You have to remove the finish on the floor before you can properly sand out all the scratches and imperfections that have accumulated over the years.
A place that you can rent a hardwood floor sand.
A walk behind sander like a drum floor sander and a floor edger to get into the corners and smaller nooks and crannies.
Sure it may take longer to remove old finishes than it.
At the home depot tool rental center you can find everything you need to keep your floors looking beautiful including polishers and floor sander rentals.
If your floor is thinner than 3 4 you may want hire a pro to avoid accidentally sanding down to the subfloor.
You must sand the floor completely several times over with progressively finer sandpaper in order to make sure the floor is as smooth as possible before refinishing it.
The groove overlap is typically about 1 4 inch thick.
If you choose to refinish keep these things in mind.
You ll need two kinds of sanders for the process.
Solid hardwood boards are 3 4 inches thick and each has a groove milled in its side that overlaps the tongue of the adjacent board.
Sanding removes on average about 1 16 inch of material and sometimes more so you can safely sand a solid hardwood floor two or three times but no more.
To achieve professional quality results you must start with the proper equipment to get the job done right.
Since the sanding process can remove a lot of surface your floor needs to be at least 3 4 thick.
Once you re done sanding you can stain the floor.