Can You Sand and Refinish Hardwood Floors Yourself? (honest opinion)

Leave it to the professionals! say contractors... Is floor sanding something that should really be undertaken by homeowners? Can you sand and refinish hardwood floors yourself?

Well, obviously you can. The question is, how good is it going to be? Floor sanding is no different to anything else in life, it is literally impossible to be as good on your first try as on your 10th or your 100th. People don't sand their own floors because they are too stupid to hire a pro. They do it because they are too strapped for cash!

[jimjohnston]

Plenty of so called 'professionals' dont give a fig about the quality of work, have no attention to detail or care about the homeowners house. 'Pros' rushing from job to job or looking to finish at 2pm.

[bradleyhewitt]

Painter here. Long time customer had her floors refinished by professionals about 18 months ago because she didn't know I did floors as well. Well I just redid them. Why? Because the pros job was garbage and this here painter just made them look absolutely amazing.

[michaelbaca]

Yeah, you can sand floors by yourself.
--It depends on how patient you are, what you want, how much time you have, and what tools have available.
-- I've done floors in small rooms by hand, and it was back-breaking work. I wanted a 320 grit finish. I wanted a combination of stain, amber shellac, and water based polyurethane. I didn't have access to a drum sander, so I ended up doing it with a small sander and by hand. It took about a month, and it looks great. Chatoyant grain. Rich color. The work is forgotten, and nobody understands how much work it is, but it's there.

[CalifOlivia]

This is the hype speech I needed before sanding my floor, thanks man

[shizuokaBLUES]

You’re so right.
I decide to do my own DIY because I have the time and my twenty year old home needed so much work.
So in the past year I have done
1. Bathroom and toilet flooring
2. Carpets in entrance and hall
3. Sanding and refinishing kitchen counters
4. Sanding and refinishing floors upstairs and down.

And you are so right. I know there are things I simply can’t do and will hire a pro for those jobs.
And secondly, no one but me sees the mistakes. Guests and other family simply don’t care. They see whatever DIY I’ve done and say “wow nice job” and it’s forgotten about. The simply don’t see the mistakes.
When I go to sell the house maybe I’ll have to have a couple of jobs redone. IF I sell it.

The bottom line is, as you said, if you research the work, and don’t skimp on materials and don’t rush yourself, you can make a good enough job that saves money, looks good and you can be proud of.

Mistakes? There will be mistakes. Will you be the only one who seems them?

More than likely.

🍻

[ourendtimewalk]

I removed and rebuilt my patio deck. I spent 12 hours watching Youtube videos about it. Ended up understanding who the very good workers were. I also grasped what the building code was, in other states, provinces, areas, and selected the most demanding criterias for my deck. It took me about 60-70 hours building it. It's built JUST AS GOOD as a professional would have done. I did a few things better, and a few details worse (still okay). I saved 10 000$ CAN, it looks good, its strong, it's probably according to code (I saw, afterwards, in my city, pros do what I did).

Take your time. Gather all the information beforehand. Watch videos. Don't botch up because you're fed up. Try to be a perfectionist, it will make up for the lack of experience up to a certain point. Pros sometimes cut corners, that's where your perfectionism can catch up.

IT'S POSSIBLE!

[kcjean]

The advice and tips I've found on your channel (just recently I might add) have been helpful beyond compare. I'm no professional by any means but finding a great and professional teacher like you is paramount to the process 💜 thank you thank you 😊

[MilesV]

Thank you for a great and honest video. My wife and I were about to ask a carpenter to sand and refinish our parquet after the room has just been redecorated. But having seen your video, it's probably best if we do this ourselves as we don't have the budget for a flooring professional at this point.
I'm just not looking forward to the dust as I'll be sneezing non-stop. But needs must.

[nealklomp]

So, I'm the son of a carpenter and was raised and trained to do carpentry stuff, did it professionally briefly, worked as a skilled tradesman in another field, etc.

Generally it seems like I can do as good a job as a pro, I just have to take my time and occasionally except the fact that I'm going to have to redo what I've done to make it perfect. And it even then, sometimes there might be a small imperfection here or there.

Pros aren't perfect either. They just do it way fucking faster. Like I'm about to resurface about 1100 ft² of hardwood floor, it's going to take me 2 weeks, maybe three, and a pro would do it in a couple of days. I'm also not going to work full-time at it but you know, it's still a valid point.

