When we purchased this house we were told that these were hard wood floors.  Upon further inspection it was noted that they were 30-year-old laminate floors.  The thought was to just be able to refinish and be done.  After learning that they were laminate it dashed that idea.  Researching and not willing to give up, I decided to see if it was possible.  Tearing out the floor was going to be nearly impossible and really expensive.  It was all glued to the subfloor.  I took my little hand sander and tried a patch to see what would happen.  I loved it!  It worked.  There was just enough solid wood on top that it could be sanded, stained and resealed.

After 5 years this floor had barely any finish left and was actually causing splinters in our feet! It was time.  My ex husband took the kids to Oklahoma to see their grandparents.  I had one week to knock this out.  I didn’t want to rent a big floor sander because I needed a lot of control over how much it sanded and how deep.  One mistake and this was going to be a disaster!  I bought myself a belt sander and got busy.  As I started sanding I realized the floors were gorgeous.  The thought of not staining and just sealing became an option.  They were sanded and I noticed some stains that would keep me from being able to skip the stain step.  Oh well!  The stain looked completely different in different light.  Natural to overhead.

This took days of hard work and elbow grease.  Yes I was really sore after this project.  It turned out great.  So it was worth all the pain.

Windows were open so the fumes had a place to go.  This was in the late fall so it was a little bit cold.  I left them open as long as I could stand freezing.  Stopped late into the night just so that I could close the windows and warm up!  One coat of stain made the floor look perfect.  The longest process was the multiple coats of poly that had to be put on, sanded and dried.  I sat back and looked at the floor and what I had accomplished and just smiled.  I didn’t believe that these floors could look so good.