Hardwood floors, the Hard Way

After pulling out the carpeting and revealing the aforementioned "muddy" floors I knew something had to be done. After brief consultation with my design team (Doug) and discussing our options-recarpeting, refinishing, house fire-we decided on refinishing. Historically I had once stripped, sanded and stained two end tables and a small desk, so I pretty much considered myself an expert. Refinishing 3 rooms of 60 year old, uncared for hardwood? No problem! After watching 2 youtube videos we were off to the races...or the tool rental, more accurately.
When we picked up the sander I was expecting an orbital sander, something like a floor buffer, which would glide quickly and smoothly acorss the floor with a pleasant hum. Uh, no, this was a 150lb drum sander. Which moves at 90 degree angles with the sandpaper rolling, like a conveyor belt. After a half hour of figuring out how to attach the sandpaper we turned the beast on; it roared to life, lawn mower loud and vibrating like a chainsaw. (wear ear protection and a breathing mask!!) The beastly thing nearly pulled us both through windows at various times, if left to sit in one place more than a minute or two I have no doubt it would have sanded right through the floor. Additionally, this is a small house so turning corners at the end of a row was also a challenge. However, we had three rooms sanded in less than 3 hours. Important to note, these big sanders will not reach the perimeter of the room, which means you will have a 3" border to contend with, using a handheld sander is inevitable.
After pausing to admire our work, and blow the sawdust out of our noses, the change was remarkable. We had sanded down to beautiful, blonde, cherry wood. It was like a pale, swedish modern, paradise. But, alas, there was no way I was living with blond floors so off to Lowe's we went...
Selecting floor stain is, thankfully, not quite as daunting as selecting paint colors. There are far fewer choices. I wanted a universal  midtone color with a red hue, a low voc stain by Minwax, something called "colonial maple" fit the bill. Something to be aware of, the color on the chip will bear little to no resemblance to your ultimate floor color, lesson learned.  I also chose a high gloss poly because I wanted the "wet" look. I love shiny stuff!
Applying the stain is simple, but messy. It's definitely a two person job. One with a rag to apply the watery, soupy stain and someone to go behind and wipe up the mess. There are sponge applicators that make the second step much simpler. Also you'll need a stain brush for the edges, which looks like a large pastry brush. This is a horribly messy project, your clothes will be ruined and your hands tinted.
After a 24 hour drying period (may take longer depending on weather, ventilation) polyurethane was next. This should be applied with brushes. It is a thin liquid, (be sure with both this and the stain you shake the can well), messy and becomes tacky. It dries into a rock hard candy like gloss after 24-48 hours. Again this stuff gives off noxious fumes so wear a mask. Gloves sound like a good idea, but as the poly dries it becomes incredibly sticky and you'll end up having to toss the gloves...of course without gloves your fingers will stick together.

Due to time constraints we only did one coat, which I now regret as the floor is showing some wear, especially under the feet of furniture. (I may try to do another coat of poly this spring...but we'll see).