I didn’t get the final coat of polyurethane on the floors last night before I went to bed. As y’all know, I generally don’t do a lot of work on Wednesdays because that’s my lunch day with my mom and brother, and I usually don’t get home until about 4:15. Then I spend at least an hour making Matt’s dinner, spending time with him as he eats, etc. So if any work gets done on Wednesdays, it won’t be until after 6:00pm.
By the time I got home, the first two coats of poly were thoroughly dry, and the next step in the process was to lightly sand the floors before the final coat went on. I had forgotten to buy the proper sandpaper when I was buying all of my supplies for the flooring project, so I had to go to the store first, which put my starting time around 7:30. Sanding the floors took about two hours, and then cleaning up all of the dust and getting ready for the final coat of poly took another hour. Starting the final coat of polyurethane at 10:30pm simply wasn’t an option. But at least the floors are ready for that final coat this morning, and I still think I can be on schedule to start the closet tomorrow.
Anyway, I wanted to back up a bit and give some more details of this process because I had a few questions about the products and process. First, I want to make it very clear that mixing polyurethane and stain together is something you need to do at your own risk. I can’t guarantee that your outcome is going to be like mine, so if you want to try this, please test out the mixture on some leftover wood before actually applying it to your hardwood floors.
I like to mix the stain with the polyurethane, especially with a wood like new growth red oak hardwood flooring that has such dark and visible grain, because it evens out the appearance of the grain and gives a beautiful depth of color to the wood. I’ve only ever done this using dark stain, though. So I have no idea how it would work with a lighter stain.
Here you can see the difference the first coat made on my floor. The shiny part is obviously the part where I had just applied the stain/poly mixture, and you can see how it compares to the part of the flooring in the foreground of the picture that just has the stain on it.
Here’s a look at the difference it made in the closet. Remember that this room has a lot less lighting, so it appears that the poly/stain mixture made even more of a difference in here, but that’s just because of the poor lighting in the room. The floor is all the same color throughout the bedroom suite.
Products I used:
To stain the floors, I used Minwax oil-based stain, and I used a 50/50 mix of Dark Walnut and Special Walnut. The polyurethane I used is the oil-based Minwax Super Fast Drying Polyurethane For Floors in a satin finish, and for the first two coats, I mixed the poly and stain in a ratio of one gallon of polyurethane to one pint of stain (using the same 50/50 stain mixture that I had previously used to stain the floors).
To apply the stain, I used a large 4-inch brush that was labeled for use with oil-based stain/poly (like this one) taped to the end of a pole using Tyvek tape (duct tape will work just fine) so that I could stand for the process rather than having to get down on my knees to polyurethane the floors. You’ll notice that this is not the kind of brush made for staining decks. I personally think those are a bit too cheaply made for staining/polyurethaning indoor hardwood flooring.
Why I used a brush instead of an applicator pad
Those 10- or 12-inch applicator pads (wool or synthetic) that are generally used to apply polyurethane to a floor are perfect if you’re just applying clear polyurethane right out of the can. Clear polyurethane is much more forgiving, so if you apply some areas thicker than others (which will inevitably happen with those applicator pads), it really won’t make a difference in the finished look of the floor.
But when stain has been added to the polyurethane, it makes a huge difference. If the polyurethane/stain mixture isn’t applied very evenly, or there are areas where the pad pushes the poly into a line where you stop and start the application, it will be very obvious because that area will be darker since it has a buildup of polyurethane with the color added.
The application is much easier to control with a brush. I applied the poly in sections that were about 3 or 4 feet wide in rows that were about 2 feet, and using the brush allowed me to feather each new section into the wet polyurethane from the previous section without leaving any buildup of color where the two sections met. The same concept applies with the overlapping rows. The brush allowed me to feather each new row into the prior row while it was still wet with much more control that an applicator pad would have allowed. The result was even color over the whole floor with no buildup of color (such as lines left by the ends of the applicator pad) leaving darker areas anywhere on the floor.
It’s definitely a slower process applying it with a brush instead of an applicator pad, but I think it’s a necessary process when applying polyurethane with stain added to it.
I mentioned yesterday that I did two coats of the poly/stain mixture. You can see here the difference that the second coat made in the depth of color.
That brings us to yesterday, the scariest part of the whole process. It’s a bit nerve wracking to take a sander to a floor that looks really pretty, but it’s also a necessary step before the final coat of polyurethane in order to get the best final outcome and the smoothest floors possible. Using my 5-inch orbital sander set to the lowest setting, and 220-grit sanding discs, I sanded the entire floor, making sure that I used even pressure and didn’t go over any of the sections so much that it would take the color off.
And yes, once again, this whole process was done on my knees. It wasn’t too bad, though.
But let me tell you, it’s scary seeing the floor go from looking like this…
to looking like this…
But I just trusted the process. The 220-grit sanding discs fill up with dust fairly quickly, so I had to change them often. And most of that mess is just a buildup of dust, so once the dust was cleaned up, the floors went back to looking pretty much like they did before sanding. Only now, they were much smoother.
Once everything was sanded, I vacuumed up as much of the dust as I could with my shop vac, and then I cleaned up the rest with a damp rag. Here you can see the difference between the floor that had been wiped down and was starting to dry (so it started looking hazy again) on the top right portion of the photo, the floor that had just been wiped down and was still wet in the little hallway, and the floor that hadn’t been wiped down yet on the left portion of the photo.
When cleaning up the dust with a damp rag, it’s important to pay attention to what it looks like when it’s wet, because that’s pretty much what it’ll look like after that final coat of polyurethane goes on. But once it dries, it’ll go back to looking hazy again, with some areas looking hazier than others. That’s not a problem, though, because the final coat of clear polyurethane will even out all of the finish. Here’s what it looked like once it was sanded and dry. You can see that some areas appear hazier than others.
And here’s the closet floor sanded, wiped down, and dry.
And the foyer floor sanded, cleaned, and dry.
As I was wiping down the floors with the damp rag, I noticed that I did end up with three very small (penny-sized) spots where I took off a bit too much of the color. I’ll simply touch those up with a tiny bit of stain and let them dry before adding the final coat of polyurethane. So the floors are looking a bit rough right now, but again, it’s important to pay attention to what they look like when they’re wet as you’re wiping off the dust. That’s when you can really see what they’ll look like once that final coat of polyurethane goes on.
So I’ll do the final coat this morning and give the floors all day and all night to dry. This afternoon, I’ll make my shopping list and cut lists for the closet cabinets. The plan is to get the floors covered tomorrow morning and then get started on my closet tomorrow afternoon!
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
