redo-ing hardwood cheaply

Cheap I can do--a belt sander and a palm sander will get it back to raw wood---then stain--and varnish with a water based floor finish---

You ask the impossible,however, if you want to do this without staying off it for several hours---

I agree. No way to do it without staying away for at least a few hours for water based Poly. Post some pics. How bad is it.

If not to bad, scuff it vacuum it real well and just before bed brush on a coat of Poly- i prefer Oil based for durability, but it stinks.

By morning it will be dry- repeat the next night with a second coat

I'm trying to visualize why sanding the 6x8 area and varnishing half of it at a time wouldn't work, but without a floor plan or pic I'm having trouble seeing a problem with that. Inconvenient for a couple of days? Probably, but isn't most home repair.

It sounds like an overnight stay at a hotel would be the best bet or multiple sleepovers for the kids.

I showed this to my wife and she mentioned giving the wife and kids a short vacation. :laughing:

I think the kids would enjoy cat walks for a couple of days. :thumbup:

Since this is such a small area you could get it done by renting just an edge sander. Then you would sand over it with a 36 grit, then again with a 50 grit, and finally with a 100 grit. Then you may want to even take a palm sander over the entire area to make sure you get out any swirls left by the edge sander. Then wipe down with water, let dry and apply stain using a deck pad. The stain will take the longest to dry, but you could just plan for this to where it is during a least inconvenient time. Then use a waterbased finish such as Bona traffic, and you can do all the coatings in just a few hours... Another option might be Rubio Monocoat, it is color and finish in one application. Check them out here http://www.rubiomonocoatonline.com Hope this helps.

I would hire a hardwood floor guy rather than a handyman. Every handy man thinks they can do it, but few can do it right. It is such a small area that the cost would be minimal. My guess would be $300-$500 to do it which is about what it would cost to rent all the equipment to do it the right way.