If you can’t afford a professional and you’re set on a DIY solution to fixing wood floors that aren’t in terrible shape, but could use a lift, here’s a link to a tutorial from This Old House on How to Refinish Wood Floors. By “refinish” they’re not referring to a full sanding, but to a buff and coat or what he calls “scuff-sand” and a coat.
The main risks to attempting this are swirl marks that are much more visible than a pro would have, and problems with finish adhesion and so forth (issues could arise from simply not following directions/missing a step, or contaminants, or stop and start marks, etc.) There’s certainly risk (See Please hire a reputed professional! article), but This Old House magazine’s article at least has steps to DIY refinish hardwood floors w/ pictures. There are probably video tutorials on YouTube as well. You may want to browse around our Problems With Finish category and others to gain some foresight as a preventive measure.
Related Questions
DIY Buff and coat?I recently moved into a home with hardwood floors, and although they’re in good shape they look as though they could use an extra layer of protection. I’m wondering if there is a DIY way to add a layer of protection, like polyurethane (or something better) that will still leave…
Do it yourself sanding or buff and coat?My questions to you are: what should be used to fill the long gaps between boards(1/16" to 1/8") at most? And second, should we take the floor completely down by sanding, i.e. start over with the finish, or buff the floor with screen and buffing pads before re-coating?
Buff after last coat?Q: I did a refinish and 3 coats of oil based polyurethane. I was wondering when I go to buff after the last coat 1) How long do I wait? and 2) Should I use a wax? What kind if so? A: After the last, 3rd coat of oil based…
DIY buff and coat for worn and scratched wood floorQ: I have a wide plank soft pine floor, 20x20, with a polyurethane finish. It has worn spots and my dog has left scratches. *I* want to re finish and would appreciate any info/how-to. A: The best advice I can give you is to leave this work to a professional.…
What to expect from a simple buff and coatI want my five units to be lightly buffed and recoated. The floors are very bad. I can not afford to replace them. How would the scratches look after screening and recoating with oil poly?
DIY?We have a 3000 sq. foot hard wood dance floor (we think it's oak, but not sure). We are looking at a minwax polyurethane water based clear finish. We are doing this job ourselves, sanding, sealing and finishing. We want to know which of their four options is the best…