sanding, washing, and re-finishing

First, the wood floors were sanded with a rented power-sander. Hubby did the honors.

Upstairs, the three bedrooms have narrow-board oak on the floor and they are very lovely, even though most likely installed in 1959. (At the top of the stairs, there is a 2x3 foot square of the original 1843 flooring. It is very wide, very scuffed, and very painted. It hints of what lurks under the oak flooring and speaks of "too much work to be worth it" to me.)

Downstairs, we have a wider board in the double living rooms/dining room. It has a red tint and beveled edges; quite unique. We are not sure of the type of wood. It is the original flooring and I love it.

After sanding, we let the dust settle for a few days. I armed myself with a giant shop-vac and tackled the next step of the job on Monday. All the floors were meticulously vacuumed and then wiped clean. Twice. Additionally, #1 Daughter helped me wash walls, trim, and baseboard just to eliminate our enemy, dust.

On Tuesday, I prepped for the poly by wiping down the floors once again. Then, with a long wooden pole with a pad of lamb's wool attached to the end, I dipped my "mop" into a paint tray full of oil-based satin finish poly, and started long, easy strokes, going with the grain.

The sunlight streaming through the windows, the warm yellow-red glow of the bare wood, the roar of the waterfalls, and the soft dull swish of the wool on the wood were my companions all afternoon. It was all very lovely until the headache hit.

Today, I did the same task all over again. This time, the prep was a pass with a dry-wall sander over ALL the floors followed by a wipe with a damp cloth. (Much rinsing and re-filling the bucket with fresh, clean water was called for. )The last pass with the poly-filled "magic wand" was administered by Hubby, as the fume-headache returned before the job was complete.

I strolled down the road to clear my head from the fumes. After a fantastic and restorative bowl of bean soup at 1942, I returned to find Hubby stretched out on the front porch, also looking for respite from the noxious polyurethane fumes.

As a reward for this effort, we have beautiful glowing floors throughout the house!