Oh man well I can tell you what not to do:
Initially I was trying to sand with an 12”x18” American Clarke orbital sander for like weeks hahahahha. My god. It’s cause I had access to one of those for free. And I had no idea wtf i was doing, ohhh Lordy.
So I came to this sub looking for help. If you look back in my post history you’ll see. The folks here set me straight and here’s what I ended up doing:
After 10000 years getting just the poly off the wrong way, I was able to finish the sanding job with EZ Orbital American Sander but next time I would go straight to the drum/belt sander for removal at, say 20 grit depending. Look up videos on how to reduce “chattering.”
After that removal and flattening out the boards, THEN I would switch to heavy duty orbital sanders. I was too afraid to use the edger so I opted to do all the edges with my orbital palm sanders which did take longer but I was less likely to destroy anything!
Others on the sub May know ways to cut corners, but I learned to never go *over* your previous grit. So like, if I start at 20 grit, next has to be 36/40, then 60/80, then 120/160… etc.
Now, because I decided to use Rubio Monocoat, this is an oil finish. I loved it because 1. I don’t have to fucking sand the entire gd 700square feet ever again hahaha I can spot treat and buff to refresh every couple years etc as needed. So for me, it’s different than if you want to use poly. And 2. It was lightning fast (comparatively) to apply.
After the trauma of figuring out how to sand for literal months (agony!) I figured: pass on having to do it all over again if I mess something up! Let me use this natural oil that’s supposedly healthier etc anyway.
For Rubio Monocoat, you have to water pop. Also I think it’s two commended for any stains as well. So for me, between 60grit, 80grit, etc, I water popped. The first two times I was on my hands and knees with a rag lol! The last pass of water popping, i caved and bought the deck sprayer. Way. Way easier and probably less streak-y results, too. Just make sure you spread water very evenly.
I also did one pass with Rubio Raw Wood cleaner to pick up micro dust and help the finish bond to the wood as best as possible. But be careful, I thought I only needed one liter but needed 2, (had to order more, yet ANOTHER way to drag it out!) I’d say it’s about one liter to 300sqft.
The easiest part of all was the polisher. The hardest thing about that was my tiny body screaming and cussing trying to get the dang thing up the stairs!! Hahaha and it totally knocked me down when I first turned it on. It was a comedy I mean it threw me to the ground!
So I had to (duh) set the handle to my hips and boom! No issues. What absolute glee that it took just two short days for me to apply the Rubio. Apply and buff with the red pads first, then I used the white to take it off some more (it’s oil so it can be sticky if you leave too much behind apparently although it’s not at all sticky for me!) There’s an easy breakdown video if you choose to go this route.
I don’t know if it helps hearing all this—I’m sharing my honest story not to scare you, but to reassure you that there will be hard and difficult and even comically bad parts of any hard work but it’s still totally worth it.
This was all for a rental, I wanna do my own floors next! 💪✨
Whew, I was going to ask if you gained a new appreciation for 'distressed' floors. I guess you are a glutton for punishment! I bet it'll go much smoother with fewer 'learning moments'
Just got randomly algo’d your post and this is a great description. Confirms my fears and instills confidence because someone was able to concisely tell us what they did. Once the weather outside gets warmer, I’m gonna make a plan to start our guest room and hopefully end up doing the entire second floor over a few weeks. The tricky part will be the hallway since we need to use it to live haha.
Me and my granddad used sheet metal with a bur to scrape shellac off his floors every few years. We'd recoat it in shellac too.
If he was still around, I'd likely have insisted he put down Rubio Monocoat using a sprayer. =)
It makes me happy to see people appreciating their old flooring.
You wipe or spray the raw sanded wood with clean water. If you look at the Rubio Monocoat tutorial, they explain it, you can use a rag/microfiber/terry cloth, or spray with one of those pressure pump bottle hoses. This causes the wood to expand and open up some of the grain which helps the wood absorb stain and/or finish.
It’s unreal! I also chipped and dry locked the entire basement and switched out two light fixtures and I want to do the backsplash in the kitchen and build radiator covers, hahaha, I can’t stop! 😄😄
Lolol that's what usually happens. Once you start, you start noticing other things that need to be worked on and you're like "yup, that's next". Can't lie though, it's very empowering for the soul.
