Friday, April 18, 2014

Bathroom Floor Finished

Earlier this week we had the first coat down of PolyStain on our bathroom floor. During the week we got a second coat down and things were really looking great.



After all our prep, 99.9% of the floor was amazing but we had two little spots that had tape residue on them and so the stain didn't stick. I decided to sand down those two spots to get rid of the residue and restain the spots. It took a couple of coats and some feathering but I'm pretty happy with the results (can you spot the spots?). This also makes me confident that if we do have any scratches or markups in the future, I'll be able to fix them.



There is some variation in the floor color but I think it makes it look a little more natural (the variation doesn't show up as much in person as it does in the above picture). Above is after the second coat of stain. Between each coat, I went over the entire floor with 000 steel wool and wiped down the floor and let it dry. To apply the stain, I found to keep the color fairly consistent it was easiest to apply two boards worth of stain and then use the brush to go the entire length of the first board so there weren't any brush strokes. It took a little more time but it looked a lot better. This is one reason I wouldn't use a brush for this application in the future.


Since we want this to last, we decided to finish off the floor with a couple of coats of Varathane floor finish. We've used this in the past and we really like it. It dries clear (doesn't yellow) and hard.


I prepped the floor with the steel wool again and applied the poly with with a foam brush. This stuff is a little weird when it's wet since it has a purplish haze to it.


But once it dries (which it does very quickly) it's clear and pretty.


And it's a good thing it dries fast because you might have a rouge 1 year old throw a plastic Easter egg into the room and wander in while you're in the middle of taking pictures! (this is 3 hrs after application)


We're really hoping this method holds up over time and we'll keep you all updated on its durability!

And just for fun, here's a before and after:



Linking To: Hi Sugar Plum, The Great Indoors, House of Hepworths, My Repurposed Life, Our Delightful Home, Five Days Five Ways, Serenity Now, Lovely Etc., The Rooster and the Hen, Six Sisters Stuff, Tatertots and Jello, Wayward Girls Crafts, Twigg Studio, Serendipity and Spice, Ask Anna, Home Stories A to Z, Uncommon Designs, House wives of RivertonCrafty Texas GirlsSouthern InstituteWatch out Martha!, http://www.myrepurposedlife.com http://www.lizmarieblog.com/ http://missmustardseed.com/

9 comments:

  1. LOVE it! I've thought about using polyshades in my own home. what color did you use?

    catching you!
    gail

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We used Mission Oak. I really like how it darkened up after a second coat.

      Delete
  2. Oh my goodness, nothing takes away my breath quite like a nicely restained hardwood floor! Perfection!!! Featuring you tomorrow! XO, Aimee

    ReplyDelete
  3. Was the sanding down and stuff hard? I'm thinking about redoing my floors but I'm scared lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really didn't sand these much... just went over with fine sand paper once by hand. It was pretty quick and definitely a benefit of the polystain

      Delete
    2. Hi, Thanks for posting this. I'm just wondering how well this has held up since it looks like you did this in 2014? Thanks!

      Delete
  4. I'm so glad I found this post!!! I am getting ready to do our bathroom and kitchen floors. They look just like yours did prior to the polyshades. I'm wondering what sheen you used with the varathane floor finish? Satin, semigloss or gloss? And I am also curious as to how well this has held up?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We used semi-gloss. We have since moved but they looked as good as the day we finished them when we did move.

      Delete