How challanging is it to refinish hardwood floors?

I have rehabbed five houses, none of which had hardwood floors. I just purchased a house with hardwood floors that need to be refinished. I am handy but not that handy. Should I rent the equipment and go for it, or should I contract out.

It is dusty, but if you are handy you can do it and save some bucks! Rent a floor sander and follow the directions and the place you rent it from will fill you in on what grits of sanding disc you need, a nice orbital sander will get up close to the wood work and hand sand the corners.. sand all the floors at once and give the dust time to settle 24 hours should be long enough, vacuum up what you can then go over the floors with a damp rag a couple of times rinsing and wringing the rag out often...do a final dusting with a tac cloth.....Now you are ready to stain! Don't forget to wipe up the excess stain, let the stain dry, then apply good quality poly, I put about five coats on our floor and I used exterior poly, I thinned the first coat down with mineral spirits by about 30% mineral spirit and 70% poly, you will have less air bubbles if you thin the poly down .
This is not a difficult job to do, but it takes some time for a good job. Just hang on to the sander and don't let it set in one spot, keep it moving in nice even forward and backward movements.....I say go for it and save some bucks! The do make a squeege or some kind of floater whatever it is called to spread the poly with.......you can also use the same stuff they use to coat basket ball courts with....even more durable.
Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

If they need sanding, contract it out. The dust is very fine like talcum powder and gets on everything including you and you will breath some in despite using a mask.

If all they need is cleaning and resealing, you can do it yourself. Mop well, let completely dry and then brush on the finish the same way you would brush on paint. Be sure to have the room at around 70 degrees so the flatner in the finish will smooth the finish and not show brush streaks.

I would definitely contract it out. My dad attempted to refinish our floors with my grandpa back when I was a kid. They are fairly good craftsman and generally don't have much of an issue getting a job done. This was a pain for them. I learned quite a few four letter words those couple days. :D

It is far better to get a tradesman to do your floors.It is a hard job,and everything gets covered in dust.But get a few quotes,and see how you go.My floors are made of Matai(New Zealand) and look great.

Have a professional do it. It is a backbreaking job and you may not like the results.