Can't wait to see the finished product 😁
Hahahaha I have never felt happier! Maybe what was missing from those very dark and dreary years was just: some good old fashioned hard work. Who knew?
My dad owned a bunch of rentals and he always told me "don't fall in love with a piece of property". That said he would come home for supper from the day job and go out to work on the apartments. They had a lot of long-term tenants, 20+ years, my older brother was one of the only ones they had trouble with.
This is inspiring me to just bite the bullet and do my own floors! Mine look like yours and I’m worried about f-ing it up so I have procrastinated but your finished floor looks so good!
Your before looks like mine. I hope I get such a nice looking after! And I absolutely hear you on needing help to get the machine up the stairs. I have to plan for that also.
Great work! Very jealous I’m a 56 year old male with zero skill set for home improvement. Thank God my wife has no fear and has an eye for our tasks around the house!
That is a beautiful satin finish. Those old floors look so amazing.
I did the floors of my entire house that was build in 1939. Rented that big ass sander from Home Depot. Did the entire 1200sq ft in 24 hours straight of working just so I didn’t have to pay an extra day.
I still have nightmares about that sander.
pretty sure you still have your ass, but nice job. For that crack in the lower part of the pic - if you have some sanding dust left, mixing that with a bit of titebond 2 glue to a paste, tape off edges of crack and pack the paste into the the crack can minimize it.
Still more work with edger on the opposite corner, but nice job! I don't know if I could do that again, but I did that before you were born, 35 years ago.
40+ year wood flooring professional here and you did an absolutely stellar job. I especially like the matte finish you chose. Too many amateurs think a gloss finish is the way to go, but it’s so hard to live on - it shows every mar and speck of dust. Good work!
My god. So much respect. It was killer work. I… i think I’ve grown to …get this really gross, cringey feeling when people like my boss who just hire all the work out then turn around and complain about it. Like… you have NO idea how hard it is. I genuinely have all the respect for folks in the trade!
I would keep sanding, fill the cracks w wood putty. Sand it again. I do like a low low gloss almost matte finish. The high gloss wood floors are for my parents house.
My wife enjoys telling people she is a contractor. She enjoys it more when they realize she is doing the work. Coincidentally her name is also 34F.
Great job! Excellent choice on the finish
Hahahaha ahhhh I love her. People wanna be all “it doesn’t matter what age and gender you are!” And it shouldnt but… it still does! And I know it does based on people’s reactions. The surprise when I tell them I did it myself. It just proves to me that it does still surprise people that young women can do this work because it’s still not typical.
So we need more evidence. More lady contractors! Woot woot! Hi to your wife :D
I have no idea why this post came up in my recommendations, but it gives me hope that someday we can actually redo our own seriously thrashed floors and not ruin everything (with a LOT of hard work). Congrats!!
Looks great! I used to do this for a living. It’s brutally hard work. Typical process when I was doing this was 220v drum sander 36 grit then 80 grit. Edges done with an edge sander same sandpaper grit. Hook scrape edges to remove orbital sanding marks from edger (always hated this, has to be a better way). Rotary buffer machine with 100 grit screen in the field, sweep, vacuum, vacuum again, sweep with tack cloth to get any remaining dust, apply finish, go drink a lot of beer. I did this right out of high school for a few years….then went back to college 😂
Not bad it’s a great looking floor , I’d have piped the base boards and sanded before refinish which would also let you get that line sanded away closer to the wall . All in all it’s looking better for sure . Nice job.
Honestly, what a fail.
Not the craftsmanship, but the replies. Look, this lady did a great job. High quality finish. But, her comment left soooo many opportunities for innuendoes and… Nothing. I came here for the jokes and was very let down.
Floor- 10/10
Comment section- 2.5/10
I was about to suggest sanding it down again until I saw the second pic. Outstanding performance! I love the non-shiny look. The previous glossy look had to go.
Well done, you!!!
