re: anyone know a good hardwood floor refinisher in NOLA?

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dmn, not opposed to it, but frankly am a bit concerned about the time required as I'm already painting the entire inside of the place myself before moving in at the end of the month. Can you provide some relatively easy to follow DIY instructions? I know I can rent the equipment.

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For paint, buy a Shur-Line edger and about 10 replacement pads if youre doing an entire house. I cant tell you how much time this saves because it essentially eliminates taping. Dont skimp either on priming. Buy a quality primer (bonding primer for gloss surfaces like cabinets) and it will give you a much better finished product and it will also cut down on the amount of coats you will have to put saving you more time in the long run. Paint/Primer mixed in at lowes/home depot is crap. Painting and floors are not something I would want to tackle at the same time. I would paint everything first, then do my floors. Keep in mind, you will have sawdust everywhere and will have to wipe down every square inch of you walls after you sand your floors.

Floors - Sanding(rent from a Mom and Pop, not lowes/home depot if possible - equipment is better serviced and much better customer care)
-First, remove all base boards and quarter rd. Inspect every square inch of your floors on hands and knees to ensure their are no nails or pieces of metal protruding out. This got me a few times and it will mess up a sander and tear your sandings drums up.
-Always sand WITH the grain and DO NOT stop and let the drum continue to contact the floor if you have to stop for any reason. If you do stop, immediately pull up the lever to raise drum as it will eat through your floor if you dont. Start with heavier grain (24-36) and do entire house. You will need approx 2 sanding pads per room per grain. Move to 2nd pass over entire house with lighter grain (60 to 80) and then 3rd pass with lightest grain (120-160). If there are any imperfections, you can buff them out with an orbital hand sander. Depending on budget, you can also rent an edge sander that is basically a giant orbital sander. It makes life easy. If not, you will just have to go with handheld orbital sander for the last 3" near the wall.
-Wipe down your walls after this sanding. Then sweep entire floor at least twice and vacuum entire floor after. (check out youtube vids on this process)

-Stain- Get a quality brush and stain floor as if you were painting it only going in about 2'x5' sections. After letting an area sit for about 5 mins wipe/lightly rub the area with a cloth or rag to absorb excess stain. The longer you let the stain sit, the deeper it'll penetrate into the wood. We actually didnt wipe one bedroom at all and just brushed the stain on (used less stain for this so that it didnt blotch) and it came out great as well, just a darker hue. After about 5 hrs, you're ready to seal.

-Polyurethane- I used a Semi-gloss and it came out with more of a sheen than I anticipated so keep that in mind. A pure gloss in my mind would be too much as it would make the flood appear to be wet in my eyes. I only applied three coats, all by hand with a high quality brush. Some may say to use a lambs wool applicator but I have had bad experiences with this on a floor we've done years ago with wool particles getting stuck in the seal. After applying a very light first coat, sand with fine grit (120 or higher) on a handheld orbital sander with a very light pass. Sweep all dust, and then apply 2nd coat and 3rd coat letting dry between manufacturer's instructions. We gave it 24 hrs after final coat before moving furniture back in. It is at least a 4-5 day process total. Good luck

Edit: This is a big job. It is labor intensive and very time-consuming. It is not, however, difficult. If you have the time, patience, and physically can take it (I would imagine this would be horrible for someone with back problems as it's alot of hands and knees work), I think it's worth doing on your own. I had such a great sense of pride after finishing and can smile about it everyday. Keep in mind, your floors will get scratched and chipped after. It's been about a year and they are getting fairly scratched up with the dog and furniture but we've learned to let it go and will reseal in a few years. If you decide to do it on your own, the amount of money you can save is a big chunk (a few thousand I would imagine) and it is very self gratifying. Hope all of that helps.