Found a treasure

They do make a wood bleach. It is not going to totally remove the black stains but, it will lighten them. It is something like oxalic acid. I could be way off on the name but, it does start with an O.

Hardwood floors sell houses. If you're really going to commit to the job it's a great project and will pay off in spades. I just don't see how that would be worthwhile though for a do it yourself project. A pro can bring those floors back to life rather quickly and easily..........maybe not all that cheaply though.

Get a few bids before you spend so much time. You might be surprised. A lot depends on your location as to how competitive and available the good wood guys will be. Some places you can get that work done fairly cheaply given the state of the market. There's no reason not to take advantage.

I thought about getting bids just for the sake of not messing around, but it is my family. Trying to help them out. I have a lot of staining experience. My mom is a painting contractor and I used to do trim packages for her while I was in college. Lots of 6 panel oak doors. I have a bit of a clue and wouldn't be scared to take on the floor, was just curious about the nails. I am gonna take some bids, if its not crazy expensive I would rather pass up donating all my winter weekends. But we'll see how it goes.

I've pulled carpet out of several houses to find beautiful HW flooring underneath. Usually just a good sanding and refinish takes care of any tack strip damage. The black spots just add some character.

Back around the 60's or early70's wall to wall was the thing to have. Everybody had hardwood. Its nothing special if everybody has it. The carpet salesmen had it made. It's warm on your feet and covers up those old ugly wood floors.

I've installed carpet over a lot of those hardwood floors. I hated it, but that's what I was paid to do. Just be glad they didn't use bubble rubber pad. It turned hard and had to be scraped off.

you can do a border around each room with a darker stain. you could take it a step further and do a distress inside that same border and you floors would look like a million bucks

Leave it to beavers

Sanding and staining the floors should be left to a pro. It is not anything like staining 6 panel doors.I have seen disasters done by non-pros and needed to get it done once more-sometimes removing sections due the drum bites.A bad sanding/staining job is like an eyesore. If you do not want to invest money on it,I would rather see old flooring as it is,new owners will take care of it.You get the same return whether it is done bad or not done at all.
If you still did not convinced,here are some clues;go to floor supply house, buy a gallon of waterbase wood filler made just for wood flooring,it is produced for different species,brand name like "woodwise""duraseal" etc.
Since it is very old flooring, more likely you have to fill wall to wall with flat trowel,depends square footage you may need more.You apply the filler after rough cutting(sanding).
Rusting spots of nails can be blend in if the right stain used.The large black water-pet urine spots almost impossible to remove even with the wood bleach-more likely need board(s) replacement.
The rest of the process is too long to explain here.Check NWFA site maybe you can find manual there.
Good luck!

Hi--Glad to see that you like to help your family.

I agree with every one here about doing the work yourself. There is a big learning curve to floor sanding.

If you also choose to stain the wood instead of leaving it natural---The stain will exaggerate every little mistake .

In our area a skilled floor guy should cost you in the area of $2.00 a square foot to sand and finish.(stain is a little more) Just a thought--If you do an embarrassing job--will you really be helping the family?

Good luck-have fun--MIKE--

I think your thinking of oxygen bleach. Good for wood decks not for hardwood floors.

Listen to Astor

Really concur with Astor. Easier to hire a pro. Take up any shoe mold yourself, get it clean and ready to do, make it an easy job and ask for $.25 a foot off, maybe. Should be from $1.75 to $2.50/Sf for normal oak floor.

You can't rent good tools for this, plus if you figure your supplies and time you are better off paying to have it done. Save money by staining oak quarter round or shoe and installing it yourself. Good luck.

