We are trying to refinish the floors in the upstairs of our house. We have tried big belt sanders and 4 disk orbital sanders. Both of the units sand paper plugged in under a minute. We tried all the way down to 20 grit paper. We think it is wax on top of shellac but this is mere speculation. Looking for any advice. Our house is old and have no idea who built it. Thanks Jason
you should strip the wax first, it will keep plugging any grit paper you throw at it… 
I’m just an amutear but the belt sander is your tool of choice. You could try some solvents and a ice scraper/chipper to loosen and scrap some of the junk off first. Keep the sander moving. If you got bad stains you can try working in straight bleach and then dry it off and let dry over night and resand again.
We had some nasty floors and this is what worked for us, there was a few stains that wouldn’t come out and don’t know if a professional could have gotten or not. Good luck.
How do I get the wax off?
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How do I get the wax off?
not Mr Miyagi style either Danielson 
Just like in “Karate Kid” wax on, right hand. Wax off, left hand. (I just couldn’t resist, sorry. Try Billy Richardson, in Lake City. I can’t find his number right off hand. He did our home’s wood floors as well as my daughter’s. He might be able to answer your questions.
The shellac will clog your sand paper just as much as the wax will. You will want to go down to around 10 grit (maybe lower) and use quite a few belts to be able to make a dent .
And if you have a wax you will want to use a floor stripper made for wax removal.
Do they have 16grit? Not a floor in 10 years I havent been able to strip with 16. Problem to with some of those rental sanders is they operate at such a high rpm, it melts the wax/shellac,crap to the paper more than it strips it off. Why belt sanders can be effective BC they roll at a slower speed than your others. Stick with the big belt sander for everything you can get, crosscut if you have to edges,closets,halls,etc, then follow with finer paper to take those out after wax is off. Good luck to you, even for us professionals not much you can do other than change the paper and a lot of elbow grease. PM me if you have further issues I can give you a call.
Several years ago I refinished a table and my weapon of choice was a paint scraper. The table had lacquer and years of wax coating it. Similar to this one… It may be a little small but you will be supprised how fast it will make the floor sandable. Sandable is that a word? 
Several years ago I refinished a table and my weapon of choice was a paint scraper. The table had lacquer and years of wax coating it. Similar to this one… It may be a little small but you will be supprised how fast it will make the floor sandable. Sandable is that a word?
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Do they have 16grit? Not a floor in 10 years I havent been able to strip with 16. Problem to with some of those rental sanders is they operate at such a high rpm, it melts the wax/shellac,crap to the paper more than it strips it off. Why belt sanders can be effective BC they roll at a slower speed than your others. Stick with the big belt sander for everything you can get, crosscut if you have to edges,closets,halls,etc, then follow with finer paper to take those out after wax is off. Good luck to you, even for us professionals not much you can do other than change the paper and a lot of elbow grease. PM me if you have further issues I can give you a call.
do the big box stores rent out a variable speed walk behind drum sander
Many of them do
If not talk to some local hardwood companies and see if you can talk to their distributors. It may vary by location, but they are usually just a bunch of good guys, I’m sure they would let you purchase, and possibly rent whatever you need to get er done. Might not get the discount pricing, but well worth it. They go down to 12grit I believe too if needed. Paper is OK to gum up, usually chunks up the paper and shoots lil balls of junk everywhere, its only when the paper starts burning and not cutting the floor where it needs to get changed. But I’ve had it where the paper is half gummed up but still cuts just fine. Make sure to wear a dust mask that is some funky old stuff they used back then.
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