Refinishing the wood floors pt2

    Well my first post about refinishing our wood floors has been a big hit. I get web hits on that one post almost daily. So it goes to show many of you are undergoing the same task.
        Refinishing our hard wood floors was the first project we took on when we moved in last year. I was really overwhelmed about the idea, since paying someone would have taken us way over budget. Luckily for us my husband's co-worker had refinished countless floors and offered his services. It was an answer to prayers.
        It really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but be ready to work. It's not complicated work, but it is physical.

Step One: Rent a sander

We rented the larger sander and all the staining brushes from an off the wall place for $60-80 for 24 hours. Way cheaper than Lowes or Home depot...I think. I wish I wrote this blog a year ago when we did the project. You might want to double check. Remember to look around for the best rental prices because a few places we looked were $200+ if my memory serves me right.

Step two: Clean all the dust.
Sweep and vacuum  the wood dust, repeat again the next day to make sure all the dust has settled.

Step three: Start brushing on the stain.
We used Minwax from Home Depot.Youtube the best way to brush it on. It's not quit the same as painting a wall.

Step four: Sealer
Again we used the stuff at Home Depot. Make sure you wear socks. We had fans blowing all night  to help the stain dry. It took several days because of the humidity. Then the sealer took another few days to dry.Again Youtube the best way to apply the sealer.

The finished look:

 

Replacing the Quarter Round Molding

       When we first moved in the previous owner had ripped out the base boards when laying the wood floors, and replaced them with a quarter round molding. My father-in-law offered to help us install real base boards.

Here are a few pics of my dad helping me as I purchase our base boards:

My Father-in-law hard at work:

 Hubby painting the new base boards:

First Project: Refinishing our wood floors

     Wow! Anyone out there? It's been awhile! Hubs and I have been super busy making our new house liveable. I must say, we have succeeded! When we first moved in the thick red oak floors were all natural. We had to stain them, paint the tan/green walls, and do a number or repairs. The house still needs lots of work before it's perfect but we are finally in a place where the necessary work is finished. We can take our time with the rest of our list and do a little something here or there for the joy of it.
      Here are a few before and after pictures of  our first project when we first moved in (October 2012).

   Refinishing the wood floors:

 (My handsome hubby standing in our living room. I was tempted to paint our mantel but knowing I was going to paint the walls Behr's "peacock tail" blue I didn't want a white mantel and blue walls to give off a crisp, preppy or nautical look. )

 

(Hubs standing toward the back of the living room, near the dining room on his right)

 (Hubs learning how to refinish hard wood floors, thanks to his coworker who helped us for free! Talk about an amazing house warming gift!)

 

 (Let the staining begin)

 

 (They started straight after work, and worked throughout the night for several days.)

(Wow! Talk about dedication)

 

 (Gorgeous!)

(I was so happy when it was finished! The house smell horrid for days.)

I wish I could show you how our house looks now. Stay tuned and I'll take you through our beautiful transformation!