So when I left off last in my bathroom adventure I had found hardwood under linoleum and a whole bunch of glue.
So I got down to business pouring on the varnish stripper to unleash my floor's hidden potential. I decided that this wood be a perfect time to update our bedroom floor as well, our bedroom and bathroom flow right into one another so that was the only logical thing to do. I used Citristrip and my very sophisticated mop tool (just a rag attached to a Swiffer mop) to spread the Citristrip on the floor.
I didn't have to spread the stripper on very thick and I let it sit for about 45 minutes and the stripper was able to easily remove all of the varnish from my floor. I used a scraper to remove the Citristrip and varnish goop and lots and lot of rags aka old t-shirts.
My next issue was the giant piece of plywood surrounding the "toilet hole".
Most of the plywood will be covered by the toilet but there is a section to the left that really stuck out. I decided that I could cut out that section and replace it with hardwood and then stain it to match the floor.
It took a hammer, drill, dremel and a jigsaw but I was finally able to cut out the eyesore-ish plywood piece.
I cut pieces of oak plank to fit my space and used my Dremel to smooth out edges.
After my wood filler was dry and my oak pieces set into our empty floor space, and problem solved!! Now I was ready to get down to business and stain my floor!!
Even though I stripped the floor it was still kind of covered in dried residue and soap water and a mop wasn't exactly getting my floor clean...
I thought rubbing alcohol might work better....and it did!!
I used rubbing alcohol and a scrubby sponge with a handle and go all of the icky residue off the floor.
The alcohol evaporates much much quicker than water so you aren't left with weird water marks, plus you are able to stain the floor sooner, rather than waiting a hours for water to dry completely.
I love the way these dark stained, lovingly worn floors look.
I knew this was the look for me!
So I chose Rust-oleum's Kona wood stain, it's a really pretty dark stain. I used the little staining sponges that I found on the aisle next to the stain and wiped the excess off with an old t-shirt. This formula is really great and each coat dries in about an hour so you can reapply to to deepen the color pretty quickly.
This is after one coat of stain..
I was really impressed with how well the color took in just one coat. I've never stained a floor before now, I was a little nervous but I was surprised at how easy and user friendly the whole process was.
This is after three coats
Just a side note: The reason these bathroom floor pictures look so shiny is because the coats of stain are still wet. I couldn't wait! I had to take their pictures! I then got busy staining the rest of the floors in our bedroom.
Next was varnish time! remember when I said I like the "Lovingly Weathered" look? Well that's why I chose satin for our floor finish. I didn't want our floors super glossy, I just wanted them to look soft and time worn. I used this Varathane finish and it too is fast drying, has no odor and was really easy to use... it's basically perfect.
I found the floor finish moppy thing beside the floor finish. It too was really simple, just like mopping but just making sure I was applying in nice even coats. the floor finish is a hazy, cloudy bluish white when it's wet so it is really apparent where you have applied it and where you haven't.
Here is what our floors looked like before....
They aren't HIDEOUS but they are obviously stained in certain spots, scratched in others and I'm really just not wild about the tone.
I'm much happier with our dark stained floors, I think they are beautiful and will contrast really nicely with our soon to be white trim!
And here is the after. AHHHHHHH! Go ahead, take it in.
