Wood Floor Refinishing FAILS! (YouTubers Called Out!) 

Are you watching this after having already sanded your floor, it went wrong and NOW you come to youtube to learn? Fess up! Tell us your story, tell us your woes! MATTHIAS FANS: I am not, in anyway, trying to suggest that he is misleading viewers. Yes, he is a genius. I recognise that. This video is for entertainment purposes.

This is Floordon Ramsay

Why am I watching this....

I can literally watch a video about ANYTHING as long as it's someone pointing out what someone else did wrong

This video helped me immensely this weekend! I refinished my 70 yr old hardwood floors, and it looks amazing! The one bit about going a little deeper to get to the low spots gave me confidence. I felt it was just eating way to deep but I got everything level. No low spots or dents! Wife is ecstatic 👍🏻

I totally screwed my floors twice. Just call a pro and save your marriage.

When this man said "hard pine" with an American accent, I lost it 😂😂😂

My house is 200+ years old. All of the dings,dents and other marks tell the story of the people that lived here before I did. Thanks to the local historical society I know who built the house and that it was once a sheep farm,an apple orchard and a B & B. I smile when I walk up the old narrow stairs-you can see the worn path all those feet took climbing up to go to bed! I ❤️ and cherish every ding,dent,out-of-square doorway and wobbly window in the old place. I’ll take old and lived in any day over brand new and perfectly level...it’s weathered centuries and kept its inhabitants safe and warm...🏡

"there are so many professionals that upload videos and don't get any views" give them a shoutout and add some links.

Pointing out the errors of someone's methods and techniques may seem petty to most but I find great value in it. You can learn a lot from someones mistakes!

maybe a professional video editor will use this video to talk about bad green screen attempts. :)

I have 20+ years of carpentry under my belt and finishing floors is no joke. I leave it to the floor guys because they have the experience do it right the first time. Great video, well done

He is like the voice in my head when I renovate my home.

Though I fully agree with your criticism, it would be helpful, as a professional, to impart a solution.

I like watching professionals look at the work of amateurs and critiquing it in a constructive way. But you seem to have found a few videos on amateurs doing things and then rephrasing the words "That's wrong" in about 50 ways. You explain how what they're doing is wrong without following up with how they could do it right. "This kind of work would take forever", well? What kind of method would speed it up? "It's got to be quick, and it's got to look good" Is that you stating that, or are you explaining what amateurs think? This video is baffling.

I used to do a lot of wood finishing in the day. My wife wanted me to do our wood floors in the living room this month. "No way," I said and we hired a pro. Our pro had a hell of a time with this 66-year old floor. Near as we can tell, the previous owner had wanted to refinish the floor some 25-30+ years ago, however, ran into some problems with a large pet stain and abandoned the project (explained why only a small part of the floor still had finish on it). Nevertheless, this floor was then left unfinished and had carpets thrown over the top for those 25-30+ years, and that raw, unfinished floor was then subjected to more pet stains, water stains, and general abuse that were a pain to get out. Our pro stayed good on his word and stayed on the project. He had to replace a few boards (that old pet stain I spoke of) and used some vintage oak flooring boards that were 74 years old that he had salvaged from another old house, to stay true to what old oak flooring looked like back in the day. He also used that old lumber to create/cobble thresholds/transition strips to the bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, dining room, and entranceway. My wife's comments after he was done: "Is this gorgeous or what?!?" People, hire a pro when it comes to your wood floors. Especially floors that are over 50 years old...that quality of wood does not exist anymore. Don't eff it up by doing a DIY job!

Don't sell yourself short. You are a great presenter. Thank you for the insights for us DIYers.

3:19 “Oh, look, he's tickling it, tickling it.... and the floor's laughing."

The algorithm seems to have struck gold again, like all others below, I know nothing of floors but watched this. Its interesting that you're pointing out the problems with the algorithm showing amateurs videos rather than pros to people who may be looking for advice and yet its the only reason im watching you now :)

6:32 “I can’t bash him too much but...” starts bashing him. 😂

I have tiled floors, yet here I am watching this all the way through. Hard to turn down good advice.

