What would be the best way to refinish painted hardwood floors?

I am not sure if sanding the paint off the floors or using a chemical stripper would be the best way to go about this? Any tips would be greatly appreciated? Or if anyone has done this themselves please tell me how it turned out or any problems I might encounter???

I have done this myself, and a very small area (10x10) took over a week. I did not use chemical stripper, just a sander. The results were absolutely beautiful.
With that said!!!!

One thing to look out for is discoloration in the floor from old stains, especially water, we tried for hours to get one particular spot sanded to the original wood and never did. We finally chose a darker looking stain/varnish/poly product that blended the with the stain instead of the lighter oak look that we wanted.

The large sanders do not get near the walls. We spent more time on the corners and edges, than we did the entire floor.

We have just moved and there are original hardwoods under the carpet. We had a floor guy come in and look and he said that they charge 2.75-3.75 a sq. foot. to sand, treat and poly. the floor. New hardwoods cost 4.75 a foot in our area. He said that if we were going to do the project ourself, then the cost would be minimal (200-300), but if it were him and he were having professionals do the project, he would have new flooring put in. He said that the new hardwood products are more durable (they scratch a lot less), and they are much quieter. I believe the quieter part because even under the carpet these are creaking constantly. And finally, the new hardwood joints are much better. Sometimes on old hardwoods the joints are so shallow that you sand right through the joint and you have a mess.

In closing, we are still going to do the project ourself. We will rent a sander and do about 400 sq. feet. The savings, and the beauty of these floors (you can see them in the closet) make it worth a try.

Hope this helped.

It would just be easier and cheaper to lay down new laminate flooring over top with an underlay. Its fast , cheap and looks good.

If your floor can withstand a sanding, you would wanna rent a drum sander and edger. Start with a 40 grit paper if it doesn't gum-up keep going, if 40 grit does gum up, switch to 20 grit followed by 40 grit , then 80, then use a buffer or a sanding block with a 100 grit screen. then apply a stain or just poly for a natural finish....lightly sand between coats of poly w/100 grit...I have to warn you though, all this takes much experience to make it look really good. With some reading up and a good sense of woodworking I suppose you could do a good job, but at $1.50 to $2.00 / sq.ft. one really can't go wrong hiring a pro because also, it's a very tough job. Furthermore, prepare for dust and do your best to section off the rooms being sanded.

Have them sanded and varnished.

my dad refinished all the wood flooring in my moms house for her. he sanded all the floors down, restained them and put a coat of polyeurothene (sp?) on all of them. they look great! hope this helps.

Not a easy job, but you can do it . time and Patience
you need to do both stripper then sand then stain and finish with clear coat all materials at home depot you also need to rent sander;s

We married in 1947 and we moved into an apartment in an old farm house, don't really know how old it was the father of the two women that lived with him said he was born in that house, he died while we lived there and he was 102. But anyway I did over the floors in the living room that was part of our place. It had 12" wide pine boards that had ripples in them and they were painted red. I rented a floor sander and an edging sander to do close to the walls. Took me a day to sand the floor first with very rough paper and then again with with a fine paper to finish it with. I then used a clear finish and the floors looked very good. A chemical stripper should not be used due to the odor unless the is plenty of ventilation like a big fan in the window, you can sit it on a box or low table just so you move plenty of air.

call some guys, have em sand it for like $2 a square foot

first, if you want, (it's not necessary - it depends on how much paint is on the floor), if more than 1 or 2 coats, use a stripper. keep in mind that the stripper will dissolve the paint and it may soak into the grain. go rent 2 floor sanders. (one that sands in long passes, and one that gets the edges you missed with the first one) and use, first, a 36 grit sandpaper, then a 60 grit paper, then a 100 grit paper - you can do this step with a hand sander - be prepared to spend some $ (why would anybody paint or otherwise cover a hardwood floor????) on sandpaper. you cant cut with a dull tool. get it as smooth as you want it with the finer grit, then get a good sealer made specifically for wood floors. give it _plenty of time_ to dry before you try to walk on it - footprints in your finish are a bch to fix. email me smeagol_jr@yahoo.com if you have any questions, maybe I can help

I find that by visiting a local hardware store they should be able to give you some good advice.

Sanding sounds like allot of work. However, the chemical method could interfere with the new surface.

If you need more information on flooring you can visit http://flooring-solution.com