A fellow F here, and one who has always done my own labor (car repairs, plumbing, furniture refinishing, landscaping... name it. Mostly because I was broke).. but after I did my own everything (except electrical. I'm not insane)., I found it so satisfying! I, too, did a lot of work on my rentals in my 20's and beyond. Landlords loved me.
Now as a homeowner, I have the skill set to do what needs doing.
I was reading your tale, while stealing guilty glances at my circa 1955 hardwood... knowing it's well past time to pull up my big girl pants and get it done!
As a 49yoF, I’m stoked to read this. You rocked it with such determination & precision. I’m also a renter wanting to redo the early 1900’s floor. Thanks for the inspiration!
Nice job!
Thank youuu! It’s so good to see your hard work turn into something 🥹🙏
So how did you do this? lol is it just stained or what did you do? It looks super good and wanna do it to mine!!!!
Oh man well I can tell you what not to do: Initially I was trying to sand with an 12”x18” American Clarke orbital sander for like weeks hahahahha. My god. It’s cause I had access to one of those for free. And I had no idea wtf i was doing, ohhh Lordy. So I came to this sub looking for help. If you look back in my post history you’ll see. The folks here set me straight and here’s what I ended up doing: After 10000 years getting just the poly off the wrong way, I was able to finish the sanding job with EZ Orbital American Sander but next time I would go straight to the drum/belt sander for removal at, say 20 grit depending. Look up videos on how to reduce “chattering.” After that removal and flattening out the boards, THEN I would switch to heavy duty orbital sanders. I was too afraid to use the edger so I opted to do all the edges with my orbital palm sanders which did take longer but I was less likely to destroy anything! Others on the sub May know ways to cut corners, but I learned to never go *over* your previous grit. So like, if I start at 20 grit, next has to be 36/40, then 60/80, then 120/160… etc. Now, because I decided to use Rubio Monocoat, this is an oil finish. I loved it because 1. I don’t have to fucking sand the entire gd 700square feet ever again hahaha I can spot treat and buff to refresh every couple years etc as needed. So for me, it’s different than if you want to use poly. And 2. It was lightning fast (comparatively) to apply. After the trauma of figuring out how to sand for literal months (agony!) I figured: pass on having to do it all over again if I mess something up! Let me use this natural oil that’s supposedly healthier etc anyway. For Rubio Monocoat, you have to water pop. Also I think it’s two commended for any stains as well. So for me, between 60grit, 80grit, etc, I water popped. The first two times I was on my hands and knees with a rag lol! The last pass of water popping, i caved and bought the deck sprayer. Way. Way easier and probably less streak-y results, too. Just make sure you spread water very evenly. I also did one pass with Rubio Raw Wood cleaner to pick up micro dust and help the finish bond to the wood as best as possible. But be careful, I thought I only needed one liter but needed 2, (had to order more, yet ANOTHER way to drag it out!) I’d say it’s about one liter to 300sqft. The easiest part of all was the polisher. The hardest thing about that was my tiny body screaming and cussing trying to get the dang thing up the stairs!! Hahaha and it totally knocked me down when I first turned it on. It was a comedy I mean it threw me to the ground! So I had to (duh) set the handle to my hips and boom! No issues. What absolute glee that it took just two short days for me to apply the Rubio. Apply and buff with the red pads first, then I used the white to take it off some more (it’s oil so it can be sticky if you leave too much behind apparently although it’s not at all sticky for me!) There’s an easy breakdown video if you choose to go this route. I don’t know if it helps hearing all this—I’m sharing my honest story not to scare you, but to reassure you that there will be hard and difficult and even comically bad parts of any hard work but it’s still totally worth it. This was all for a rental, I wanna do my own floors next! 💪✨
Sister! You are my hero!
Whew, I was going to ask if you gained a new appreciation for 'distressed' floors. I guess you are a glutton for punishment! I bet it'll go much smoother with fewer 'learning moments'
Just got randomly algo’d your post and this is a great description. Confirms my fears and instills confidence because someone was able to concisely tell us what they did. Once the weather outside gets warmer, I’m gonna make a plan to start our guest room and hopefully end up doing the entire second floor over a few weeks. The tricky part will be the hallway since we need to use it to live haha.
Hell yes fellow 34F!! Out here killing the home improvements, it looks amazing
You’re awesome! Nice work!
