Sanding and Stripping

• The first step in refinishing a hardwood floor is taking off the old finish. To do a proper job, you'll need to take off the baseboard trim and door casings first. This means hammers and pry bars. Label the molding as you take it off so you can return it to its original location later.
  
  Sand your floors back to bare wood with a large walk-behind sander. There are a few different models of these, which can be rented from most home improvement centers or hardware stores.
  
  The first is a vibrating plate model. These are best used when only light sanding is needed, as they can take a long time to strip a floor bare. The benefit to a vibrating plate sander is that it can be used with the grain or across the grain with no ill effects.
  
  The second type of walk-behind sander is a drum sander. This type of sander has a large spinning drum onto which you fit a sleeve of abrasive paper. The drum is started and the machine carefully tipped forward to contact the floor. This machine can only be used when sanding with the grain, never across it. It also can leave gouges at the beginning or end of a path. On the plus side, drum sanders remove finish quickly.
  
  The best of both worlds can be found in the third type of sander: the orbital pad sander. This type of sander has three rotating, vibrating pads and can be pushed around, with or across the grain. It's not as fast as a drum sander, but the ease of use makes up for it.
  
  You'll also need an edge sander. This sander has one rotating pad like the walk-behind orbital, and two guide rollers. The guide rollers ride against the wall. This machine lets you get right up to the edge of your floors, but it must be pushed around from a kneeling position, so consider knee pads.
  
  You'll also need a razor-sharp scraper to scrape away any excess finish in the corners.
  
  

Applying the Finish

• Once your floors are bare, you'll have to apply a new finish. The most common finish is polyurethane, either oil-based or water-based. Either one can be applied with a roller or a fleece applicator. If you use a roller, use only covers with very short nap to avoid bubbles and flecks. Get a long handle for your roller or fleece applicator to save your back.
  
  You'll have to sand lightly between coats of polyurethane. Use drywall sanding screens and a screen holder, available near drywall supplies in most home improvement stores.
  
  Also, get tack cloth to wipe up any dust from sanding so it doesn't get in your next coat of polyurethane. You can use the long roller handle and sanding screen holder to hold the cloth, then push it around like a push broom.