Polyurethane coat 1

So, the stained boards have been replaced, the floor has been sanded to the appropriate grit, and we've cleaned it within an inch of its life. Now for the stressful part. Like a big game or onstage performance, we only get one shot at the poly. Well, actually, we get three shots, cause Matt wanted to do three coats. But first, we decided to do a wood sealer because we weren't staining it. The wood sealer helps close the wood grain and keep it from getting "hairy" when you put down the poly. If you've ever gotten raw wood wet, you know what I mean. So, we did that first, using a pad applicator. it wasn't shiny, but it did give it a nice richer color. After it dried, we had to sand it with the pole sander at 320 grit (per the instructions on the can)

 Then came the big dance, and of course we had to prepare. We decided that the kitchen would be our exit point and also our prep space. We used the sealer as a practice run for the poly, but since this stuff soaks into the wood and dries in two hours, it wasn't a perfect dry run. It was enough for us to validate our idea of starting in the master and working our way through the other bedrooms, down the hall, through the living room and dining room and then exiting through the kitchen.

So we set up the space with everything we would need and then got started. We carefully mixed the poly, trying not to introduce bubbles. Then we strained it into that large black bucket you see in the foreground. (We also tried putting it in a regular paint pan, but the bucket ended up being the way to go in the end). Then we put on our little booties to protect the floor from our feet and started in the master bedroom. We tried both a lambs applicator and a synthetic roller and decided that we liked the roller better. It was easier to apply an even layer and didn't shed as much. (writing this makes it sound like we had a clear headed rational decision, but in reality there was a lot of anxiety, shouting, and swearing involved because we were making the decision in the midst of applying poly, which was drying as we were deciding, nevertheless, our recommendation stands). Once we got going, it was actually pretty easy, Matt did the edging with a brush, and I rolled away. It took a little over 3 hours, including the switching back and forth at the beginning between the applicators. I felt pretty good when we got done, it looked really nice: