Hi guys,

Floor refinishing rookie here

Will be my first floor and I've spent days researching and putting together my plan of attack.

One topic that kind of scares me a little is water popping, mainly for the fact that if you don't do it right you have to re-sand the floor.

My question about water popping is:

Is it possible to let the floor dry out too long? I'm in no rush so I really want to make sure the wood is dry before staining so I was planning on letting the floor dry for a few days but am concerned that the pores of the wood would go back to how they were before applying the water.

Also does the wood have to be water popped right after it is sanded or can there be a period of time in between here also?

Thanks for your time guys, any advice would be much appreciated.

Water popping opens the pores of the wood by swelling the fibers as they absorb water. You can d this anytime after sanding, but traffic over the floor may diminish the effect. You could use a moisture meter the check the floor before the saturation of the surface and the afterward to compare how the wood is dried out.
Once the wood has dried there will be no rush to finish it. The grain raise will remain until it is sanded flat again.

Thank you very much Pete, you answered my question perfectly. Will play it safe then and wait a day or two after popping the grain before applying the stain.

Stay off until ready to stain, if possible.