Floor buffer

A floor buffer looks like a heavy upright machine with a big round head at the bottom. A motor spins a pad under the head. You hold the handle and walk the machine across the floor, guiding it side to side.

On a recoat, the buffer does the first big step. A driver pad holds an abrasive screen against the floor. As it spins, the screen scuffs the old finish. That is called screening. It does not sand the floor down to bare wood. It only dulls the surface so the new coat has something to grip.

Edges and corners the buffer cannot reach get done by hand with a trim pad. Then the floor is vacuumed and tacked until it is spotless.

You do not have to buy a buffer to start. You can rent one for about $40 a day, and that is the number in the FloorIt job example. Renting keeps your money free until you know your schedule. Once you are doing jobs every week, buying your own can make sense, because you skip the trip to the rental counter.

A buffer is not a drum sander. A drum sander is the heavy machine used for a full sand and refinish, and it takes wood off the floor. A recoat never needs one.

FloorIt covers your first 3 buffer rentals and ships the screens and pads in the applicator kit.

The equipment you need to recoat hardwood floors: a buffer (rent for about $40 a day), screens and pads, a shop vac, a roller and pole, and a two-part finish.