whats the best way to remove what appears to be 1000 yr old varnish from hardwood floor?

my husband who is a contractor (aka jackass)clearly does not want to help me with this so he gave me a beltsander and told me to have at it! (yes I said jack ***) been working on it for two hours there has got to be a better way to tackle this, its my feeling that he just wants to discourage me so ill give up-and I not budging !
any suggestions?

Answers:
I, personally, would rent a floor sander. They are much bigger so you get more of the floor sanded at one time. I'm sure your hubby could get you a discount at your local equipment rental place. Be careful though, you can take too much off if you don't keep moving, but once you get the groove, you'll be sanded in no time!!

If that isn't to your liking, you could treat the floor with a varnish eating product like Zip Strip. It smells super nasty and you have to put it on and let it sit, but it will definitely eat the varnish off with enough time. They have these products at all Home Depot, Menards, Lowes, etc.

Other answers:
What I did to remove the varnish off my kitchen chairs was went to walmart and bought this varnish remover.

It is painted onto the boards and then scraped off with a scraper.

Then afterwards, sand it.

Then again, the sander should be the best way to finish this. I've redone my entire house with a sander and it went fine. Try using a coarser sandpaper.
What I did to remove the varnish off my kitchen chairs was went to walmart and bought this varnish remover.

It is painted onto the boards and then scraped off with a scraper.

Then afterwards, sand it.

Then again, the sander should be the best way to finish this. I've redone my entire house with a sander and it went fine. Try using a coarser sandpaper.
You can rent an industrial standing sander at someplace like home depot, but even with that and 2 other hand belt sanders gong all at the same time it took 2 days to sand my 100 year old living room floor. GOOD LUCK!
If you have a large area, you will not be able to use chemicals to remove the varnish. It will be too messy and you'll choke to death on the fumes. If you hired a professional to do the work, he would use a large upright belt sander. It looks sort of like a small lawnmower with a rotating drum that will sand off the varnish. You will need a small hand version for close work next to the baseboards and in the corners.

It's tough work....so you may want to contract it out. Look at it this way. If you bought new carpet and padding, would you install it yourself?
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