I'm planning on sanding the floors in my living room and bedroom. I want to stain them a deep rich brown.

I know that it's better to have them professionally done but I'd like to do them myself.

Anyone have any words of wisdom?

Have patience and take your time.

Ask the peeps @ Home Depot. If they are actually good in their dept. they can tell you all you need to do. Also, you can find instuctional videos online for just about everything.....

Nothinbutjoy said:

Thanks love. My threads have been bombing lately.

And if I mess up it's my house, right?

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

That's right...you can keep doing the floors until you like how they look.

Get a lot of friends to come over and help. We do that, we have a barbque, some wine and beer good friends that are willing to help. We are always up to going to our friends to help, and they in turn come here.

I would hire out at least for the sanding part,the staining,and poly urethane you could do your self.

Assuming you're talking about hardwood floors. The issues of dust was a major deterrent for me, trying to keep it from going all over the house by blocking the door ways with plastic. I was told to actually cover them with damp sheets, but never got that far. 2 coats of polyeruthane don't seem to be enough for longevity.

Thanks you guys for the advice so far. I'm taking note.

Nothinbutjoy said:

I can keep sanding them down until I hit the basement.

PaisleyPark5083 said:

That is actually a great idea. I'll be expecting you at 8am Saturday morning.....

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[Edited 8/18/09 5:31am]

EmeraldSkies said:

I've done my own floors and the sanding is tougher than it looks. You can easily gouge a floor, not follow the grain so well, or leave edges and corners less than thoroughly sanded, all of which can make your work look unprofessionally done. The staining and polyurethaning you can do yourself to save money. Just ventilate well, and be patient enough to apply (and wait between) several coats for the best finish.

Don't wear your dressy kneepads.

Thanks again you guys. Great advice so far.

John! Thpppppt!! I was going to wear my Tinky Winky kneepads.

http://www.hgtv.com/home-...index.html

http://www.hometime.com/H...loor_6.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_1...floor.html

http://webapps.easy2.com/...d=35798952

I'll give you a hand too if you'd like... special price for orgers!

RenHoek said:

Thank you sooo much. I'm gonna give these articles a look-see.

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

This is an acquaintance of mine...

http://www.avisfloors.com...fault.aspx

but he does the super high end stuff, I can always ask him for pointers though...

Also my two other contacts, turns out one of them is only licensed to do commercial work and the other said he doesn't go to San Jose for less than six figures...

Go for a Low VOC stain.

I did this in my old house throughout and just one room so far in the new (very old) house.

You are right to do it yourself, they look fantastic when you are done and the hard work (and it is hard work) pays off. You and the floor sit there beaming afterwards. Depending on the area pick the right sander to rent. Only use a course grain paper if there is a lot of shit on the floor already. It is better to use a medium grain and perhaps use more paper up. One mistake groove cut with that heavy paper is impossible to remove!

When you stain don't use a liquid stain. Buy a top quality wax stain and apply with a fine wire wool, multiple applications, again loads of work but the floor will look fantastic afterwards.

Good luck,

we've been considering doing this as well - our hardwood floors are just destroyed - but we think we're probably just going to go with wood laminate. We're not really into working all that hard

PREDOMINANT said:

Thanks so much. The good thing is that it's only two rooms and they are only 10'x11'. Let's hope this works out.

abigail05 said:

I considered that too. If I mess it up, that's what I'm doing.
Some of the laminate that I've seen looks great.

Just relax, if you really mess up...you can add carpet!

PaisleyPark5083 said:

or set fire to the place...

RenHoek said:

Hmmmmm.....

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

RenHoek said:

Love that .gif!!!

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

Large belt sander

PREDOMINANT said:

You think? Because I was thinking about getting something small instead of one of those giant machines. I know it'll be more work but it seems like I would have more control over the darn thing.