Thankfully I found this very useful board.

I am trying to refinish my hardwood floors. As per the general instructions I sanded them with 24/80/120 grit papers and stained with a minwax oilbased stain. Although I did wipe off the excess stain, looks like the floor is still a bit sticky at places even after 24 hours. Is this normal? I wiped off some of this with pain thinner and the stain is nice and even. I have I think oak floors.

I had bought the minwax water based poly and when I tried to test it in an obscure but not sticky place, it seems to end up in blotches. I assume this is due to the water based poly not sticking to the oil-based stain.

I am trying to wait another 24 hours to see if this improves. Should go for the oil-based poly if this doesn't work? Our local home depot or the Lowe's don't have the super fast-drying or the fast-drying version of the poly. They only have high-build. Any suggestions on what I should try also would be much appreciated. Thanks.

DO NOT use that Minwax high build poly. It is like THICK honey and will never dry. As for the stain, Minwax stains typically take days to dry. If the color looks good to you now, do not mess with it. Allow more drying time. You can put fans on it as well. Waterbased polys look very weird when they are being applied due to the milky appearance. I'd stay with the waterbased if that's all you can get, although I'd prefer Minwax Fast Dry oil based poly in the qts. with 550 voc. Very easy to work with. Just let that stain dry for a few more days and you should be good to go.

Thanks very much Gary. You are absolutely right. The stain dried today and with some gentle pressure on the applicator, the water based poly spread evenly.

I do have one follow up question. I was thinking on putting two coats which is the absolute minimum per minmax instructions. I am not sure whether I should go for the third coat. Also, the instructions do call for sanding with 220 grit just prior to the final coat.

Would sanding after the second coat and a final third coat be better for the floor durability wise? Also, would the random orbital sander that home depot rents be ok for this? I thought that might be a bit bigger for the 220 grit, but any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Thanks.

I ruled out the big sander from Home Depot, but wondering whether I should sand at all with the 220 grit paper. Any suggestions, please?

Typically, we pros will buff the floors out before the final coat, and often between every coat, to ensure adhesion and smoothness. Depending on the size of the area, you could do it by hand with 220 sandpaper. Or, if you're not needing to build up your biceps, rent the orbital square buff and use 220 sanding screen to smooth out the floors. It doesn't make the finish more durable but does ensure adhesion.

Thanks very much Gary. Although the area I am working on is close to 800 sq.ft. I think I'll do it by hand because the little mouse sander that I have seems to be taking more than what I like in the test area.