Since my husband and I recently went through this DIY, I can make a few suggestions, although we didn't refinish, we installed unfinished rustic inexpensive red oak floors ourselves and finished them. I don't know anything about removing a wax finish, maybe someone here can advise or you could try a different hardwood flooring forum. For the sander we rented a U-sand, which is a floor sanding machine that is supposedly made for the DIY'er. It worked great, got right up to the edges and was really easy to use. I don't know how well it would perform for refinishing, as that involves more sanding. For the stain and poly, we went with the professional grade stuff. It was so worth the extra money as the products were much more forgiving to work with, and I think will have better long term durability. We went with the Bona products which are designed for hardwood floors. We`used the Bona Drifast stain, which is an oil modified stain that dries quickly. The stain is very rich looking and was wonderful with any accidental overlap. We mixed a couple different colors for a custom stain color. We went with the new Bona waterbased Traffic HD in the extreme matte finish and I love it. I think the traffic HD has one of the highest durability commercial ratings. A matte finish will hide more imperfections and scratches than a shiny finish. Although it says extreme matte, the finish does have a slight shine with a very natural wood look, it looks great with our rustic grade floors. I've never seen a poly finish like it, it's so velvety smooth and natural looking. It's sheen is in between Bona Naturale and Bona Traffic Satin HD. The water based polys I believe are more durable than the oil base and this one is meant to go on top of Bona's oil base stain. The Bona waterbase poly also had very little fumes that disappeared with in a couple days. It has a separate catalyst (hardener) that has to be added and then you have 4 hours once you add the hardener in. We were concerned at first, but with the T-bar applicator, we were able to get one application done in about 45 min-1 hour (650 sqft+ stairs). We have two dogs who like to race around the house and hate to have their nails clipped, I have yet to see a scratch, this finish seems to be wearing like iron, I am so impressed. We applied the stain, waited 48 hours, then applied the first coat of poly, the next day we buffed it, wiped down with a damp cloth, let it dry and then applied the second coat and let it fully cure. We bought the T-bar poly applicator, which worked out well. We also bought the Bona Mixer bottle, so we could mix smaller batches when we needed to and didn't have to mix up a whole bottles worth. This was 7.00 well spent as we mixed up a gallon and a half for each application. For wood filler we tried Woodwise floor filler, and Timbermate, I thought the Timbermate performed a little better, but both products were much better than anything at Lowes, or Home Depot. The waterbased wood fillers are great because wiping off excess with a damp rag is fairly easy, even after it's dried. Plastic putty tools should be used with the waterbased fillers as some metal scrapers can discolor the filler. Since the Bona products are professional grade, we bought them through a company that sells to the general public and professionals. Their business is mostly an online store, but people can come in and buy products from them locally. Since they were local for us we got to talk to them in person. They were great, they took the time to answer all our questions each time I stopped in for products. I found them extremely knowledgeable and very caring, their how to videos on their website were also helpful. Floor Mechanics Online Store We spent about 1,750.00 total for 1,000 sqft of very rustic red oak flooring, Pneumatic floor nailer, moisture meter, sander/buffer rental, and finishing products. It was some work, but worth it for site finished, solid hardwood flooring. Good luck with your son's floors.

I have to agree with the other comments - 3/4" over 12 feet isn't much - I wish I had that problem :-). My situation is more like Lil_geek - mine is also around 3" over 6' (house was build in 1895). It's funny when you look at our power room - there's a good 1" difference just over the doorway. For our kitchen reno (currently ongoing . Our contractor stripped everything down to the planks, added a new subfloor on top, then also used a leveling compound (I also had high and low spots). After that, there was an awful lot of shimming. You can't tell unless you stand far back and look at the toe-kicks - they're shorter on one side than the other. I'm also short (4'11"), so I'm happy that the cabinets aren't any taller. Actually, what's funny is that the new floor looks good, but you can feel some of the dips when you walk across it (and it's a small kitchen). With the old floor, you could visibly see the bumpiness.

Thank you all for your advice!! :) There's a lot more equity than that, this is SoCal. :D it's an elderly person, we knew the house had some minor issues, found more at home inspection, and seller is just done with all of it. I think she doesn't want to admit she's going to lose her house. The realtor has been trying to get the seller to do things, she suggested home inspections before they listed, The house is huge, on a huge lot, has a new roof, the new Hvac etc, the housing market here is ridiculously competitive, my current house had 3 full price offers in 24 hours. So it's easier to get into a house that's priced correctly for the known problems, with a kooky seller, than to compete with 50 people for a more expensive house that's perfect. So we're just trying to make it all work. In a year we'll have done all the known necessary repairs, we have savings for any unknowns that pop up, I'm just struggling with getting us to the closing, Ha. And I think the sellers realtor is ready to throw her out the window.

Sorry about the delayed update- much contractor drama at our end. Anyway, so we bought the TCNA handbook and educated ourselves (thanks AJCN, such a useful resource). We both take the day off from work and are driving to meet with GC when he calls and cancels (a tree toppled over on his property), says he will get back to us to reschedule shortly. Radio silence for the rest of the day. At this point we assume he is going to quit, so we figure the best strategy is to get what we can for our $. He is also working on a few additional things in the townhouse, so we decided to not let him work on the shower until he comes up with a satisfactory plan but let him finish the other stuff. In the meantime his painter who still showed up lets slip that he is not our GCs regular guy, this is his first time subcontracting with him and that the tile in the shower was not laid by GC. DH looks up GCs license and finds a city permit has been issued around the same time our work started for a complete building demo and rebuild. I suspect he is trying to wing things with our project (or delegate to his flunkies) since he has bigger fish to fry. Anyway, surprise surprise he actually shows up today morning! DH is at work so I am hesitant to discuss shower waterproofing technicalities solo. We come to the mutual decision that he is going to finsh the other work so we can move in, and then fix the shower. To his credit, he admits that the tile job is botched by his guy, but still insists shower pans on concrete subfloors do not need waterproofing. The two items that are remaining for him to complete are: grouting the kitchen backsplash reinstalling tile around the master bathroom tub flange. The plumbing for the tub was done by his plumber (again not his regular guy). I want 2 since I can grout a backsplash and 2 seems more critical to making the place liveable. This is where things go further south. Continuing in a separate post since I have pictures.