Sanding and staining wood floors?

Question

How much approx would it cost to rent a sander, sand and stain 320 sq ft?

Answer 1

About $40 for the sander rental.  $10 for the stain.  $10 for the Holloway's wood floor wax.  Do not use polyurethane or anything else that dries to a hard surface.  Use the Holloway's (not sure about the spelling).  I bought a bottle at Kroger's the last time I needed some.

Answer 2

just about 100 dollars.. I would recomend not getting a square floor sander as it takes more time.. I would use a circular floor sander (more like a floor polisher) with the screen like sand paper. depending on if you taking off old stain or not start with a lower grit  then go to a higher one..you will need to get a hand held palm sander to get close to wall and things like that..but the buffer type sander is alot faster and easy to use once you get the hang of it.

Answer 3

Call Home Depot rental they have prices on floor sanders. The question I have is have you ever refinished floors before, this is not a DIY type of job, it takes some time and practise to get to use this machine, you can eat up a wood floor real fast if you don't know what your doing. Good luck

www.frankawitz.net

Answer 4

Before attempting to sand the floor, eliminate any squeaks and/or loose boards using surface nails. Reset any pre-existing surface nails whose heads are not at already least 1/16" below the surface. Replace any damaged boards that cannot be remedied with wood filler.

Here is the floor refinishing process:

If there are no old drum marks from a previous sanding job:

Try #40 grit sandpaper using an 8 inch drum floor sander walking parallel to the boards. If the paper gums up, then the floors probably have wax or varnish on them. Remove it using #24 grit sandpaper, then #40 grit on a floor sander walking parallel to the boards.

If there are old drum marks the previous sanding job:

Use #40 grit sandpaper on a floor sander walking 15 degree from parallel to the boards, then #40 grit again walking parallel to the boards.

Use a flexible 4" putty knife to press wood colored filler to fill any cracks and nail holes.

Resand with #80 grit sandpaper on a floor sander walking parallel to the boards.

The areas (mostly the 4" along the walls) that cannot be reached by the floor sander must be sanded with a 7" diameter floor edger. Try #80 grit edger discs on a while moving from side to side holding the edger perpendicular to the wall. If the paper gums up, use #40 grit edger discs, then #80 grit.

The area the edger cannot reach (mostly in corners and at door trim) must be hand scraped with a very sharp paint scraper. Use a metal file to frequently resharpen.

Use a 16" diameter buffing machine (the machine that people use to wax linoleum floors) with a #120 grit screen on the whole floor.

Sweep, vacuum and tack up all dust.

If you want to stain your floors before applying finish, then paint the stain on parallel to the boards and wipe off within a minute or two. Let stain dry according to manufacturer's instructions. There are many solvent-based and water-based flooring stains and finishes available. Hardwood flooring companies can provide better advice than your local lumber yard or paint store.

Apply 1st coat of finish. I use a small brush for nooks and crannies, and for most of the floor I use a 14" applicator that is essentially a fixed roller that does not turn. The finish should be applied parallel to the boards as much as is possible. No matter how fast the finish dries, let it sit at least overnight before the next step.

Again use buffing machine, lightly this time either with a maroon buffing pad or with a worn #120 grit screen.

Sweep, vacuum and tack up all dust.

Apply 2nd and 3rd coats of finish.

Although many finishes can be walked on after waiting overnight or even later the same day, they take time to fully cure and should not have furniture placed on them sooner than a few days later.

Rental machines:  If you are working alone, do not rent more than one machine at a time.  The drum sanders rented out by places like Home Depot weigh about 100 lbs, cost about $70/day plus the overpriced sandpaper that they sell you.  While they sand more agressively than the square orbital flooring sanders, I still have a low opinion of them because they take about 4 times as long as the drum sander that I use (that weighs about 200 lbs and requires 220V electricity).  

The rental edgers cost about $35/day, plus the overpriced sandpaper that they sell you.  There are pretty strong aggressive edgers available for rental, but rarely are they able to reach all the way beneath the "kick" of kitchen cabinets, so if you are doing a kitchen call a professional.  

The buffer costs about $30/day.  You will only need one screen, and maybe one maroon buffing pad.

Cost of stain and finish: If you choose to stain the floor, you will need one gallon.  Prices depends on what you choose.  Maybe $25.

The amount and cost of finish depends upon what product you choose.  I buy products made by Bona Kemi Corp. wholesale and my cost would be about $25 for 1 gallon of their solvent based sanding sealer that covers 400 sq ft.  My wholesale cost ranges from $62 to $84 per gallon on a variety of water based finishes that cover 700 sq ft.  1 1/2 gallons would be needed to apply 3 coats on 325 sq ft, so you would have to buy 2 gallons.  Retail prices are probably about 40% higher for these particular products.  Or you

Source(s):

30 years experience in the hardwood flooring business.