[socialkruption]

Pretty much truth. I had to re shingle my home a few years back and the contractors I contacted seemed sketchy so I decided to just do it myself, in the heat of the sun. Did it take me longer vs a professional? Sure. Did it turn out as good? Debatable as it's roofing and people don't exactly zoom in on the roof like a floor but I can say 5 years on, had no problems. Will I try my hand on my hardwood flooring? Nah, I don't have a vehicle to move any rental equipment which is where I norm draw the line on diy vs hiring someone in most cases.

[JanoyCresva]

lol this guy is so much into his job that he thinks everyone sees all the little mistakes. I will probably be doing this myself and i dont care if it doesnt look perfect. Btw doing something by yourself instead of hiring another person to do it is much more fun.

[dw]

Absolutely right. We bought a new house and the floor boards were in ok condition. The smallest bedroom was to be a home office so thought I would sand and oil them rather than carpet. Didn’t have all the appropriate equipment. It took days of hard work using a belt sander. They look nice but never going to be mistaken for a professional finish. I can live with that and I do get a sense of satisfaction every time I look at the floor.

[July-A]

It's not all about budget. I like doing things by myself. I research I learn and then do it. Whatever I've done on my house, which is building half the house from scratch, is done much better than any professional will ever achieve.
I trust no tradespeople. As long as I'm fit and healthy, nobody comes in my house to build/fix.

[Lisa-dhnw]

Thanks for this video. I’m in the position of not being able to afford for it to be professionally done but was getting a little discouraged about the comments the professionals have been putting up under DYI videos. It was starting to undermine my confidence in giving it a go. I have already set aside at least four days to work through it because it became apparent it will take forever! Thank you for the balanced opinion. I have watched a few of your videos and they are very informative and well put together.

[PeterParker-bcmk]

Your videos are the best i saw. Also been doing wood floors for twenty years also redone old chriscraft boats. Ive won awards from historic commissions in boston and new orleans the oldest floors ive refinished are from 1791. I have a tip for you. My final sand or buff prior to poly. I use the fine dust. I mix mineral spirits 2/3 to 1/3 poly add stain if desired. Mop the mixture on then throw down fine saw dust . Work dust across floor direction with broom lightly then buff with fine steelwood pad. This evens everything out cracks knot hold etc and polishes out sanding marks and also really makes the gain diverse and pop. It does make a mess of the baseboards. Was looking for tips on how to apply the poly. I like the lambs wool the best and ive done both pouring poly and mopping it out even and dipping the applicator in a bucket. Both ways i end up with a ( tattoo) in a poor lit area either a run or a drip any advice "wood" help

[erickanorris]

I refinished 2000 sf of oak flooring myself and refinished with a mix of BLO and Tung oil, extremely hard finish and can be touched up scratches can be buffed without refinishing everything like poly floors. Looks great 12 years later

[Jules_Pew]

Last time I did a floor it took me 2 weeks from start to finish. One of the most relaxing holidays ever as I couldn't let my mind wander. Doing another one atm, but shouldn't take quite as long this time.

[TheIdeanator]

Engineer here who budgeted 2 weeks and am definitely going to miss that target. Im in the process of redoing my own floors. All 1600sqft or so of em, stairs included. I think you can do nearly as good as the pros with some research (such as watching stuff from h2saf), but it will absolutely take you longer to do.

But it so much. Edge sanding ancient finish is a nightmare and ive gone and pulled something in my back. If i had the money i'd hire someone since the floors are all continuous and should be done all at once (that and im not moved in). If it were several rooms seperatedit wouldnt necessarily be such a pain. That and if there were newer varnish. I swear this stuff must be 40+ years old. Gummy as hell and yanks the sander. 36 grit pads last 10 feet with some careful technique and a bunch of luck.

[paulwellnitz]

I'm a carpenter who has never actually sanded an old wood floor before... until last week...he is exactly right...I was arrogant in thinking, "I work with wood every day, it's going to be easy"...how wrong I was. Dealing with stains, dips, and the DUST....!....The scratches, if you do not get them out by the time you stain, will greatly stand out. Do your research!

[sandrakayd]

Thank you so much for all the information. I'm 69 a woman, and trying to refinish my floors. It's been a lot of back breaking work so far!! So I came back to do more research. So glad I found you!! I had watched some of the I'm a perfectionist. I got the floor sanded, but was sure it wasn't going to finish well. So, after watching you, I will sand again, and get it right!! Especially love the video about the natural look, as that is what I am looking for!!