I'd like to agree with the "hire a pro" guys...but...that's only a generalization for most situations. If you have the ability, time and desire to tackle such a task, I say go for it...it isn't rocket science. All "pros" did a first one too and unless it was a total wreck when they were done I have to assume they will agree. There are people that have the ability to refinish a floor or any other task of moderate difficulty... and those that don't.

mics_54 said:

I'd like to agree with the "hire a pro" guys...but...that's only a generalization for most situations. If you have the ability, time and desire to tackle such a task, I say go for it...it isn't rocket science. All "pros" did a first one too and unless it was a total wreck when they were done I have to assume they will agree. There are people that have the ability to refinish a floor or any other task of moderate difficulty... and those that don't.

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I have to disagree ..99% of pros did not decide to take a sanding job in one day and tried.Personally I had hired an employee (a sander) who had learned and worked for quite time with some other pro before.I let him do most of the job and gratually I learned the tricks and skills to do job right.I did not take the first sanding job to test and hope it did not turned out a disaster!I simply was not able to afford to ruin my reputation even in my early days.Here we suggest-not force-our opinions for the best solution.It is up to him to judge his ability if enough to take this task.I agree it is not a rocket science, but it is not like painting job either, if you paint and did not turn good,you simply paint over. I have to add that wood floor installation is fairly easy, as long as follow the instructions-it may take longer than expected-but sincerely I do not suggest sanding job to anyone who has no experience with.

Well like I said...some people are inept. Perhaps they were raised in a closet and just aren't talented that way...I've never found anything I can't do. ..seems to run in the family.

The real skill of most trades isn't the just ability of the person to perform the general task at hand but to do it cost effectively which is usually because they own the equipment, resources and desire to perform it.

...but I appreciate your view..but I'm not sure what it was you disagreed with.

astor said:

I have to disagree ..99% of pros did not decide to take a sanding job in one day and tried.Personally I had hired an employee (a sander) who had learned and worked for quite time with some other pro before.I let him do most of the job and gratually I learned the tricks and skills to do job right.I did not take the first sanding job to test and hope it did not turned out a disaster!I simply was not able to afford to ruin my reputation even in my early days.Here we suggest-not force-our opinions for the best solution.It is up to him to judge his ability if enough to take this task.I agree it is not a rocket science, but it is not like painting job either, if you paint and did not turn good,you simply paint over. I have to add that wood floor installation is fairly easy, as long as follow the instructions-it may take longer than expected-but sincerely I do not suggest sanding job to anyone who has no experience with.

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So there you go. Don't pay retail. Hire a day laborer with sanding experience to show you the ropes.

Fun of it vs. efficiency

Scrapecc:

I think what a lot of people are saying is getting lost in the nitpicking. If you want to tackle it AND have the time AND enjoy learning how AND can afford to suck it up if something goes bad, then this could be great to play with. It isn't an insumountable skill, especially for someone who is handy to begin with, but don't expect your first job to come out the way a pro would do it.

The problem is you probably don't have the tools, and the cost of renting them and the supplies is an issue. And rental sanders are usually problematic. And you mentioned having to do this over several weekends. Once you start, you are pretty much committed and it needs done. So how big is the job? If it's say 800 SF, at $2 that's $1,600. Compare that to probably $350-$500 in equipment rental and purchase of small tools and supplies. If it's 3,000 SF, maybe easier to justify doing it yourself. Your cost goes up $3-400, but you save a lot more.

What most people are saying is the potential downside is high IF you screw it up. A lot of us have seen floors totally ruined. If you do that, the cost of replacing X number of SF is a lot more than paying a pro. You sound like a pretty capable guy, so odds are good you won't ruin it, but there is a risk. If you want to do it yourself, go for it, but you can probably get it faster and better with less risk using a pro.

mics_54 said:

I'd like to agree with the "hire a pro" guys...but...that's only a generalization for most situations. If you have the ability, time and desire to tackle such a task, I say go for it...it isn't rocket science. All "pros" did a first one too and unless it was a total wreck when they were done I have to assume they will agree. There are people that have the ability to refinish a floor or any other task of moderate difficulty... and those that don't.

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:laughing: ... the "General Contractor" strikes again.