I don’t even have a floor to sand yet here I am

Lmaoooooo I’ve been doing hardwood floors for almost 5 years & even when I first started I’ve never done any of these things smh . Great video made me feel better about my work lol

If you think those people ruined their floors, you can't imagine what I had done in mine.. I'm so frustrated I came to watch videos of people messing up with their floors so I don't feel so alone, but my result are def the most disasterous one so far. The belt sander (with 36 sandpaper) didn't flat it out (maybe the wood is too hard) leaving the old marks on the sides. After two days trying, I gave up and finished it anyway. Cost me so much money, time, energy, mental and emotional health. I'm NEVER diy anything EVER again! Grrrr

I learned to sand the floor by watching The Karate Kid. "Right the circle, left the circle", "Breath in, breath out".

You're the Simon Cowell of wood floor refinishing.

Why did I watch this and read so many comments? I know nothing of floors

I have been a tile guy for 34 years, but I learned hardwood floors for a year from a guy whos dad did it bigtime in the Pacific North West in the 50s through the 80s...And taught my friend to the point of mastery. He would say exactly what you say...So don't be intimidated to speak your mind...It is what people need to hear...Thank you for your breakdown. You are not being judgmental...When one refinishes a floor, it should look new...Unless they want rustic. Hardwood floors are not for the weak. Even little flaws are hugely evident...It is a trade that seeks perfection...There are rules to follow, especially during install...Wood deserves the respect of precise technicians. Plus, every customer deserves your best effort. A DIY is easy to spot, But a professionally done floor is fabulous like a Michaelangelo....And worth the expense to have it done right...

I only clicked this cause I recognized Matthias’ room. Matthias is known for improvising and engineering low cost solutions. He is an amazing engineer with a long running successful RU-vid channel and a successful career in engineering. His approach is humorous and genius cause if he would have rented a sander he wouldn’t have a video to show as that is not what his channel base enjoys watching. You must understand how Matthias thinks before passing judgement. Years of watching him allows some insight into his genius.

"The floor's laughing at u..." I lost it lololol. Subscribed.

Matthias’s video isn’t something to help people out. It’s just a video on his experiment.

Thanks-this was just what I needed to see! I’m about to sand my first floor, and it’s just as important to know how to do it right, and wrong, and to know what wrong looks like. This video is a real warning to learn what you’re doing before you start. As much as you can without having actually done this before. This is video #6 or 7, and each one teaches me more. They’re all pro floor refinishers with years of experience, with their own tips and techniques, and the do’s and don’t’s. Why anyone would want to watch someone else stumble through it for the first time is beyond me.

I've redone my own floors once before and am amazed how it seems no-one makes a convenient sander for corners and tight spaces!? Hand sanding in closet corners is no fun.

Mathias is a clever guy, and he never claimed knowing how to do it, he was just trying things like he always does.

I guess the people who did it themselves were trying to save $$$ and they seemed happy with their result. No harm done really unless you're restoring a heritage building? Then you'd call this guy! Everyone's happy! Yay.

mathias wandel is an unbelievable woodworker who makes a lot of his own tools, albeit sanding or staining is not his forte he does a lot of things by trial and error which is part of his attraction, he also does not affiliate himself with huge tool companys like so many do here on you tube

Thank you so much for your critique . Good points to consider when hiring a reputable floor refinisher. Some jobs are best left to the professionals and it seems refinishing hardwood is one of them.

