82eLs2dcn_
What did you end up spending on renting the equipment?
I don’t remember. I spent around $1,000 total between equipment and sealer. You’ll just have to look up what the rental cost is in your area and determine how long you’re going to need it for your specific situation.
😍😍💗💗🥰🥰