What is the very first thing you put on a bare hardwood floor?

Question

Im talking completely bare, down to the grayish smooth surface. What is the first step in making it a beautiful hardwood surface? You could even share step two, three for four if you care to do so. Thank you for your help.

actually K A C its for about a 1 square foot area. so the first thing is stain?? then polyurethane?

Answer 1

The first thing is to sand it down to make it smooth with the rest of the floor. Then stain it with the same stain as the rest of the floor. Then urethane it with 2 or 3 coats of urethane. Feather it in to the rest of the floor until blended in to make it smooth. Stay off that area for at least 24 hours

Answer 2

Wow, that sounds like quite a project.
I would think that one of the "do it yourself" websites would have good information. Or you could call Home Depot or Lowes.
If you're going to stain it, you would need to use polyurethane to seal the stain. And I know you have to use several layers of the polyurethane.
There's so much dust debris left after you sand, I'm not sure how you get that all cleaned off before you stain.

Answer 3

If you are only doing a 1 ft.sq. you really want to blend it in to the existing floor. First sand in the direction of the grain and feather it in. Next take a rag with some paint thinner and wipe it, let it dry and if you want to stain it use an oil stain.Let dry and one coat of poly let dry then lightly sand and repeat with another coat of poly.

Answer 4

For tips go here...