How to Refinish Hardwood Floors

Luckily the wood floors were throughout the WHOLE first floor! 

Unfortunately a small section in the kitchen was damaged beyond repair, SO if you don’t have hardwood, but WANT it for cheap.. I will show you how to get it!!

We went to Lumber Liquidators and got 5in unfinished pine for $1.16 sq ft! 

We got just enough to replace the damaged stuff.. 

I wanted to run it the opposite direction as the rest of the wood, to ‘define’ a hallway. 

Super easy! Cut it to the length you need it, rent a staple gun made for tongue and groove floors, and go to town! 

We used a table saw to rip a few down the middle to make them fit.

After the damaged wood was replaced with the new stuff, we rented a floor sander, bought LOTS of sandpaper, and started sanding.. and sanding.. and sanding.. and sanding

Start with 60grit, and sand the whole floor, then move to 80 grit, then 100, then 160-ish.. don’t go higher than that {even though the floor sander rental peeps recommend it} 

If you do, it makes your floors TOO smooth, and the stain can’t penetrate as well.

Just make sure you go over the WHOLE floor, in the same direction as the wood grain EACH time you change grit on the sandpaper. OH- and wear earplugs!

I can’t even believe these were what the floors looked like! NASTY! 

Sorry this pic was taken after dark, but I wanted to show you how bad they were, and can you tell where the small section is that I sanded?

OH.. if you have nail holes, you can fill them with wood floor putty, just make sure you do this BEFORE you sand. I only filled a few of the big ones, because I feel like that is one of those things that just adds character! 

I get a little teary looking at this picture… this is when we knew the end was near! 

My hubs made fun of me because the minute the paint was dry on the fireplace, I started to decorate it! ha ha

Anyway at this point you just carefully pull the stain across the wood, in the same direction as the wood grain, then leave it ALONE for 2 to 3 days.

After that, apply the polyurethane in the SAME way as the stain…

It needs to set for about 32 hours, then you LIGHTLY sand it with regular 100 grit, then apply another coat. {We did 3 coats} You DON’T sand the final coat.

Wait about 3 to 4 days for it to harden completely before you start moving furniture onto the floors.

OK I KNOW my rug covers MOST of the floor, but isn’t it pretty! The only drawback is that dark floors show dust and scratches easier than lighter floors… but I knew that ahead of time.. it was a price I was willing to pay for dark luxurious floors