I like the color orange. It’s great on tigers and, well, oranges — but not hardwood floors. Yet for a decade at least, I lived on 1 ½-in.-wide oak strips that were gradually growing dirtier and more orange, subtly shifting the ambiance of a bright, inviting living room to that of a neglected old gym (photo 1).

Resolving that it was time to refinish the floors, I had to determine whether this was a DIY project or one for the pros. To discover the benefits and drawbacks of each approach, I decided to try both so I’d know which option to recommend to other homeowners. I hired B & R Hardwood and Tile in Minneapolis to refinish the dining and living rooms (466 sq. ft.), and I did two upstairs bedrooms (360 sq. ft.) myself.

Whichever route you choose, keep in mind that:
1. Clearing the rooms is hard work — and a mess. Sliders under the furniture can make moving it easier, but unless you have storage elsewhere, you’ll have to make space for the furniture in other rooms. This means living in tight quarters and clutter during the project. In my case, it also meant moving a piano — twice.

2. The project can snowball. As you redo the floors, you might find yourself saying: “Gee, as long as the room is cleared out, I should paint! And the baseboards look pretty beat up. I’ll cut new ones. And then …” Pause and ask yourself whether all of these projects are really necessary. Doing them will prolong the time that your house is in disarray.


Go Pro
Two reasons to go with the pros:

• They’re (usually) good. They have the right equipment and expertise (photo 2). That said, some contractors can be sloppy with sanding and applying finish, late in completing the job and careless in cleanup. Get referrals and check them out before you hire anyone.

• They’re fast. This is a major consideration. Refinishing floors is stressful and upsets your normal routine. You’ll deal with noise (from sanders and buffers) as well as sawdust and fumes that manage to get past the plastic-covered doorways — in short, a lot of commotion, mess and clutter. The three-man team I hired took three days to sand and apply three coats of finish to two rooms. The two rooms I tackled, on the other hand, took three weekends to refinish.


Go DIY
Two reasons to do it yourself:

• You’re capable. You enjoy doing your own work, and you naturally take more pride in your home than hired help will. Although it took me longer to do the job, the rooms I refinished turned out as good as — maybe even better than — the ones the pros handled. I made a couple of small mistakes being too aggressive in removing gouges with a detail sander, but the floors I refinished do not have waves — and the ones the pros’ refinished do. (Don’t get me wrong, the contractors did an excellent job, and the waves are very slight; you can see them only if you look hard and take the long view of the living room floor.)

The difference was in the equipment: The pros’ big belt sander (photo 3) creates small waves unless you move it along the floor at a uniform speed. The Varathane ezV Sander I used (opening photo) had three rotating sanding drums that worked to cover each other’s edges and avoid waves. The ezV, which is said to eliminate 90 percent of airborne dust, produced good results.

• You’re cheap. I paid the pros $1,650. I saved about $1,000 by doing the bedrooms myself. My costs were from renting the sander and buying Varathane sanding discs, water-base polyurethane finish, application tools and materials.


How-to
If you choose the DIY route, wear eye, ear and knee protection as well as a respirator mask to filter dust and fumes from the air you breathe. Also, use fans to ventilate the room.

Once you’ve removed the furniture, follow this seven-step process:

Step 1: Prepare the room for sanding. Remove radiator covers (if you have them) and quarter-round molding. A DascoPro 9 ½-in. scraper/pry bar works well; use a thin piece of scrap wood to protect the baseboard and floor from denting. Mark pieces to make re-installing easy. Cover doors with plastic and tape. Remove or punch down nails; then fill the holes with wood putty (photo 4). 

Step 2: Sand the room’s perimeter three times with a random-orbit sander, first with 50-grit, then with 80-grit and finally with 100-grit sandpaper. [Note: grit numbers differ from Step 3 instructions because Varathane produces sandpaper with special grits.] With each pass, sand 6 to 12 in. along the length of the board ends and then again across the boards.

Use a detail sander to get in corners and remove spots and gouges. I did not sand under the bedroom radiators because they are normally covered. The pros used a special long-nose sander (photo 5) to reach under radiators. I’m glad they did, but it wasn’t necessary.

Step 3: Sand and sand and sand. Varathane’s Web site and training CD contain a chart detailing how much sandpaper to buy for the first pass using the company’s 36-grit sandpaper, the second using 50-grit and the third using 80-grit. The chart was way off. I kept sending my wife back to the store for what I hoped would be just a few more sandpaper packets (at $5 a pop), only to have her return for more (photo 6). A pack covered very little area during the first pass. However, the heavy ezV Sander was easy to maneuver and did a good job, and I liked that the rubber wheels were covered in plastic so they didn’t leave skid marks.

