Sanding floor query Drum or square buff

Hey,

I am going to sand floors in my house. From all the videos online they advise against square buff sanders and to use a drum sander and edging sander however the floors I am sanding are only 5 years old and are machined hard wood, they are in great condition i just want to stain them a darker colour.

Seeing as I dont need a huge refinishing of the floors just a smooting and to create a key to take a darker stain would a square buff sander be all thats required in this case?

Most of the videos on square buff sanders are people in the states saying how bad they are but they are using them on 30 year old floors from what i can see that need to be completely refinished

cavan4sam

you beat me to starting this thread , i'm doing similar i've oak floors down 7 years and while it has shrunk a bit and needs a bit of filling its in prettygood nick but just looks dull
any of the hire shops i've spoke to reckon the square buff sander would suffice, i'd be hoping to do them myself and reckon it cant be rocket science

so come on guys point us in the right direction

(putty and paint makes the chippy a saint )

gutteruu

Never seen anyone use a square sander but I used a drum sander a few years ago. If you want a proper finish, maybe get some practice on someone elses house first or use very fine grits and take your time. I left slight low spots where I stopped to reverse (even though I tried hard not to) and although it looked perfect when sanded, after it was finished and light reflecting, it looked pretty bad. With light they fade very quickly again also, it was back to the same colour within a year.