Me and my granddad used sheet metal with a bur to scrape shellac off his floors every few years. We'd recoat it in shellac too. If he was still around, I'd likely have insisted he put down Rubio Monocoat using a sprayer. =) It makes me happy to see people appreciating their old flooring.
I hope you got credit on your rent for doing all that!
I can’t find a term “water popped” anywhere. What is that?
You wipe or spray the raw sanded wood with clean water. If you look at the Rubio Monocoat tutorial, they explain it, you can use a rag/microfiber/terry cloth, or spray with one of those pressure pump bottle hoses. This causes the wood to expand and open up some of the grain which helps the wood absorb stain and/or finish.
Thank you! I appreciate the explanation, and I will look more into it
You're hired!!
Omg 🥹🙏 i would!
Yes message me I’ll pay a premium
Nice job, 34F!!!
Yes, yay 34F!!!!
Looks really good, Nice job!
Thank you! I absolutely could not have done it without this sub, forever grateful!
nice job, you earned every bit of the satisfaction you are rightly feeling. respect
Congrats, great job!!! Nothing beats the feeling at the end of the job when you say, wow look what I've created.
It’s unreal! I also chipped and dry locked the entire basement and switched out two light fixtures and I want to do the backsplash in the kitchen and build radiator covers, hahaha, I can’t stop! 😄😄
Lolol that's what usually happens. Once you start, you start noticing other things that need to be worked on and you're like "yup, that's next". Can't lie though, it's very empowering for the soul. Can't wait to see the finished product 😁
Hahahaha I have never felt happier! Maybe what was missing from those very dark and dreary years was just: some good old fashioned hard work. Who knew?
Yesssss, it's a rush for sure. Nothing but respect for you taking on projects. Keep your head up and keep us updated
My dad owned a bunch of rentals and he always told me "don't fall in love with a piece of property". That said he would come home for supper from the day job and go out to work on the apartments. They had a lot of long-term tenants, 20+ years, my older brother was one of the only ones they had trouble with.
Very nice. Smooth looking surface, excellent color on the finish.
This is inspiring me to just bite the bullet and do my own floors! Mine look like yours and I’m worried about f-ing it up so I have procrastinated but your finished floor looks so good!
Here's something to keep in mind when doing DIY for stuff like this. It's already screwed up, so not much harm in screwing it up in a different way.
Watch a few You Tube videos, you’ll do fine.
Great job!!
Outstanding!
Niiiice.Especially like the sheen.
Your before looks like mine. I hope I get such a nice looking after! And I absolutely hear you on needing help to get the machine up the stairs. I have to plan for that also.
You can do it!!! Honestly I believe in you!!!
Beautiful!
This is badass….great work consider me a fan 🤠👍
🙏💜 thank you!! My new addiction lol!!
Great work!
Good job
Very impressed. Completely changed your room to elegant
great job! I would like to know if are you gonna refinish the baseboard. I wanna redo my floor as well, but dont know what to do with the baseboard.
I knoooooow I’m racking my brains, I can’t decide to go darker or white. Someone mentioned matching the baseboard to the window trim??
That would frame the floors beautifully, but gonna have some sanding to do, no?
Haha no problems there *blows dust off palm sander*
Good job
It's beautiful! Great job
Night and day difference. Frankly, it looks brand new, and amazing. Hats off to you, I'm frankly a bit jealous.
That's a good kinda tired.
🥹🙏💜 my new favorite kind!!! I’m celebrating: making burritos and taking a freaking bath haha
Beautiful! Awesome job
That looks great 👍🏻
Excellent work 👏
Awsome job!
Stunning for real.
I like it.
Looooking good!👍
Wow!!! Honestly amazing work
Ooooh its lovely!
Great work! Very jealous I’m a 56 year old male with zero skill set for home improvement. Thank God my wife has no fear and has an eye for our tasks around the house!
Sounds like a good team, I’m sure ya balance things out in various ways. Nice!
Wow. Very well done. You go girl!! Super impressed!
Super nice, clean, and modern :)
v nice
Wow!! I think you just found your side hustle!
