Continued from Day 3.
Home stretch!
Step-by-Step
Step 1
Hairy floors? I ran my hands along the floors again and felt they were still a tad bit “hairy” so we went through and sanded down the floors with 120 grit sandpaper. Since the buffing machine scared me with how much stain it pulled off, I made the executive decision to sandpaper the floors by hand. This wasn’t as laborious as I’d imagined it to be as elbow grease wasn’t necessary. The sandpaper just needed a light grazing to take off the hairs. I’d say we finished this task in about 20 minutes.
Step 2
Vacuum and tack cloth again. Seriously. So important.
Step 3
Now the varnish! I really thought I’d be excited about applying the stain and seeing the transformation from gold oak to ebony floors, but I was more excited at applying the varnish. To me, it signified the near end to a long (and painful) process.
I did this process by myself as my fiance had to go to work. I’ll be honest, this step was probably the least painful of all the steps so far. At first, I mimicked the video’s suggestion at using a watering can (we couldn’t find a watering can at Home Depot so my fiance had the clever idea of using an empty milk jug that was in our recycle bin) and covering the spout with a cheesecloth, but again, this was more laborious than necessary. I preferred to pour the milk jug of varnish into a clean paint tray and dip my applicator into the tray to wipe the varnish on the floors, using the same technique we implemented for Staining: Coat #2. The first coat was quickly applied within 35 minutes.
Step 4
The second coat was ready to be applied three hours later. (Gotta love that water-based varnish!) The floors felt pretty smooth by this point so I skipped the sanding step and went straight to tack clothing.
The second and third coats of varnish were applied using the same technique, waiting 2-3 hours between each coat, according to the instructions on the can.
Step 5
After the third coat, we were done! We waited three days for the varnish to fully cure before moving furniture back into the space. During this time, we slept in another room where we had set up a temporary living space. Be sure to pack for a week’s worth of clothes and toiletries if you can’t access your bedroom and bathroom while staining the floors.
Before
After
We’re ready for the new sectional!
PROJECT SUMMARY:
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Total Cost: The total cost was roughly $450, including rentals, supplies, stain, and varnish for 372 square feet. It was a ton of work, but I think our floors look great.
X
Total Time: We spent about 4 days sanding, staining, and varnishing the floors with an additional 3 days to wait for the varnish to cure (go on a mini-break at this time).
Catch up on this series:
How To Refinish Hardwood Floors (Day 1)
How To Refinish Hardwood Floors (Day 2)
How To Refinish Hardwood Floors (Day 3)
How To Refinish Hardwood Floors (Day 4)
Wow! That’s a lot of work! But it looks awesome. You too must really love each other. I know couples who have broken up under less hard work & stress. Isn’t home ownership fun?!?!
Thank you so much Kanani! I LOVE owning a home!! So much more work to do and can’t wait to share it here.
Amazing post! We’ve just bought our first home and are looking to do this. Feel much more confident with it now!
: D x
Oh thank you! We were quite intimidated at first too, but lucky to have a friend to tell us we could do it and how. Good luck with your project! ~M.
it does look great! I will be doing the opposite, hopefully I will be having white floors in a couple of months! I am glad, you found me on Instagram! Now I have Redesigned buddy!
Have a good weekend! xxx A.
White floors are also gorgeous! Are you painting or bleaching them white? I love your photos and love that you are so easy to communicate with! Hope you’re feeling better! ~M.
I think I’ll paint them… We are waiting for this guy to move out of our apartment so we can move in. Then we can see things clearly and start planning what has to be done… I am feeling better, the medicine helps
Have a good weekend! x A.