I’ve been in the flooring business for close to 30 years, and yes this is painful to watch. We always start out with a drum sander using three different grits. Then an edger to get corners and hard-to-get spots. Then a disc sander with a fine mesh. And finally a random orbital sander to get anything you missed. The drum sander doesn’t only take off the old stain. The primary purpose of the drum is to level out (flatten) all the high and low spots and make the entire floor uniform. So if you do not begin with a drum sander, you will not have a flat and uniform floor. Another thing I don’t see these people doing is sanding across the grain at a diagonal from one corner of the room to the opposite side. For floors with more damage you can take a second pass going across from the other angle, making an X across the floor. This is what evens all the boards to the same height and levels high and low spots. Only after going across the grain should you take a single pass along with the grain. And I don’t like the drum sanders they rent out at the big box stores. They’re far too lightweight. The sanders we use are large, and they have a heavy weight attached to the front. But they probably rent the lightweight sanders because homeowners will just end up putting a giant hole in their floor with a heavy sander. There are a lot of fine details that you learn as an apprentice that you will NEVER learn from videos or trial and error. I can not overemphasize how important it is to create a completely dust free environment before you begin to apply the final finish. We vacuum the ceilings, light fixtures, the walls, door and wall trim - we literally vacuum everything, and our rooms are dust free. This makes all the difference in achieving a truly professional final product.

I learned how to sand the floor by watching karate kid, my floor looks good and I can block a front kick now! 😀

I agree, I have been a carpenter for 42 years and I am still amazed how a person can post a video on RU-vid when they've done one thing one time! Seems like they are so proud of themselves that they've accomplished something that they need to share with the rest of the world. Lol!

I love your American accent when you say, "Hard Pine". You should do an entire video with an American accent.

Matthias Wandell, is an engineer, and woodworker, known mostly for making wooden machines.

I actually enjoyed your video. We are literally about to redo old oak floors from 1940 this week. So we definitely took your advice and spent time watching the “pro” videos to make sure it’s done right.

Thanks for posting this. I am watching videos on restoring old hardwood floors before I get started. I live in a 160 year old house with the original hardwood floors. They were badly neglected and was that way when I bought the house in October 2019. I am at process of restoring this house back to its former glory.

I have owned a sanding co. 25!years and these videos are hilarious. The equipment makes a difference. Get drum sanders and an Edger. Cut floor 2-3 times. Thanks for sharing.

What's funny is I almost tried to do our pine floors from watching the first video. Thanksfully we hired professionals and I was amazing it took them a full week...as in two people working out took them a week!

Damn bro ..... some of these dudes are just tryin to rent the property, not win a prize in better homes and gardens.

Hahaha! "Don't refinish your floors by trial and error." That one got me good. Good advice.

So, here's what I do to my own floors. If an area gets rough, I scratch up the worst of it with a slightly coarse random orbital sander making no effort to get down to the bare wood, only to let the new finish bond (key) to the existing layers. Then I go over the parts that I sanded board-by-board, using a foam brush exactly the width of the board with one thick coat of water-based polyurethane. The random sanding marks are almost never visible, and any dings that are not fully filled disappear the next time around. The new coat almost never peels and having done this multiple times, none of the boards stand out as different, since the ones surrounding them have gotten similar treatment at one time or another. My floors probably look a little worse than a perfectly re-finished floor, but they look a lot better than the typical floor does halfway between refinishing jobs. If I ever sell the place, I'll give everything a light sanding and a thin final coat, to unify the surface, given that people will be viewing the rooms empty and with no rugs, but given the way it looks now, even that might not be completely necessary. Since it's only small areas that get most of the wear, this method never takes much of my time, and believe me, I'm not one to throw away time on things like this.

i applaud you for catching the "what not to do" in refinishing floors, Thank You

A tip~ As you critique a video~ 1) state the fail. 2) state the recommended equipment/products to use for the job. It's more precise. Great job on the video

Quick honest question: let's say you have a 100 year old wooden floor. How would one go about refinishing it while at the same time keeping the old look to it? My point is, you talk about making a floor look like new, but should that always be the ambition?

drink everytime when he says 'absolutely'

So hilarious because I watched the first two videos he showed. Even before I knew anything about refinishing, I knew the first floor looked terrible. I ended up renting an orbital sander for my first two sandings (36 / 60) because people said it is a safer option. It took about 4 hours to get most (not all) of the finish off in a small section. I took it back and picked up a standing drum sander and it was four times faster compared to the orbital sander.

It's actually pretty common for people to request that the flaws in some hardwood floors remain visible. Especially if the house is historic or just very old. Quite a lot of people actually view the flaws as some kind of timeline or echo of what has happened in the home. Especially if the home has been in the family for generations. If that isn't the case, the first dude is a clown. If that is the case, he nailed it.

