Hi Everyone,

I have a flooring installer who will lay 750 feet of unfinished white oak (square edge) in my 3 bedrooms. He typically lays only finished floors, thus he doesn't have a sander. How feasible is it for me to try to sand my own floors with a Home Depot rented sander? I'm pretty handy, and very technically inclined, but obviously, I don't want to take a big risk of messing up my new floors. The objective is to apply a hardwax oil like Pallmann or a Rubio Monocoat (which I've ready is easier to apply than Pallmann).

If it's a job that I could do, is the sanding job a bit easier considering that the floors are brand new, and we're not removing any previous finishes? How many rounds of sanding would we need to do, and at what grits?

Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.

The rental market has been improving. You may find a decent drum or wide belt sander. You will need to sand the over wood by starting across grain with a coarse 40 or 50 paper, then straighten it out and use finer grits, to 100, then finish it. A 7 inch edger starting with 60 then 100 will be smooth enough for regular poly.
Follow directions on the finish can. Better rent a buffer and screen the floor, too.
It's not really complicated, just a lot of hard work. Scrape the corners and anywhere it's not smooth. Hand sand where necessary before finishing.
Don 't work too hard. Finish each step carefully.