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@ChrisA Do you have any magic tricks up your sleeve for removing varnish from wooden floors? Or is an industrial sander the only option… 
Acetone? Flamethrower? Both?
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Hey Tim 
I’d say sanding, depending on size of room you might go with something a little more controllable like a hand sander on low/mid speed with course grit, moving to fine mid/fast speed after it’s come off.
Ideal situation is there’s a bit of floor that’s normally concealed that you can practice on first
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Today I tried a hand sander(7260 AA | Multi sander)… It was a disaster. An hour and barely any progress. I tried different sandpapers, P120 and P40… It barely moved. I tried different techniques and angles. Fast, slow, longitudinal, circular, pressing lightly, pressing firmly. Progress was so slow it was a disaster. Sure, I finally reached bare wood in some places, but… At this rate, the entire floor will take so long it’s pointless.
As you can see, the progress is pathetic for an hour, if not more. Either the varnish is too thick and hard, or I have some fake BS sandpaper, not P40.
Buying equipment for 1,000 or more for one job doesn’t make sense. I’ll have to hire a flooring contractor; they have good equipment; they can probably do the entire floor in an hour.
I also thought about coating removers, but apparently they don’t work as well as the manufacturer claims…
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Even if you could rent the equipment there would be a risk of damaging those beautiful planks.
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That looks and sounds like really thick varnish, might even want to plane 
Sorry for the briefness, on phone and I can’t stand tiny keyboards!
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I was looking at the offers and thought I might order one of those. Apparently, they’re also good for varnish, but will it give better results than 40-grit paper… hmmm.
I have no idea why this varnish is so hard. Is it some kind of boat varnish or some old resin-based formula.
Unless 16-grit sandpaper would work, but I can’t find any for my sander. At this point, it’ll probably be cheaper/faster to hire someone to do it anyway.
Can you just rent a big sander for a day for like $100?
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Theoretically, I could, although I’d have to cover some distance, but first I tried with what I had on hand. If I’m going to pay for the equipment, I might as well add to that the cost of a more experienced operator. He’ll do it faster and probably more precisely. Plus, he’ll come to the site himself with the machine.
If I had a lot more sanding to do, I’d probably rent one and do it myself, but it’s a kitchen floor, so it has to be done quickly.
I thought I could get it done with a small sander, but the sandpaper barely even bites the board. Well, I tried, now I know.
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That is odd and annoying if they used marine varnish 
Like you say later though, perhaps best to get someone in to do it - that way there should be less chance of a it going wrong.
Sounds lazy, but if the boards are easily removable, perhaps they could be flipped over and lightly sanded if the underside is in reasonably good condition
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There must be some magic varnish, or I’m doing something wrong. It seems to be scratchable with something sharp, and the sandpaper starts to chip, but these are incredibly small amounts, so removing it down to the bare wood takes a lot of time and isn’t exactly effortless work.
It’s apparently some varnish from the '90s—who knows what it contains, especially since it was supposedly designed for kitchens and high resistance. Plus, it’s clearly a thick layer. In one spot, the varnish is partially worn, and you can clearly see the driveway up the hill… it’s very, very thick there, probably the thickest layer of varnish I’ve personally seen on wood.
I’ll call a few companies and ask for prices/timelines. Let them do it, it’s a waste of my nerves.
I still have a ton of other things to do, to the point where I don’t know where I’ll find the time.
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Wow, unfortunate with that application of varnish
Well best of luck with getting someone in and hope they do a good job!
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Definition of the term ‘Spirit Animal’
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HashiCorp Vault 0-Day - Glad I don’t work there anymore, owning a 0-Day is difficult to say the least and a churn point on the other end of the spectrum.
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I called one company and spoke with a guy. He’s supposed to come in a few days to assess the situation and give me a price and a date when he’ll be available.
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I WANT ONE!!! 
I will love it and squeeze it and their name will be George!
I literally talk to neighborhood crows almost daily (they haven’t migrated in two years), I can handle this.
TimHolus blog - The gibberish of a madman - #644 by TimHolus
Said every one that has ever handled a reptile in Florida ever.
TimHolus blog - The gibberish of a madman - #662 by TimHolus
Decompression at its finest. 
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