Ive sanded and sealed floors before but they havent been very deply scratched or anything, just a top sanding and sealing. But my new house has some deep scratches/gouging that is below the 'color' of the wood I guess you could say. Is the only way to match it back to try and stain match those scratches? Im not looking for anything perfect but would like to cover those scratches up as well as possible.
thanks Nick
you have to rent the machine and do the entire room or live with them.
I did an entire dining room, living room, hallway, and a bedroom with a palm sander. Really came out nice since the floors were covered for 30 years with shag carpet.
The new homes have HW floors as an option and my 1950's house was built with them in the entire house as standard.
Our carpet will get replaced shortly and I plan to do hardwood floor by myself. That is where we need the tips.
From what I have read you will probably need to stain them. Go with a stain that looks lighter than what you need and test it in an inconspicuous area first to see how it looks. I need to re-do my hardwood floors too, but there are so many other home improvement projects that I need to do first.
My house is 100 years old - I used a crowbar to pry up all the nasty linoleum covered particle board to find knotty pine floors. They had about 3 coats of paint and varnish on them, some were badly scratched. The heavy duty sander with the rough grade paper takes off the paint, and then levels it off, after which I used a fine grade to polish them up. Still, there are a fair number of gouges, but in an old house it's acceptable to label them "character." :)
Here's some pics
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=161833&l=9eea9&id=515956307
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=161827&l=c97bd&id=515956307 http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=161841&l=f07bc&id=515956307 http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=161830&l=e9ffd&id=515956307
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=784005&l=c134c&id=515956307 http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=784006&l=9b976&id=515956307
Looking good!
LOL @ 39,000 nails. Yep, I have an old house too. In the places where they didn't use an excessive number of nails they used ones that were excessively long. 
Yeah, I found muscles – and a vocabulary – I didn't know I had
And a nice-looking Siamese under there too!
Margie
They thought it was hilarious to run around in the old cold-air intakes. Siamese - they're possessed. 
Lesley- you are the kind of girl I would really like to have as a friend!
pete240z wrote: you have to rent the machine and do the entire room or live with them. I did an entire dining room, living room, hallway, and a bedroom with a palm sander. Really came out nice since the floors were covered for 30 years with shag carpet. The new homes have HW floors as an option and my 1950's house was built with them in the entire house as standard. Our carpet will get replaced shortly and I plan to do hardwood floor by myself. That is where we need the tips.
Pete, I just installed about 900 sq. ft. of HW floor by myself. When you get to that point, drop me a line. It really wasn't that hard but it IS time consuming and you will be sore for a while 
DrBoost wrote:pete240z wrote: Our carpet will get replaced shortly and I plan to do hardwood floor by myself. That is where we need the tips.Pete, I just installed about 900 sq. ft. of HW floor by myself. When you get to that point, drop me a line. It really wasn't that hard but it IS time consuming and you will be sore for a while
did you rent the nail gun or buy one? I also have a fear of starting on one end and the floor running on an angle at the other end.
Yea Im moving up from a 1900 built house to a 1930 built house. Wood floors upstairs and downstairs, different types of wood in each room too. =)
I know it's not very grassroots, but have you called around for an estimate? I had a guy do my dining room for $600. I didn't have to rent any machines or get full of dust or anything. I had an old floor when I went to work and nice shiny floor when I cam home.
Maybe it's just my clumsiness, but several years ago I tried to use one of those drum sanders and boogered the floor up so bad I had to have a pro crew come in and fix what I screwed up. 
So I vote for the Wally method of refinishing. I doff the skid lid to those of you who can do them correctly.
As far as installing one: I did a room at my mom's old place and it really wasn't hard, just tedious. Rent or buy a good quality miter saw, use the right blade to avoid splinters and use one of those hardwood floor installers. I'd use the manual one, as the air powered ones will puff oil every so often. Use a good quality adhesive, too.
Ive come across 2 types of sanders:
The drum type Jman mentioned-removes lots of material even with a high number paper. Great for a thick floor that has lots of gouges. Problem is its possible to leave some new gouges of your own.
The square pad type-no matter what grit you use, this one doesn't remove much material and leaves a smooth surface. This one is great for finish sanding and is fairly safe.
Everyone is right about the dusting-count on cleaning every square inch of surface in at least the room you refinish. Walls, ceiling, everything!
Lesley, what kind of wood is that?
Dan
914Driver wrote: Lesley, what kind of wood is that? Dan
I believe she said they were naughty pine.
Yea Ive got todo about 1800 sq ft so Id rather do it myself, and Ive always used the sqaure sanders without a problem.
I am a licensed hardwood flooring contractor and a certified master wood flooring installer. In my opinion, it is wise to let a professional sand your floor and apply 3 coats of oil based polyurethane. You do not need to stain the floor unless you want to change the color. By the time you rent the machines (drum machine, edger, and buffer), buy the correct sandpaper, and polyurethane, your not too far off of hiring a professional. Get three estimates. Around here, sanding runs about $1.75-2.00 per foot. Less for cash.
Yah, pine. I did most of the house eight or nine years ago, and just did the remaining small spare bedroom last week. Future office. :)
pete240z wrote:
did you rent the nail gun or buy one? I also have a fear of starting on one end and the floor running on an angle at the other end.
I rented the equipment. It wasn't that much money. There is a method for where and how you start out so it all ends up square. I did my kitchen, dining room, two bedrooms and a long hallway. There is a mirror on the wall at the end of the hallway. When I stand in the hallway and look at the mirror, it looks like the floor extends 15 feet beyond the wall instead of hitting at a funky angle. It was lots of work but it's WAAAAY cheaper than hiring it done. I picked up 900 sq ft of solid 3/4" Brazilian Cherry (#2 on the hardness scale, Oak is way down at 12 or something) and it was only about $700 from Lumber Liquidators.
75 cents per foot for solid brazilian cherry? wow
ManofFewWords wrote: 75 cents per foot for solid brazilian cherry? wow
Wait, I typed wrong. It was in the area of 2700. The key on this keyboard stick.
Yeah, I don't think you can get cardboard for .70 a foot
ManofFewWords wrote: I am a licensed hardwood flooring contractor and a certified master wood flooring installer. In my opinion, it is wise to let a professional sand your floor and apply 3 coats of oil based polyurethane. You do not need to stain the floor unless you want to change the color. By the time you rent the machines (drum machine, edger, and buffer), buy the correct sandpaper, and polyurethane, your not too far off of hiring a professional. Get three estimates. Around here, sanding runs about $1.75-2.00 per foot. Less for cash.
I'll second this. I did my ~500 sf living room over by myself, and while the results came out OK, I really didn't save much money. Plus, I spent an entire weekend doing it, and by Tuesday I could barely walk from wrestling the sanders. I'd say that I paid myself minimum wage to do my own floor - not worth it.
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