About to stain a pine floor

[Tina C.]

So we are almost done our lower unit reno. I'm going to tackle the floor, I've sanded it down and will be applying a light stain. I refinish furniture and mainly use a sponge to apply the stain. Any tips/tricks to apply the stain to a floor? It’s a small 1 bdrm unit and one of our (very) long term tenants is moving downstairs and we wanted to do the floors for her, she is so excited to move into this unit and comes to see how we are doing when we are working away.

Tomorrow am will be prepping the floor and I should be able to stain shortly after, weather says rain all day so it's perfect inside work time.

[Jesse Waters]

I re-did the hardwood in my own house.  Took about 5 days all said and done.  After you have sanded, I would test on a small spot to see how it looks.  I used a stain sponge to apply the stain, don't rush the job, make sure it's applied evenly.  After it has dried good do 3 coats of poly, make sure to use the stuff specifically for floors.  I used a finishing pad on a 4' handle, again, go slow, don't get bubbles in your poly.  After each coat has dried use at least 150 grit on a pole sander and do a light sanding to break any bubbles and smooth out the coat.  Then I use mineral spirits on a rag to clean up the sanding dust.  Repeat for each coat, (I don't remember if I sanded my final coat or not), and apply the stain/poly in the direction of the wood grain.