January 4th, 2006 | 
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butterflykiss asked:
My husband and I plan on refinishing the hardwood floors in our living and diningrooms and entrance hallway this weekend. We are renting a sander and already own a hand sander. We don’t plan on staining the wood because we want the natural color of the wood. How long do you think it will take to do? Th efloors don’t need to be sanded that much. maybe two passes. One with 60 the other with 120 grit sandpaper. We also plan on using a water based polyurethane. It dries faster and has less fumes.
Silva Dewire
My husband and I plan on refinishing the hardwood floors in our living and diningrooms and entrance hallway this weekend. We are renting a sander and already own a hand sander. We don’t plan on staining the wood because we want the natural color of the wood. How long do you think it will take to do? Th efloors don’t need to be sanded that much. maybe two passes. One with 60 the other with 120 grit sandpaper. We also plan on using a water based polyurethane. It dries faster and has less fumes.
Silva Dewire
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Sounds like a full weekend project.
dont know the sq footage but u can count on all day for the sanding and cleaning up, ( dont forget u have to tack down the floors to get all the dust up after sanding)…….allow 24 hr dry time for the poly, 3 coats…thats 4 days
tip: the fumes will still be strong….if u have small children plz remove them from the house while drying
lic. gen. contractor
That will be a very big and dusty job. Be very careful of one thing……. if you are renting a power drum sander (sandpaper is wrapped around a cylinder and the contraption sort of looks like an upright vacuum cleaner )…. make sure you don’t make divots in the wood. This is a very common problem with those types of sanders. If that’s what you’re using; when you’re done sanding, run your hands along the length of the boards to feel for any slight divots/depressions in the wood. If they are there, hand sand them out. Any slight imperfections in the sanding job will be magnified when you apply finish. Of course, you always sand with the grain. Never, ever against it. Do not use an orbiting sander for any part of the floor. All sanding must be straight in the direction of the grain or else you’ll see the sanding marks. Make sure to use a fine grit for the final sanding (120 or so). Vacuum everything thoroughly and tack cloth it. Polyurethane takes some time to dry, so any dust in the air will wind up sticking to the finish, so make sure the area is as dust free as possible. Water-based poly is easy to apply though, so that’s good. For a floor, you will need at least 3 coats. 2 coats is definitely not enough. Do not go back and forth over the same area too many times or the poly will get sticky and look like crap.
This job will take you a good 4 days if you work continuously….at least 2 days to sand and prep. Then another 2 days to apply all the finish.