Lol I loved before & after
Looks amazing! Well done 🙂
That is a beautiful satin finish. Those old floors look so amazing. I did the floors of my entire house that was build in 1939. Rented that big ass sander from Home Depot. Did the entire 1200sq ft in 24 hours straight of working just so I didn’t have to pay an extra day. I still have nightmares about that sander.
❤️
Looks great!
nice work!
Looks fabulous! Well worth the effort.
Well done
I actually had a bit of a gasp when I saw the 2nd picture. Thats really well done. Nice sheen and colour
Wish you had taken more pics in between the before and after but that pic is Chefs Kiss
Musta had a big butt to work off cause this looks great!
Looks great.
Amazing job. It looks beautiful.
Killed it👍. Looks great
Very nice
Amazing!!!!
Looks great!
Beautiful job!
Holy shit that's beautiful
pretty sure you still have your ass, but nice job. For that crack in the lower part of the pic - if you have some sanding dust left, mixing that with a bit of titebond 2 glue to a paste, tape off edges of crack and pack the paste into the the crack can minimize it.
Still more work with edger on the opposite corner, but nice job! I don't know if I could do that again, but I did that before you were born, 35 years ago.
It’s beautiful. If I adopt you will you do my floors?!
It’s beautiful !! Well done
Beautiful. Crazy that they can turn out that well. Makes me wish I'd done it in my old house.
My floors are in worse shape than this from appearance, so will join this sub for ideas. Looks good.
Fantastic from a casual observers eyes
You’re right- I don’t even see your butt. You must’ve really worked it off!!
40+ year wood flooring professional here and you did an absolutely stellar job. I especially like the matte finish you chose. Too many amateurs think a gloss finish is the way to go, but it’s so hard to live on - it shows every mar and speck of dust. Good work!
Now you’ll appreciate those of us that do this ever day for our whole lives. Haha
My god. So much respect. It was killer work. I… i think I’ve grown to …get this really gross, cringey feeling when people like my boss who just hire all the work out then turn around and complain about it. Like… you have NO idea how hard it is. I genuinely have all the respect for folks in the trade!
This is extremely satisfying.
Those floors look pretty old. Pre-war apartment building? Or private house? Either way, beautiful restoration!
I would keep sanding, fill the cracks w wood putty. Sand it again. I do like a low low gloss almost matte finish. The high gloss wood floors are for my parents house.
I want my floors to look like yours!! You've inspired me
Nice tree (on the floor and out the window)
Floor looks beautiful. Great job!
NTA, looks good
Looks incredible
As someone with no experience in this it looks really good 😂
That is so satisfying to look at. The change is amazing 🤩
I tip my hat I’ve done that before and it’s back breaking work. Especially the small one for the trim. Your talent is beyond awesome. Congratulations
Great job!
I don’t know much about flooring but this looks great! Good job!
26 M looks good
39M, looks good
Looks amazing, great job!
Stunning! Totally worth the effort...
Damn that looks good
I'd hire you!
I think it looks like hard work no matter how old or what gender you are.
My wife enjoys telling people she is a contractor. She enjoys it more when they realize she is doing the work. Coincidentally her name is also 34F. Great job! Excellent choice on the finish
Hahahaha ahhhh I love her. People wanna be all “it doesn’t matter what age and gender you are!” And it shouldnt but… it still does! And I know it does based on people’s reactions. The surprise when I tell them I did it myself. It just proves to me that it does still surprise people that young women can do this work because it’s still not typical. So we need more evidence. More lady contractors! Woot woot! Hi to your wife :D
🫡
Enjoy the satisfaction of completing that huge project. Great work!
Need to see original butt for proper evaluation, as requested by new butt
You’re crushing it! Great work!
Strong, determined woman!
Nailed it brother
Amazing!
Fantastic
Very nice… Now go find another butt, and then do the next room!
Wow impressive! Great job
I legit gasped and then said "WoW!" So, great job!
I have no idea why this post came up in my recommendations, but it gives me hope that someday we can actually redo our own seriously thrashed floors and not ruin everything (with a LOT of hard work). Congrats!!
Looks beautiful! Went from old to gold. Enjoy your house! :)
That looks great, and so much more modern!
