I plan to refinish the hardwood floors in three bedrooms using an orbital floor sander because they seem easier and safer for beginners than the drum sander. I need something to sand the edges, and I've wanted to buy a rotary/oscillating tool for a while. Which would help me more with this job? Or should I buy an actual hand sander instead?
Wood – When sanding hardwood floors, should I buy a rotary or oscillating tool
hardwood-floorhardwood-refinishing
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Wall to wall carpeting is usually attached to the floor using carpet tack strips around the perimeter like these
The raised tack points grip the edges of the carpet.
Once you pull up the carpet, there is probably a padding that is just laid on the floor without adhesive. If it is rubber backed, the rubber bottom surface sometimes sticks to the floor underneath. Rubber residue can usually be scraped of with a plastic putty knife without damaging the surface of the wood underneath.
The tack strip can be pried up and there will be a few nail holes per strip that can be easily filled.
The real issue will be the condition of the finish on the floor once you get to it. If there is glue on the surface, this may be difficult to remove without serious sanding. Often the finish is fine and a cleaning is all that is needed.
If the finish is slightly worn or lightly scratched, a light sanding followed by a coat or two of polyurethane should restore it. Professional finishers have a light abrading process using large buffing machines that can do this easily and quickly. However it can be done with an orbital sander and lots of time and elbow grease. Very thorough vacuuming and wiping of all dust is essential for a good finish.
If the finish is badly worn or deeply scratched, a serious sanding and refinishing is called for. Again, it can be done by the DIYer, but this is a big job, sanding with power hand tools is very tedious and the professional sanding machines are difficult to use for the novice.
I think that if you could make sure the stain/varnish colors match by refinishing both floors together, that would be your best bet. Unless the wood floors were installed at different times and have different grains/widths. In that case, no matter what you do the transition will be apparent.
If that that's the case, you might be able to do something decorative, with ornate wood squares or with tile, especially if you do it multiple areas of your house so that it echos the accent in more than one place. I know this is not the unobtrusive look you hoped for, but it could still look very pretty. If your kitchen uses small tiling, or if you have a fireplace with stone or tiling, or if you have any brick walls, you might be able to do a thin band of the same tiling/brick in the doorways, complemented by a border of the tiling/brick beneath your front door. See http://www.pinterest.com/pin/377739487469141226/ and http://www.pinterest.com/pin/383368987001982461/.
Best Answer
Unless you love spending time on your knees, rent the drum sander and the rotary edge sander. If you are worried about losing control of the drum sander, start with fine grit while you are getting the hang of it. Or ask the rental place to leave the old paper on it. It is likely to be toothless enough that it will be very hard to do any damage.
Orbital sanders are very slow, and generally are used for furniture making.
Sanding produces enormous quantities of dust. This is one reason you want to get done quickly. Even if you put plastic over the doors and heating vents, dust gets everywhere.
It's a good idea to have someone working with a vacuum as you sand. Get it off the floor ASAP so the next pass with the sander doesn't cast it into the air again. You will probably want to wear dust masks.
I have three sanders right now. A 7" disk sander that I can also put cuttoff wheels and wire brushes on, a 3x21 belt sander, and a 4x5 orbital sander. All 3 get used regularly, but for a floor project it would be the belt sander that would be used the ost.