Domakihub Sand and Refinish Hardwood Floors: A Full DIY Guide
Restore worn wood floors to their original beauty without replacing them.
Reviewed by Domakihub home & decor pros · 2026-06-23 · 6 min read
Hardwood floors in Greek villas, apartments, and holiday rentals take a beating over the years — foot traffic, furniture, salt air, and sunlight all dull the finish and open up scratches. The good news is that solid pine or oak boards can usually be sanded back and recoated multiple times before replacement becomes necessary, saving thousands of euros and preserving the character of original wide-plank floors. The video above walks through a real refinishing job from start to finish; the steps below give you the complete process so you can plan and execute the work yourself.
When Refinishing Makes Sense
Solid hardwood floors — whether traditional fir boards in an Athenian apartment or oak parquet in a Cretan villa — can typically be sanded four to six times over their lifetime. If the boards are structurally sound (no soft spots, no rot, no boards thinner than 18 mm), refinishing is almost always the right call before considering replacement. Surface scratches, grey oxidation, worn finish patches, or a finish that has simply gone cloudy are all ideal candidates.
Engineered wood is a different story: the wear layer is thin, often only 3–4 mm, so sanding is possible once or twice at most. If you are unsure whether your floor is solid or engineered, drill a small hole in an inconspicuous corner and measure the wood above the tongue — anything above 6 mm is almost certainly solid and safe to sand.
Tools and Materials to Gather First
The core equipment is a drum sander or belt sander for the main field, an edge sander for the perimeter, and a detail sander or scraper for corners. Drum sanders can be rented from most tool-hire shops in Greece (look for them in Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, and larger island towns). You will also need vacuum bags for the sander, a floor-grade vacuum or shop vac, a tack cloth, painter's tape, and plastic sheeting to seal doorways.
For the finish itself, choose between oil-based polyurethane (more amber tint, harder cure, 24-hour recoat window), water-based polyurethane (clearer, faster recoat at 4–6 hours, lower odour), or a penetrating oil if you want a matte, Scandinavian look. In Greece's climate, oil-based coatings cure more slowly in cooler months, so water-based is often more practical for short renovation windows in occupied holiday rentals.
How to Sand and Refinish Hardwood Floors: Step by Step
- 1
Prepare the Room and Inspect the Floor
Clear all furniture and remove any rugs, tack strips, or thresholds. Inspect every board for protruding nails and countersink them with a nail set — even a single raised nail head will tear the sanding belt and gouge the floor. Check for loose boards and screw them down from above, filling the screw holes with wood filler matched to the species. Seal doorways with plastic sheeting; sanding dust is extremely fine and travels far.
- 2
Sand the Main Field with the Drum Sander
Start with the coarsest grit needed for the condition of your floor — typically 36 or 40 grit for floors with thick old finish or heavy staining, 60 grit for floors in reasonable condition. Move the drum sander with the grain at a slow, steady walking pace; never let it sit still while the drum is spinning or it will carve a dip. Work in parallel strips with about a 5 cm overlap on each pass. After the first pass, switch to 60 grit, then finish with 80 grit to remove all the scratch marks left by the coarser paper.
- 3
Sand the Edges and Corners
The edge sander handles the 15–20 cm strip around the perimeter that the drum sander cannot reach. Use matching grits to the main field so the two areas blend seamlessly. For inside corners and hard-to-reach spots around radiators or door frames, use a detail sander or a sharp hand scraper. Take your time here — edge work is where most amateur refinishing jobs show uneven results once the finish goes on and catches the light.
- 4
Vacuum, Tack, and Apply the First Coat of Finish
Vacuum the entire floor thoroughly with a fine-dust bag, then wipe down every surface with a tack cloth to pick up residual particles. Mix your chosen finish well, pour it into a wide paint tray, and apply with a lambswool applicator or a quality synthetic pad — work with the grain, lap edge to edge, and maintain a wet edge to avoid lap marks. The first coat raises the grain; once it is fully dry, screen the floor lightly with a 120-grit screen pad on a floor buffer, vacuum again, and tack again before the next coat.
- 5
Apply Finish Coats and Allow Full Cure
Two to three finish coats in total give durable protection. Between each coat, screen lightly, vacuum, and tack. The final coat should be applied without screening afterward. Allow the finish to dry to the touch before walking on it (usually 4–6 hours for water-based, 12–24 hours for oil-based), but keep foot traffic and furniture off for at least 48–72 hours. Full hardness for oil-based polyurethane takes up to 30 days — avoid placing rugs during this period as they can trap solvents and soften the finish.
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FAQ
- How many times can solid hardwood floors be sanded before they are too thin?
- Most solid hardwood boards in Greek homes are 20–22 mm thick, and each full sanding removes roughly 1–2 mm of wood. That means four to six complete refinishing cycles are typically possible before the boards approach the minimum safe thickness of around 14–15 mm. To track how much material remains, look at the groove on the side of a board near a doorway threshold — when the groove is nearly flush with the surface, the floor has reached its limit.
- Can I refinish parquet or herringbone floors the same way?
- Yes, but with more care. Parquet and herringbone patterns are laid at angles, so the drum sander must be run at 45 degrees to the pattern to cut across the grain of both directions simultaneously, then finished with lighter passes along the dominant grain direction. Edge work around the perimeter follows the same approach as plank floors. The process takes longer because of the additional passes and the need to blend multiple grain directions, but the result is just as durable.
- How long does the project take, and can a rental property be used right after?
- A typical 40–60 square metre room takes one to two days of sanding and two to three days of finishing and cure time, so budget five days minimum from start to furniture-back. For holiday rentals in Greece, plan the work in the low season or between guest bookings with a minimum five-day gap. Using a water-based finish cuts curing time significantly and eliminates the strong solvent smell, which matters in enclosed island properties with limited ventilation.