DIY hardwood floor store (Raleigh: short sale, rent, house)

[Robeward]

Closing on a house in wake forest soon. The house has hardwood floors and I have never had them before. At first we said they looked fine but then decided that now is our best chance to work on them since there is no furniture and we have other things to do before moving in.

After some reading online I am considering screening and recoating intead of complete resurface. Any stores that rent the equipment in the area that could also provide some advice also?

I would like to investigate the DIY route in addition to having a professional do the work. Any advice in this area on options I have are much appreciated. Thanks.

[Bpobill]

Originally Posted by Robeward

Closing on a house in wake forest soon. The house has hardwood floors and I have never had them before. At first we said they looked fine but then decided that now is our best chance to work on them since there is no furniture and we have other things to do before moving in.

After some reading online I am considering screening and recoating intead of complete resurface. Any stores that rent the equipment in the area that could also provide some advice also?

I would like to investigate the DIY route in addition to having a professional do the work. Any advice in this area on options I have are much appreciated. Thanks.

Are they real or engineered? Site finished or pre finished? Pros use different styles of sanders than big box stores rent.

Take it from someone who spent hours upon hours of research in the DIY route for wood floors. In the end I ended up finding someone who did them for not a lot of money and they look amazing. I sourced this person from a builder that uses him in $500k homes and also just did his personal residence too.

The guy I used charges $3 per square foot to install, sand, stain, and apply poly, and that includes stain and poly in that cost. I don't know what he would charge to screen or redo your floors but if you send me a PM I can send you his info. He's reliable and does amazing work. Maybe $1.50-$2.00 range?? Not sure tbh

[Robeward]

They are real. Not sure about the finish. I assumed the likely response were going to be hire someone. Not totally against it but figured if there was a source where I could feel confident enough I would consider giving it a go myself

[aggie_diva]

Bpobill,

Would you mind PMing me his info? I just found out today that my offer on a house in Raleigh was accepted by the bank after a very long.... "short sale". I need to have the red oak floors in the front rooms refinished and want to install site-finished red oak floors in the back areas. Thanks much!

[NYC2RDU]

I've done a full sand and reseal myself and it's a challenge for someone who has never done it before. Screening and recoating probably isn't nearly as big of a deal.

But I definitely agree with your timing; do it before there's furniture in the rooms. We just had hardwoods installed on our second floor and it took a full day to move three bedrooms worth of furniture and then another day to move it all back.