Our first home improvement project! Since we had some time in between moving, we thought it would be a great opportunity to re-finish the hardwood floors before we brought in all of the furniture and boxes. All of the rooms in the house, except the kitchen and bathrooms, are hardwood so this was a pretty big project. With estimates of hiring a contractor coming out to $1000-2000, we knew this would definitely be a DIY improvement. Besides, Eric LOVES home improvement projects so getting someone else to do it is never an option. When I say we re-finished the floors, I really mean that Eric re-finished the floors! AND he did a FANTASTIC job 🙂
Before: scratched and dull
After: Shiny and new!
Basically he rented a big sander and a hand-held one for the edges. The process included sanding with the big sander, then with the hand-held, then vacuuming the wood dust. Repeat this 3 times with different grain size of sanding (I don’t even know if this is the right lingo to use lol). Next came filling in and cracks and nail holes, then the poly seal. We decided against staining since we really liked the color of the wood. All in all it was about a week-long project given that Eric still had to go to work during the day. Plus, we saved some money! Renting the equipment and buying supplies came out to $500…far less that the estimates we were given.
I absolutely loveee our new floors and I can see that Eric is proud of the results. I also learned more about wooden floors. I think our first project as homeowners was a complete success!!