Some IDIOT PAINTED all of the old oak floors. BROWN.

I know I'll discover a lot of flaws when I sand these floors, but over time, I've found that using a mahogany stain on oak floors will cover a myriad of stains, urine spots and other 'accidents' that cannot be removed without tearing out the existing flooring and replacing it with new oak flooring. The mahogany stain creates a floor that easily camouflages these flaws, and creates a rich atmosphere. In addition, I've learned to apply two or three coats of high quality oil based exterior spar polyurethane...and then apply two more coats of satin polyurethane which has a lower sheen. Reason? The high gloss spar poly has no 'flatteners', which reduce the sheen of the poly and actually reduce it's durability. So, you get the most durable undercoat for your floor that is possible...and the satin finish of the final two coats hide scratches, etc., due to it's lower luster. If you refinish a wood floor and apply only a high gloss poly, in a few months you'll see scratches all over the main traffic areas, from pets and foot traffic. Better to go with final satin poly, and have the floors look good for another decade.