Depends on the genus & what uou entend to do with them may take anytime from late summer through late winter

Harvester Chemicals of Irvington NJ will ship most anything to you UPS. Search the internet for their contact information, as I am away from the office for a few days. You can say that Sohm Flooring Consultants referred you to them. Foam brushes from a True Value hardware store are the best applicators to use with waterborne sealer and waterborne polyurethane when doing stairs. They will allow you to 'dry brush' sealer and finish on the vertical wood parts (stringers, risers, balusters). BonaKemi has a new sealer called DTS, which they claim imparts a little color and richness to a floor that is finished 'natural' (no stain). I haven't used it yet. I do use their DriFast stains and won't stain with anything else. I don't buff stairs at all. I finish sand to 120 grit, stain or seal and then just knock down grain raise with a little hand sanding with 180 grit or higher. Traffic will stick to most anything and... so long as your next coats of Traffic aren't more than 24 hours old, there is no need to buff between coats unless you are knocking down grain raise or attempting to remove debris. Remember that Traffic or any other floor chemical is a dangerous substance in its uncured state, so be sure to provide for sufficient fresh air as you work. Open windows and fans to exhaust fumes is a good idea. I use an organic respirator when working with Traffic and although the respirator is not rated for use with isocyanate compounds it does work to some degree.

Wood vs. Engineered Wood? No contest in this case. If the home was built in 1905, put real hardwood in. This preserves the integrity of the home's building materials. Plus, as you can see from the age of these floors, higher grades (i.e. thicker) hardwood can be sanded several times; you usually don't get even one chance to sand engineered wood. The hardwood layer at the top of this multilayered product is simply too thin. Level Floors and Subfloors There are ways to level a subfloor, ranging from replacing parts of the subfloor with thicker or thinner sheets of plywood (or planks, see below), to pour-on leveling compounds that harden to make the entire floor level. What you use to level uneven areas depends on what the subflooring is. If it is plywood or concrete, the compound works. But more likely with this home, on floors at or above grade, there will be wood planks laid at a diagonal across the floor joists. So in your home, the layers were probably joists first, then subfloor planks of wood, then hardwood with tongue & groove joints. You cannot effectively use a pour-on leveling compound on a plank subfloor, as there are cracks between the planks. However, you can lay a new hardwood floor directly on a wood plank subfloor as long as those planks are sound and relatively level. Replace individual planks that have been damaged by water or insects, are otherwise compromised, or even missing (it happens!), with either new planks of lumber, or with plywood of the same thickness as the planks. Any lumber you install, for either the subfloor or finished flooring, should be brought in to your home several days prior to installation, so the materials acclimatize to your typical interior temperature and humidity. Unlike for ceramic or porcelain tile, the subfloor does not have to be perfectly level. And unlike vinyl sheeting, planks or tiles, the hardwood won't "telegraph" minor differences in height, and minor surface irregularities, so the subfloor doesn't have to be absolutely perfect; it should be sound, strong, uniform and essentially level. Your flooring contractor can give you specifics on what upgrades your subfloor may need once the original hardwood is removed. Joists If the floor is significantly not level in parts, or if certain areas feel spongy when you walk on them, I recommend you have your flooring contractor, a home inspector, or structural engineer inspect the subflooring and especially the floor joists. You don't want to invest in a new floor, only to have it become damaged because some joists weren't attended to. Transitions Transitions (a.k.a. thresholds or molding) between existing rooms and the new floor ought to be made of the same wood and same finish (stain, polyurethane, etc.) as the new flooring you are putting down. As wood ages, the finish becomes darker, so trying to make the transitions match the finishes of existing floors is very difficult and not recommended (what will match those floors right now won't match later after your transitions age up a bit). Eventually, the transitions wouldn't match either the new or the old floors! Transitions come in four types: reducer (when the two floors being joined are of different heights), seam binder (when the floors are the same height, and the boards from each are very close to one another), T-mold (when the two floors are the same height, but there is a crack between the two rooms' flooring) and stair nose or stair edger (when the flooring needs to curve around the front of a stair's "tread"--the flat part of a stair upon which you tread!). The transitions for your particular project can be ordered when you order the hardwood, so make sure to include measurements for those doorways/entrances. The contractor can tell you if he/she anticipates there will be a height difference or gap between the floorings, which would require those particular transitions. Dry Air Concerns Consult a local lumber supplier or flooring contractor familiar with your local climate conditions to discuss finishes or other tips for keeping your wood floors healthy in the dry winters. Sounds wonderful! Have fun!

The $2K price for 470sf AND 11 stairs is a GOOD PRICE. The refinisher is right on track with the estimate. You are welcome to learn all the tricks of the trade for wood floor refinishing. Right now you probably have the time. Your research time investment should be a few hundred hours. That includes all the youtube videos you can stomach. You will also contact the manufacturers of the product you are interested. If you were to use Loba 2K Supra AT (10 minute working edge = decent for water based): 1. 1 Gallon of WS EasyPrime = $100 = 450 - 500sf (you might need two gallons just to be sure) You will apply a single coat over the entire floor once the sanding has been completed 2. 1 Gallon of Loba 2K Supra AT = $195 = 500sf for first coat. You WILL NEED two gallons to finish this floor. 3. Microfibre rollers = $10/per head = 3 heads 4. Painter's pole = $20 Sanding equipment = 3-4 days of rentals (your floors need ++ work...there is PLENTY of wear through...the poor things needed love 10 years ago) Sanding pads = double digits worth of product. You will need 3 different grit levels (eg. 60, 80, 100). Moving all the furniture and then staying off the floor for 10 days = normal.