Landlords tend to hire cheap labor quite often in the inner cities and other investment properties. As a realtor I see these atrocities on a daily basis. Love your videos!

I live on a tropical island, we dont have wood floors, why im here?

I once finished a living room floor , last room in the house . It was about 6pm . Packed up then couldn't find my car keys......They were on the mantle on the other side of the room.

I'm glad you mentioned the Rotex as a viable power tool to refinish a hardwood floor! Not for everyone of course, and it still takes a long time to get the job done properly (not to mention your knees that won't thank you). Still, very doable, even for big rooms, and a very cheap option as long as you can get your hands on such a tool.

Thank you. This was very helpful. I am doing my floors and don't want to mess up. I saw the first video and was concerned that it wasn't right. Thanks so much for helping with guidance.

“this must have been soul destroying “ lol so funny the way you put it

Do you have a video on how to correctly sand your floors? That will help instead of wasting time on the bad way to do it.Thank you!

While I will probably never want to sand a floor, watching you work is astonishing because of your artistry. But I did love this post

Thank you so much for this. Very informative. I was headed out to get a hand sander in the morning because I’ve been watchin these videos. U just saved me from a LOT of mistakes!!!

LOL this is a great video. I feel the same way when I see other "how to" videos. My favorite line: "They think it looks great, but if I did that I wouldn't get paid!" Isn't that the truth

Some people, including me, like the scratches, dents, and dings in our hardwood floors. Not everybody wants their floor to look brand new.

I love how I watched all of these videos and then found this video, thank you for letting me know I wasted so much time out of my life.......lol......

A neighbor of mine tried to refinish his floors. Sanding went great. He asked me what I thought I walked in. It wasn’t good, he had laminate floors he took the laminate right off. I told him because it was his first time doing a floor. And he got a really sad look. I felt bad, but at the same time I was thinking. Here’s your sign

Man, I don't get it. You were ragging on these videos of people clearly without a clue, and then mention that you know people on RU-vid that never get veiws and are insane in terms of skill. But you didn't plug any of these videos that deserve more views in the description. Help get those guys some exposure.

When you have realy old wood floors i think you shouldnt sand it to mirror finish, think the dents and voids give it a good old rustic look almost like an old western bar.

“Tickling it, tickling it, the floors laughing” LMAO 🤣🤣🤣

Square scrubber machines are great for scrubbing floors. I like them for cleaning tile floors in restrooms.

I notice you point out many novice errors which is OK, You also mention that taking out all the cupping and dents/dings is the ultimate goal. In many cases the previous damage is such that there would be not material left in many areas if damage removed completely. The object often is not to make the floors to look new. Rather make a very bad floor look better and be serviceable. I did like your explanation of how people do expect the work to go much quicker than it will be done. Sanding and refinishing hard wood floors is Hard work, A committment to the time and effort required is essential to a reasonable result. Please if you are going to present the Fails please show how to do it differently so the fail would not have occurred in the first place.

The guy from 6:25 onward is brilliant yet completely nuts. I feel like I'm watching Pee Wee Herman's breakfast machine.

tysm for this video! I just discovered hardwood floors in one of the rooms of my house, and I'm probably going to rip up the carpet. I have noooo interest in trying to refinish it myself, so the most I will do is clean it and maybe apply a rejuvenator. If I decide to have them refinished, I will definitely hire a professional! Thank you for your detailed analyses of these videos & explaining why some of these techniques aren't a great idea!

i'm sanding my 111 year old pine floors tomorrow. I am so glad I found this video.

"He's tickling it, the floors laughing!" 😂😂😂😂 I can't believe there is so many thumb downs on this.

