Day Four: Refinishing Hardwood Floors

If I had to describe this day in three words they would be dusty, dusty, and more dusty.

We started early today by going to get breakfast at the ever delicious Pancake Pantry downtown Nashville. They have the BEST pancakes...mmMmm!

We then rented an Essex Silverline drum sander and an edger from Sunbelt rentals, which together cost us about $80 a day. We also purchased 36, 60, 100 grit sandpaper and got an "educational" video.

My mom and the Mr started sanding the floors, and I went to sleep in the car for a few hours (I worked the night before at the hospital).

When I woke up the house was partially sanded and they had some very sore muscles.

They learned a few tricks along the way as they used the sander, like pulling up on the machine while walking forward and backwards and walking slow (while being sure to keep moving). We always started a new project/machine in the master bedroom (because our bed will be covering most of the floor if we mess it up anyways!)

The edger could have a story of its own. It was do-able but VERY difficult to control and very heavy also. This was the least 'user friendly' tool. Be ready to have sore arms and back after this one! We were so thankful for my brave mom who did all the edges!

We  (meaning my mom and the Mr.) sanded the entire house twice with 36 grit, once with 60 and once with 100 grit sandpaper. I was the official sweeper, picture taker and cord holder :-)

While sanding, we swept and vacuumed constantly. It is important to do this, especially between grits so that you can see the condition of the floors. And to have a 'clean' working surface.

One thing we would have done differently was rent the tools from an actual flooring company. We learned later, when we went to get our stain and polyurethane from a flooring company, that it is important to have the edger "set" correctly, and that regular rental stores aren't very good at keeping these maintained and set properly. I would definitely recommend renting these items from a flooring company, they are MUCH more knowledgeable and helpful with hints and tricks etc.

We got all the hardwoods sanded, approximately 800 sq ft, in one long day of hard work. And were very thankful to be done. We were sore and tired but finished. At least for this step.

Here are some pictures of the fun surprises I found outside! We have poppys and hydrangeas!