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 not heard of that brand but we purchased the Bella Cera Ruscello flooring and when the boxes showed up it said the dreaded "Made in China" on them. What could I do at that point? We had it installed and are very happy. There is not one piece in the 1100 sq ft that has a flaw. Now, it has only been a few months, but no problems so far... And we also did about 60 sq ft of LM St Laurent flooring in our vanity area almost 2 years ago, it was "Made in China", which I did not know until later, no problems with it either.

Floors! Always floors. The baseboards, if left in place during the refinish, are most likely going to get dinged up a little (that's why some of the best flooring jobs include removing/updating baseboards at the same time). That's fine as long as you plan to replace them in the future. In the mean time, a little bit of touch up paint will hide most of the damage (which should be minor to begin with).

Welcome to the world of wide plank hickory! Super tough wood. Very busy. Enigmatic floor with HORDES of personality. Sadly the one your friend has just purchased is *probably a lower quality one. There are DOZENS of short boards in the pics. They look to be factory finished which means it can be a total B!tch to refinish. And the planks aren't very thick. It is entirely possible this floor *might not handle a refinish. Rip it out or cover it up. Wall to wall carpets will work very well for a few years. Then she can save up enough money to remove ($2/sf) and purchase ($9/sf) and replace ($3/sf for install) the entire floor.