Our final project before moving into the ranchalow was to refinish the floors.  They were in wonderful shape and had little damage – which makes great sense after learning that Ronni’s parents waxed the floor by hand – and because of this my father (home improvement expert) told us that we didn’t really need to sand the floor, but rather use a solvent to clean the floors and then a polyurethane to finish them.  A disclaimer here: I had no idea what I was doing.

Here are the floors before:

My father bought us the type of solvent that he’s used on floors in the past – some sort of crazy mix of chemicals that smells awful but really does remove wax build-up, debris, dust, etc.  In order to do this I used a sanding block type of thing on a long handle.  The block had screws on it for sand paper, etc – I used cloth rags for this job.  I would dip the rag-covered block thing into the solvent, which I had poured into a metal paint tray, and mop the floor with it.  It worked well to lift dirt, and I went through many rags throughout the process.  I also had to go back over the floor and use a gentle paint thinner to pick up spots of paint that had dripped on the floor – it was difficult to get all of the drips, and this is why I wish we had used more drop cloths when painting.

Once the floor was clean, it was time to finish it.  My dad recommended any good oil-based polyurethane.  At Lowes they recommended Varathane Premium Oil-based Floor Finish.  I did some research – it seemed like a good, frequently used product, and it was expensive – and I bought it.  My dad said to use the same sanding-block-on-a-stick thing and get a wool pad (commonly used for polyurethane) to brush the finish on.  I did that and the first coat was . . . a complete DISASTER.  I am not exaggerating.

Whether it was because I am not as strong as him, or more inexperienced, or just have bad luck . . . the finish would just NOT brush on easily.  I struggled with the sanding-block-on-a-stick thing and despite my best efforts was unable to get the polyurethane to spread evenly.  Instead, it was gooey and thick in some spots and thin in others.  I could see this even when it was wet, but prayed that it would look better when dry.  It didn’t.   I was pretty much devastated.

So I called my dad in a panic, he told me that I must not have done it right (I love my dad), and I spent a day feeling like I ruined something beautiful that couldn’t be undone easily or inexpensively.  So I clicked around on the internet for a while with no real inspiration . . . cried to Matt, who felt equally helpless . . . and picked myself up and went to Lowes again.  And low and behold . . . I found THIS gift from the Gods!

A Varathane floor finish applicator! (the only picture I could find online)

It looks very much like my sanding-block-on-a-stick thingy, but better – because the block doesn’t move!  It is screwed onto the handle, which means there’s less resistance as you’re pushing the finish onto the floor – what I think I mean to say is better leverage?  EUREKA!

I was exuberant, but I still had problems: my first coat was uneven,  it was 90 degrees outside (too hot to be doing what I was doing), and we needed to move out of our apartment in just a few days!  Eek!  I had to work with what I had already done and try to fix it as best I could.  I used the new, wonderful applicator (with another wool pad) to apply another very thick but even coat of finish.  It went on smoothly – I applied it in waves like the guy above (who has a very good article on finishing floors) and let it dry for several days.  Then it looked like this:

Beautiful and shiny and somewhat even!  It certainly wasn’t perfect, but I was pretty pleased.  Unfortunately, because of the heat it dried very, very slowly, which was very, very bad given that we had to move in (i.e. WALK all over the floors) in less time than would have been ideal.  But it was OK . . . we did it!

Note on Varathane Floor Finish – I wouldn’t use this product again.  It’s a floor finish, not a polyurethane and so it hasn’t been as strong and durable as we would have liked.  We’re not sure if it’s because of the product, or the fact that we didn’t sand our floors first, or that we applied the finish in such high heat, or some other unknown reason, but the finish has scratched a lot.  I mean, really, a lot.  To the point that it drives me insane to look at those scratched spots, which I see everywhere (probably just because I know where they all are).  I have been able to sand/scrape and reapply finish in small areas with success, but it makes me mad that I have to do it.  And so, if you are finishing your floors, don’t do it in the middle of summer and use a polyurethane instead of a floor finish!!!

Then, incredibly, one day it was time to move.  We assembled the moving dream team, which included Matt’s mom and uncle, my parents, and our best friend Laura.  Unfortunately there are no pictures from that day, but suffice it to say we moved out of our apartment in into our house on a hot, sunny, 90 degree day in the middle of August . . . it was pretty rough.  But we were officially living in our ranchalow!

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