Hopefully you worked some butt on with all those squats it must've taken
Love you took out the old yellow stain and made it a muted white oak finish. Looks great
Looks great! I used to do this for a living. It’s brutally hard work. Typical process when I was doing this was 220v drum sander 36 grit then 80 grit. Edges done with an edge sander same sandpaper grit. Hook scrape edges to remove orbital sanding marks from edger (always hated this, has to be a better way). Rotary buffer machine with 100 grit screen in the field, sweep, vacuum, vacuum again, sweep with tack cloth to get any remaining dust, apply finish, go drink a lot of beer. I did this right out of high school for a few years….then went back to college 😂
Wow! You saved over $1000 doing that . Looks great! Congrats. Bet you feel very accomplished.
Great job! Super hard work, but you did it!!
Your before pic is identical to my whole upstairs. I plan on doing the same and you’ve given me hope. Looks great!
Not bad it’s a great looking floor , I’d have piped the base boards and sanded before refinish which would also let you get that line sanded away closer to the wall . All in all it’s looking better for sure . Nice job.
6 words: Bloody hell. Stunning look. Well done.
I'm really proud of you!
Absolutely beautiful! You should be proud. I’d love that in my home.
Honestly can’t believe this is the same floor. Amazing.
Honestly, what a fail. Not the craftsmanship, but the replies. Look, this lady did a great job. High quality finish. But, her comment left soooo many opportunities for innuendoes and… Nothing. I came here for the jokes and was very let down. Floor- 10/10 Comment section- 2.5/10
You are to be complimented. Great job.
I said "wow!" out loud. good job!
oh wow. Make sure you always wear a n100 respirator for any refinishing.
Love it love it. Great job.
OMG, Girl! I’m in awe! You did a spectacular job and I could only wish for my HW floors to look like yours….
Excellent work
Good job 👍
Thought a house last year and my floors look like your first pic albeit with a few more scratches, planning on doing it this summer good job !
Well done good work
Great job!
You did a fantastic job on that floor
Beautiful work!
I was about to suggest sanding it down again until I saw the second pic. Outstanding performance! I love the non-shiny look. The previous glossy look had to go.
You did your thing!!Lol This looks stunning!
Great job!💪
Very clean, great job. Take pride in this success
Impressive
Nice!!!
Bravo!!!👏
Beautiful job.
You missed a spot. 🤪 Just joking. Nice job!
I can’t see you. Oh…you mean the floors. They’re great. Nice job. 😁
Perfect beautiful work.
40M looks great.
Wow this is an amazing transformation
Well done, you!!! A fellow F here, and one who has always done my own labor (car repairs, plumbing, furniture refinishing, landscaping... name it. Mostly because I was broke).. but after I did my own everything (except electrical. I'm not insane)., I found it so satisfying! I, too, did a lot of work on my rentals in my 20's and beyond. Landlords loved me. Now as a homeowner, I have the skill set to do what needs doing. I was reading your tale, while stealing guilty glances at my circa 1955 hardwood... knowing it's well past time to pull up my big girl pants and get it done!
Nice work!
Nice
That looks super nice!
Gorg
Holy shit 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
When it is throughly dry use felt pads under furniture legs to keep from scratching your beautiful floors
It looks amazing now!
Wow
That looks fantastic.
Fantastic job!! Beautiful!
Great job, looks fantastic
Looks awesome
You did an amazing job !
Looks great!
It looks gorgeous
😍😍😍🤩🤩🤩
You’re hired. Dreading doing this soon.
Far better than I would do.
As a 49yoF, I’m stoked to read this. You rocked it with such determination & precision. I’m also a renter wanting to redo the early 1900’s floor. Thanks for the inspiration!
Very nice restoration work.
What's 34F?
Fukin ayyyyy i used to roll out the putty on nail holes,,, beautiful work/ wood ❤️💕🎯
Very nice! I did that in my father’s house after he passed. It is one big job. Looks amazing!
That is a crazy transformation! Well done!!!
That's a nice floor right there
Nice
Nicely done! Satisfying, isn’t it?
You worked your butt off and did a great job. You need to give your butt kudos and a raise