So my Girlfriend had been nagging at me for weeks to do something with her badly worn oak floors As I was unable to get to it within the limits of her patience, she asked her brother to do it instead...to make a long story short I now have a mess on my hands.. the sanding job he did was not that bad (he used a drum sander) however, the poly application (oil based) did not go so well. Three coats were applied resulting in a third coat full of drip marks and bubbles and a finish that can be scraped up with your finger nail. I can only guess that due to the high temps and humidity the poly didn't dry completely before the following coat(s) were applied.

Now of course, its MY MESS to clean up YAY!
A friend of mine recommended that I first hand scrape the soft poly off as it would gum up the sander, well I tried this and it took me almost two hours to scrape a fairly small area, so that is just not a viable solution.

I was at home depot earlier today and realized that I have no idea which machine to rent to deal with this mess.. a drum sander just seems like overkill as I only wish to remove the poly? they of course have orbital buffers but will they get the job done in an efficient manner? The clerk in the tool rental area recommended a square buffer but then admitted that his knowledge on the matter was limited They also have one of those three or four headed orbital sanders but which to choose is obviously lost on me.

Any help would be absolutely appreciated!

Chris

no easy way out except to hire a pro...=)

machines rented 2 times, bought products twice...her brothers time for at least a few days, now your time for at least a few more...
geez..that pro is looking cheaper and cheaper to me..

the floor needs to be redone.

you want my honest advice..no sarcasm?

hire a pro now, before you screw these floors up real good and waste more money..because when you screw them up, now a pro has to come in and try and make some sense of the mess u made.

now unless your time and your GFs bro time is worth nothing, i think this is the best solution

If you are sure you don't want to hire a pro, try renting a 4 disc U Sand. It's easy to use and while much less powerful than pro machines , is probably powerful enough to sand off a few coats of finish . I own a Clarke Square Buffer and it does not have the power to get through finish without wasting an excessive amount of time.