Refinishing Wood Floors

Basically, sand, stain. and finish.

I'm sure there are plenty of Youtube videos doing that.

Make sure you get a GOOD drum sander. I was in your shoes as well about 10 years ago and I re-did mine. You'll definitely want to get the hang of how the machine operates and how much top layer it takes off; otherwise, you'll have grooves in your floors

Also, in the corners where the drum sander can't be used, you can use a regular higher powered orbital sander.

Good luck and upload some photos

Sanding is the easy part. Tons of videos on how to do it. I would remove the base boards if possible to allow the machine to get as close to the wall as possible. At a minimum remove the ¼ round. Go over the entire surface and countersink all nails. Remove any foreign substance (like glue). If there are any big dents, use a wet cloth and an iron to get them out.

Getting rid of all the dust then finishing the floor is the tough part. Isolate each room you are doing to contain the dust you generate (temp. walls with plastic sheathing). Use mineral spirts soaked rags to wipe down everything, multiple times, over a couple of days (ceiling, walls, floors, etc). That fine powder settles very slowly. If any settles down on wet polyurethane it will make the finish look like shite. Rough up the surface between coats with fine steel wool followed by another wipe down with mineral spirits. Use booties and make sure you don’t track anything into the room with you. There is noting worse than a beautiful refinished floor with a hair stuck off in the finish.

Expect 1 day to sand then ~ 3 days to finish it (with at least 24 hours between coats IF the humidity is low). Then another 48 hours before putting traffic on it. I’d wait at least a week before brining furniture back in. Or go with one of those fast drying water based finishes that won’t last a year.

what do you do for a living? what is your time worth.
here is what is going to happen you are going to rent equipment screw up your floors and they will look like crap and you will pay someone to fix it.

pay a professional with references your time is worth more than screwing up your floors. You can't rent professional sanders yes edgers but not drum sanders you can rent diy sanders but its not the same equipment. Depending on where you live probably going to pay 2.75 -3.75 a ² foot. do the math on the rental.

Unless you are paying top dollar don’t expect a flooring crew to make the floor perfect either. The main difference is that you didn’t do it so you don’t always notice all the small mistakes you do notice when you do it yourself.

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If one was hiring a professional would it be cheaper to refinish or replace? Newer construction on a cement slab.

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Depends on if you even DIY bro.

If money is no option, hire someone else. If you're interested in doing it yourself and to save $$, do it yourself. I was broke as hell after the downpayment so I had to do everything myself and came out great, but it's a lot of work.