After removing all the staples and nails left over from the tack strips and filling all the holes, you can start sanding your hardwood floors. I went to my local equipment rental store and rented a drum floor sander and an edge sander.  To rent these two sanders cost me about $50.  You also have to buy the sand paper that work with these sanders.  The equipment rental store has everything you need.  My total cost for the 24hr period was $130.

Below you will see a pic of the edger.  This little guy is not that little at all .  It weighs about 60 lbs and really does the job.  I used a 40 grit sanding disk to start to take off a good portion of the old varnish.   You can see the condition of the floors in the next two pictures.  There was lots of old varnish and stains.

My good friend helped me today and he did most of the edge sanding.  You can see him hard at work below.  On both of the sanders there was a dust collecting bag, and it worked wonders. I was planning on dust flying everywhere, but the dust was kept to a minimum.

The drum sander is what does most of the work.  For this sander I use a 36 grit drum paper that was provided by the rental store.  They take the time to show you how to use the machines properly, so when you leave you have a least some knowledge of the machines.   This sander can be dangerous and can quickly ruin your floor.  You need to make sure you hold on tight, lower the drum and go slow.

Below is a shot of some drum paper.  The one on the right is used up and can’t be used anymore.  You will notice a darker line on the paper, which is built up old varnish.  Make sure before you sand your floors, you clean and remove any sticky spots.  If you don’t clean the sticky spots your paper will gum up and you will waste about $8 per sheet.  One drum sand paper should last one whole room or more.

Here are some before and after shots of the living room, dining room and office.

Dining room before:

Dining room after:

Living room after:

Here is a closer shot of the floors in the living room.  As you can see they are looking great.  I bought a mouse sander to get along the baseboard.  The palm sander cost $40 on sale!

Office after sanding:

Office again:

Be sure to tune in tomorrow as I finish the office floor with a modern black stain!