Can I refinish hardwood floors with a hand held belt sander?

Question

Can I refinish hardwood floors with a hand held belt sander?

Answer 1

NO NO NO NO, You'll get dips and all kinds of trouble. Rent the proper sander for the job.

Answer 2

I think you have valid suggestions you should follow.

   I love CAN I? questions, and my answer is usually,,, YES, followed by, But you may not be satisfied.

  The issue has nothing at all to do with the machine, or grit of paper, in this case. It does have to do with the fact that it's small, and being hand operated.

  Consider this analogy. You begin cautiously, testing the grit, the speed, the pressure needed, and in that 3 inch by 6 inch space that part that is the SHOE of the belt sander, you adjust your positions, from kneeling, to sitting, to squatting, to bending over, etc.

   Your efforts alone, and the fact that YOU will not be consistent, will affect the result. You may not even know any variances until you've spent hours in sanding, cleanup, finishing, only to see the peaks and valleys after the fact.

Steven Wolf

just my two "sense"

Answer 3

You might be able to but it would be so much work and would be almost impossible to get it as smooth and even as you would want.  I refinished the hardwood floors in my dad's rental property and it was a pain.  We rented sanders from United Rentals.  It wasn't that expensive and makes all the difference.  You need a large sander to do a majority of it and then a smaller sander to get the edges.  Start with a course sand paper and then work your way down to a finer and finer sand paper.  You have to sand the whole floor several times.

For the finish, there are some water based products you can use that are easier to do yourself and you don't have to leave the house.

Good luck!  I might be doing the same thing soon in a house i just bought.

Answer 4

no I think u would dig it out and be very uneven

Answer 5

It can be done but it is a lot of very slow work and the surface result may not be as smooth as you would like. It is very difficult to get an even surface with a hand held sander. It will tend to have waves and even gouges in it.

You would be better off renting a floor sanding machine and doing it correctly.