Rant: That influencer who sanded her floor with a belt sander and ruined it

I saw this video on TikTok where a woman tried to refinish her hardwood floors and used a handheld belt sander on the whole thing. She ended up with gouges an inch deep in some spots and had to pay a pro $800 to fix it. Made me think about how many people jump into DIY projects after watching a 2 minute clip without realizing how much skill the tools really need. Has anyone else seen a project that went from a cute idea to a total money pit because of bad advice online?

2 comments

2 Comments

abbyd367d ago

That influencer's video made me cringe so hard. I grew up helping my dad restore old houses and watching someone take a belt sander to a whole floor was painful. My cousin tried the same thing with a rented drum sander last year after watching a similar tutorial. He ended up with a wavy, uneven mess that cost him almost $2,000 to have a pro fix and refinish. Those 2 minute clips never show the hours of practice or the mistakes that come before getting it right. It's really a shame how a cute video can turn into such a big expensive headache for people.

the_beth7d ago

My cousin's floor disaster story hit me hard because I used to watch those DIY home videos and think "how hard can it really be?" I actually borrowed a floor sander two years ago and was lucky I only did a small bedroom before realizing I had no idea what I was doing. The instructor on the video made it look so easy, like anyone could just pick it up and get perfect results. That $2,000 fix your cousin had to pay is exactly what stopped me from touching the rest of my house. Those videos need a big fat warning label about how much practice it actually takes.