My husband and I just moved into his grandparents house. We are staying there no more than 2 years - just saving $$ because its FREE!! I do want to make it a nice livable space for us while we are there. Last weekend I pulled up the carpet going up the stairs and in our bedroom. The floors are hardwood and seem to be stained, but not well. There is not stain in places closest to the walls and I don't believe they are finished at all. I don't want to put a lot of money into this house or more time than necessary.

My question is - should I stain over what is already there to make it even all over? If I do re-stain, do I need to sand first? OR should I just finish and seal the floors because when you boil it down, I don't REALLY care in the long term. I want it to look good enough, but more than anything I want them to be easy to clean!

Thanks for the help!

If the floors look pretty good and are smooth you can clean them with wood floor and laminate cleaner and then coat with one or tow coats of shellac, also known as universal sealer. This is an old way to seal floors. A wax can then be used where the finish could wear sooner, but will make the floor slippery. Area rugs are your friend.
The floor will look like it does when wet with the floor cleaner after you seal it .

Helpful! Thank you!