Pulled Up Carpet For Hardwood Floors, Now What?

[DKAudio]

I pulled up my main floor living room carpet because we wanted to have the hardwood floors underneath. The house was built in 1954 and I don't think they ever used them in that room. They appear to be stained (I can see they didn't go all the way to the trim) but not finished. The floor is in good condition but fairly rough. I know I will need to rent a sander but I heard there were two kinds, vibrating and drum. What kind should I get? What grit from start to finish? For finishing what kind of stain and polyurethane should I use? Also, there are holes from the carpet pad staples and tack strip nails, the tack strip actually split the board in many places. How should I fix all of this? I need to put up shoe and was actually hoping that would cover the tack strip nails and splitting but have not measured yet, it may.

Thanks

Dan

[HayZee518]

Where the wood is split, I would find a matching wood and grain and replace the board. The holes you can fill in with a resin based wood filler or "DURHAM'S" water putty. For floor sanders you use the drum type. grits start from #8 through #220. Even with their built in vacuum they still make a lot of dust. Along with the drum sander get a disk type finisher. Use a clear sanding sealer which is nothing but an alcohol based sealer PARKS white shellac, then finish with your choice of urethane.

[DKAudio]

Ok, I went to a few local home improvement stores with not much luck. I ended up buying everything at Home Depot. The stain I got is Minwax Wood Finish (Penetrates, Stains & Seals) Color is Golden Pecan 245. The description says oil based stain...long lasting...penetrates deep into pores...protect...ideal for staining furniture, cabinets, doors, molding, and hardwood floors. For the Polyurethane I got Parks Oil Base Pro Finisher Proffesional Grade For Floors, Clear Semi-Gloss. Will these be good? This room and hallway will be high traffic.

I rented a sander, started with 60grit and ended with 100. It turned out great! It looks awesome and my house smells like a real wood cabin

For applying the stain I was going to use an old t-shirt. Only 1 coat of stain, correct?

For the Poly I got 100% pure lambskin applicator.

Finally, do you recommend sanding between coats? I got some 400Grit but wasen't sure if that is needed. Should I just sand the final coat or maybe even nothing at all? The Parks can says sanding is optional if time between recoats is less than 8 hours. I was going to do 3 coats but I have to wait a day for the stain to dry and then I go back to work next week. What do you suggest?

Thanks

[HayZee518]

the sanding between coats is just to give the sealer teeth to hold on to. for the finish just sand enough to scuff up the gloss - again to give the urethane something to hold on to. just be sure the underlaying coat is hard!

[DKAudio]

I stained yesterday and it looks great. I am going to wait a week (have to paint walls anyways) before I polyurethane. I assume since you didn't say no, that polyurethane I got is good? I do not want to have to do this again in a few years.

This is what I was going to do, please tell me if it is alright.
Friday night do first coat of poly, wait around 7 hours and put on the second coat, wait 7 more hours and put on the 3rd (final) coat. Like I mentioned above, according to the can directions I can avoid sanding if recoats are within 8 hours. Does this sound ok? I assume I can safely walk on it within 7 hours to do the recoat?

When applying the poly do I need to use a new lambskin pad with everycoat?

Finally, when can I move furniture back in? The can says avoid heavy traffic and rugs for at least a week. Cures fully in 14 days!

Sorry for trying to be so specific but this is my first time and I want it to turn out great. So far so good. Thanks Hank (right?)

[HayZee518]

you got it down to a real science sounds great!