- Before you sand, empty the room of all furniture, curtains, and anything else that will move. Take all floor trim out of the room with a hammer and prybar. Take it off carefully if you intend to reuse it. Go over the floor, looking for any obstructions. Scrape up any splinters or high spots in the finish with a putty knife; knock down any nail heads with a hammer. Get the floor clean and dry.
- Strip the top layer of varnish with a rented drum sander and 60-grit sandpaper. Sand from a far corner of the room and move backward, going in slow, steady strokes with the direction of the floorboards. Change the paper as it becomes clogged. After you've done the whole floor, vacuum up the dust, load the sander with 100-grit sandpaper and do it again to get the last of the old stain off. Finish with 120-grit sandpaper to smooth out the wood and prepare it for staining. After the final vacuuming, use tackcloths to make sure all the dust is up.
- Stir your stain. Put on rubber gloves. Begin staining in the far corner of the room, using a finish brush. Lay the stain heavily onto the floor and spread it generously over a section, so it pools on the wood. Let it sit for about a minute. Use cotton rags or paper towels to wipe up the excess. If the floor is not dark enough, let the stain sit an extra minute on the wood. After the wiped stain dries for a day, seal it with a good polyurethane floor gloss, following the instructions on the can for the particular gloss you use.
