Third times a charm

Exhibit A - cracking floors

I realize that mornings are rather touch and go here.  We have emotional meltdowns, demands, arguments about who is going to wear what (it starts young with girls).  However, this morning it wasn't my girls creating the issue.  It was yet again the floor.  I know the floor has become the central focus of my world right now but it is my first major overhaul and a lot of my time, focus and energy has been placed into making this DIY project a success. 

So this morning I ran to check on the floor status as I always do when I discovered the sinking feeling in my stomach - it is all peeling off.  Not just sections...the whole floor.  For whatever reason (which I will later explain why), the stain wasn't taking to the floor and actually peeling and cracking off.  I have stained tables, chairs and other forms of furniture and never had I experienced this.  I knew one thing - this wasn't good.

I held it together for all of one hour when I called my friend to come over and look this over with me.  He said the same thing that I was thinking - we need to sand this all off and start over.  Yet again another orbital sander rental at Home Depot to pass at these floors yet again.  More sawdust. More sweat. More money. 

BUT we had come this far so perhaps the third time was a charm?

After first pass with 40 grit

Being an old pro at this, I went to the rental department and grabbed the pad, my series of grits (40, 800, 120) to begin the job yet again.  This particular time was truly heartbreaking.  As I passed the orbital sander over the floors, I cried for the hours of work, the hopes for a beautifully elegant floor and yet another setback keeping us from actually using the floors.  But as I passed over the floors and watched the beautiful teak sawdust fly off, I noticed the beautiful colors of the floors.  The wood itself had ambered but the grain had retained this gorgeous dark color.  By sheer accident and folly, the floors had become this gorgeous rustic masterpiece.  Even better, it looked intentional.  The gashes and nicks that had formed over time suddenly had this "I am meant to be here" look. It was a far cry from the pickled white vision I had hoped for and and even further cry from the dark uniform floors my husband had, but it was a true meet in the middle floor.  Also, it was directly in line with every type of flooring I always lusted after.  It was Anthropologie meets Arhaus all in one.

I stopped and said a silent thank you to God for truly saving this moment.  I believe I have understated how upset I was about this. An hour before this moment I was broken and believed all of this hard work was in vain and that I was calling a company to come carpet every ounce of my hard work.  But no - it was a divine save and something I walked away with a lot of lessons about.  I am not a professional but I am diligent, a perfectionist and eager to learn from my mistakes.

Carefully deducing the "what went wrong" from this I learned a few things:
1) NEVER EVER EVER clean bare wood floors with mineral spirits, especially if you are applying oil-based stain (not blaming him but thanks to my hubby for this one! he didn't know, he was given advice from someone that didn't know what they were doing)
2) Always wipe off any excess stain 10-20 minutes after the initial pass to ensure proper drying of the stain.  You never ever want stain to pool - this means that there is an excess that won't dry and will cause an odd sheen on the floor in areas where it's trying to dry or eventually crack. 
3) NEVER apply poly on wet stain...just don't.  It will create a MESS. I did a test spot on these bad 'ol boys and that was far worse than the actual cracking and peeling stain.  
4) Patience is key...however, trust your gut when you know something isn't right.  I knew after day 5 that perhaps something wasn't right with my floors when they were not properly drying.  Instead of sanding it off then, I waited till day 10 when I saw the disaster happen.  Had I done this sooner, I would've been able to enjoy my space sooner.  BUT no mistakes in Providence, right?

So lessons learned BIG TIME.  And after this third time with the orbital, I feel like an old pro.  I know what a bare wood floor should look like.  I know how to use the sander and how to properly switch the grits.  I know how to apply stain properly and know that patience is key.  Most importantly, I developed the confidence needed to tackle this kind of job.  Like the saying goes, if at first you don't succeed, try and try again!

Finished sanding...and my tiny dancer loves the result as much as I do!