The process involves sanding along the length of the boards. Each pass covers one to two new boards with the leading edge of the sander, while the center and trailing edge of the sander cover boards that had been sanded during previous passes. You’ll need to go over high-traffic areas several times.

To change sandpaper, shut off the sander, unplug the cord and tip the sander back on its handle. The sandpaper is attached with hook-and-loop fastener; pull the sandpaper off the three padded discs (photo 7) and apply a fresh piece.

Warning from the pros: Keep your sawdust bag in the shade or take it to the trash immediately. If the bag is stored in the sun, the contents can ignite.

Step 4: Collect dust. Vacuum the floors, close the windows and clean with a damp mop. Remove your shoes and go over the floor one last time with a tack cloth wrapped around the rectangular Varathane polyurethane applicator. The applicator swivels at the end of a 5-ft. threaded broom handle.

Step 5: Apply finish. For the first coat only, the pros used their special formula of water-base polyurethane cut with oil. This had a powerful odor. They followed with two coats of water-base polyurethane, which doesn’t have nearly as much odor as oil-base. For my two rooms, I used three coats of water-base poly. The pros like water-base, saying that it is clearer, dries faster (so there’s less time for dust to settle on the surface), creates a harder finish and results in fewer customer complaints.

Except for the smell, applying the finish is a fun step. First, use a paintbrush to cover a 6- to 12-in. perimeter and tough-to-reach spots, such as under the radiator. Then use the 9-in. Varathane applicator and handle. I did not follow the method of application recommended by Varathane, which amounts to mopping on the poly in a back-and-forth motion. I copied the pros, who used an 18-in. swiveling T-bar at the end of a long handle that telescoped across the room (photo 8). I could not find this T-bar, but the Varathane applicator worked fine. I replaced the 5-ft. handle with an extendable handle purchased from a home center. This 6-ft. handle telescoped to 12 ft., which came in handy several times when I saw a spot across the room that I had missed.

The pros’ method: Pour a 1- to 2-in.-wide line of poly along the length of the boards and all the way across the room. Holding the applicator at about a 60-degree angle, pull the puddle across the room (photo 9). The puddle will move down the angle of the applicator and past the trailing edge, leaving a smooth finish. Cover a couple of boards with each pass.

When you reach the wall, lift the applicator and squish out the excess along the line of poly that remains. This helps you avoid puddles at the ends of rows when you begin the next pass along the puddle line and back across the room. You may get two to three passes out of one poured line of poly before you have to pour another line. Repeat this procedure across the whole room.

Step 6: Dry, lightly sand and repeat the application twice more. Let the first coat cure, and use the ezV and random-orbit sanders to lightly sand the finish with fine-grit paper; this creates adhesions that the next coat of finish can “grab.” Then vacuum, damp-mop and do a final cleaning pass using a tack cloth. Open windows during sanding, but close them before mopping and applying the two remaining coats. Let the final coat dry for 48 hours before moving furniture back into the room.

Step 7: Restore the room. Replace the quarter-round moldings, furniture and radiator covers. You’re done (photo 10).


The verdict
When it comes to choosing whether to do it yourself or hire professionals, consider these guidelines:

• DIY if you have little money and lot of time.

• Hire pros if you have only a casual interest in refinishing floors yourself. This is hot, sweaty, dirty, noisy, stinky, on-your-knees work, and you won’t learn many skills that carry over to other DIY projects (other than doing this again in 10 to 15 years). Nevertheless, if you’re inspired by the challenge of making a huge impact on the appearance and value of your home’s interior all by yourself, don’t be intimidated to try.

• DIY if only one or two rooms need refinishing. This way you can spread the contents of those rooms throughout the house and not feel so cramped or rushed to get things back in order, especially as the process drags on with three coats of finish. But before you start moving furniture, make sure you can rent a sander and find the specific sandpaper it requires. Varathane products are available in home centers such as Menards and The Home Depot.

• Hire pros for more than two rooms (unless you’re really into refinishing). To save some time and money, you can always hire professionals for some rooms and reserve one or two for yourself. But watch the pros before you start. You’ll learn a lot, which will make your job easier.

Either way, when the job is done, enjoy the results. Pay attention to how much brighter the room looks and how the crust-free floor shows off its color and grain and serves as a stage for your furniture, rugs and wall hangings. Now, despite all the hard work and hassle, orange you glad you refinished your floors?