Don't sand and finish until after the contractor is done-- might as well protect the old floors as much as possible during the construction. If you sand first and then get mud etc tracked across it there could be stains. Plus you can plaster or paint without as much concern if you're going to sand and refinish later. Floor refinishing is routinely done in occupied houses, you just vacuum up the dust, either with a good machine at the source or from all the surfaces later on. Works either way, getting it at the source is better. Sanding and refinishing is a completely reasonable DIY job if you have any mechanical skills/sense. If you always keep the sander in motion and can quickly figure out how to raise and lower the drum gently as you change direction or start and stop you can easily refinish a floor without issues. It probably won't be perfect the first time you do it, but you will save thousands. By the second or third time it will start to look pretty good. Or you can use a random orbit sander, which is painfully slow, but foolproof (well, mostly). The hardest part seems to be renting decent equipment. If you get a sander with an egg-shaped drum you are sunk! I've never been able to find a place that would rent a 220v machine with good dust extraction like the pros use, so invest in a good HEPA respirator (dust masks are basically useless against the most problematic small dust particles).

I can't believe I've not seen you. You must be on one of the upper decks and I'm stuck down here in the engine room, but, we are definately in the SAME boat. I had to re-make my drawer boxes to get full extension glides. My kitchen is also the one I grew up in, home built early 70's, and re-done once late 80's. Bought the house several years ago, and been DIY remodel ever since trying to get moved in. Makes one wonder if the walls were ever plumb and floors were ever level? (or if houses actually settle THAT much) LOL. Seems the deeper you dig, the more problems you find. Yours is looking good though! Great additions/modifications. Keep up the good work!

Thanks everyone for the pep talk, I feel better knowing I'm not being lazy and that we have actually accomplished a lot. My current to do list is Finish tiling the mudroom floor so I can move the desk back in and get it out of my dining room Tile the pantry floor so I can FINALLY get my food out of all the totes Paint and install all the trim Stain and finish my wet bar Install pulls on the wet bar Install counter on wet bar Install sink in wet bar Things I can enjoy: In the main part of my kitchen, all the cabinets, counters, lights and appliances are installed and fully functional. I actually HAVE a dining room to eat in now instead of serving meals in the living room (NOT fun w/messy eaters and carpet) I now have TONS of natural light flooding my house thanks to opening up walls and adding windows and a French door to the backyard Last week, instead of working on the reno, my wonderful husband opened up our pool AND he bought a hot tub yesterday that I got to enjoy last night with a stiff drink. Once the kids are in bed, I think I will grab a drink and go sit in the hot tub with hubby to celebrate his birthday and not think about the reno for a while. Maybe we will even have some cookie dough. That or the key lime pie I made him. :)

I'm going out on a limb here by suggesting you find out what type of homeowner DIY asbestos removal is ALLOWED by your state/local community. In the USA, there are some states (sorry - I don't live there so I don't know which ones allow this) allow a small square footage of homeowner DIY Asbestos mitigation. I know there is at least one state that allows (roughly) 135sf of DIY mitigation. What materials does that 135 entail? I don't know. Does that include the asbestos filled cut-back adhesive? I don't know. How does it work? I don't know. Because you are in 'investigation mode' and are looking at removing the hated tile in the hallway and mudroom, you *might be allowed to do it yourself....so long as your state/location allows it. You will have to investigate if your state allows it. You will have to follow the rules which includes landfill requirements for the 'bagged and tagged' asbestos tiles (and pay any fees required). As for me, I would do everything ELSE...but not the asbestos tile. You can DIY hardwood install. In theory you can DIY sand/finish on your own. I would pick a match to your current hardwood (that means width, cut, species and grade) and then use a high-end water based poly to get you the toughest possible finish. You can leave the current hardwood alone until you can move your stuff to the other side of the house. You then sand/refinish the existing hardwood in the IDENTICAL finish. No stain. Stains are picky and it is near impossible to match a stain a year or so later (it takes a special refinisher to get it done). Once you are ready for the kitchen RENOVATION you then demolish ALL the asbestos based tiles...with professional mitigation (assuming your state doesn't allow for DIY). I know your DRIVE is to get the tile OUT....but it isn't in your budget to do so properly. And your kitchen renovation is NOT in your budget for a full kitchen flooring install. It doesn't make any sense to remove the hated-tile today (spending a few thousand on kitchen flooring) only to have to REDO the kitchen flooring when you do a complete gut in a few years. It is money wasted. Those of us who have posted on Houzz long enough know this is going to happen. And I mean 98% chance you cannot save the replacement kitchen floor. Ask youself: Will I have the finances in 7 years to redo the kitchen floors when I do a full gut of my kitchen? Will it bother me that I have different floors in the hallway/mudroom than in the kitchen when I do the kitchen reno?