I have absolutely no idea why this is in my recommended feed, but I love it. Watched the entire thing. It was amazing

I loved it when you said if i did that i would not get paid. But the person doing it says it looks great lol. Ran into that alot back in my construction days :)

I was amazed how he could sand the floor with your presenting chair in the way

you click on one woodworking videos and all of a sudden YT is just like "oh you like wood eh?" lol

Wendel Matthias is a very smart gentlemen, which is why his bizzare floor video confused me. This gentleman's reaction to it was priceless and deserving. If you're gonna post a video like that, you're gonna get roasted. Well done, "How to sand a floor"

I sanded a 10 foot x 4 foot dining table with a belt sander once to take off the finish. I finished it with a random orbital. Took me 2 days to get it prepped for a new finish. Two full days but I'm a perfectionist. I can't even imagine what these people are thinking doing a floor by hand. I wouldn't even consider it.

I've installed a few hardwood floors but only once (the most recent) did I actually sand and finish it. I used a floor sander but quickly learned that it takes some skill to use it. You have to be very consistent and keep moving. Linger in one spot, even for a second or two and you can very quickly create a low spot that might not be visible initially but shows up after varnishing.

Matthias wandel is a woodworker and he prefaced his video that he was going to have a professional do it after his video

I will upload a video from my own experience beautifying my hardwood floor. Look for a video entitled "FINDING THE PERFECT AREA RUG".

I am cackling 😂 so me and my husband are about to d.i.y our floors I'm so glad I ran across this video we have no idea what were doing but this video is hilarious I'm learning alot about what not to do😂😂

Blind: So how's it look? Blind Leading the Blind: I think it looks great. Blind: Yea I thought so to. "0_o"

When I was first looking up floor refinishing techniques, I couldn't believe how some of the guys with so many views were actually proud of such an awful looking end result, which, had they decided to do it right, would have served them well, taken less time, increased the value of their homes, etc. I hand it to you pros when it comes to sanding floors. On my project, I really tried to do it right and not cut corners. I took my time and did a bunch of research on refinishing techniques on a big floor refinishing project, and it turned out beautiful with only a couple of rookie mistakes that only I'll notice. I sanded about 1100 square feet in a matter of 24 hours, which was a total of about six passes between all of the grits I used including the edge sander, then used a buffer with a screen to blend the edges with the floor. I took my time getting them clean in prep for the clearcoat. Like I said, I hand it to you pros. That was back breaking work and it took me several days to recover. But the end result of doing it properly really, really paid off, and I'm constantly having to tell people "no, I will not help you refinish your floor." best tip I got from this channel was to use a super fine grit sandpaper on the drum sander to get the feel of it; this way you don't learn it on a grit that can damage your floor. Because of that tip, I kid you not, not one stray mark in my entire project from the drum sander.

I thought it was fg hilarious. I also learned some important things that I will use as I refinish my hard wood for the first time. Thanks for a good video.

Most on point diy review I’ve seen ever! hardwood floor man for the past seven years and this stuff gets under my skin!!

That accent change made me feel like I entered a parallel universe! Thank you for calling out bad advice and fake videos! It hurts to watch people ruin their homes and brains with false information - the compliments are a great way to combat however crude your judgements might seem. Need more polite YT callouts like yours

okay, so then what do you reccomend doing? if you really want to help and not just hate, don't just rip on these people, tell us how to do it better ourselves

I don’t know why so many thumbs down! Hardly a hater video. Just someone passionate about doing a GOOD job and showing us what NOT to do. I’m refinishing my floors this weekend and this is helpful. Keep making videos my friend!

it makes me happy to hear you say to do it properly would take 2 weeks, im just finishing my first one now and to get to the point of staining (today) its been nearly 3 weeks. i thought i was taking too long to do it but i refused to stain or seal it until i sanded it down flush

This is like the drinking and driving video they make you watch in high school. Friends don’t let friend refinish their floors.

I’ve always used Clark Super galaxy drum sanders, Clark edgers, a finish buffer, corner scrapers rags to wipe stain on and off, 6” edge brushes, and lambs wool brushes for the center.

i love the way he acts professional while he is sat on the sofa like mate why is this in my recomended

I know the correct way to finish a wood floor using the correct sanding equipment, but why didn't you tell us what you would have done differently? Let us have a look at your wood floors, or the floors you have done.

I would use a Lagler Hummel drum sander a clark edger and a orbital buffer. Festool does make great palm sanders for finishing edges before coating