Cancork, a pro who is active on Houzz, may want to comment.

When you have already done so much to get a house ready for sale, and
you have a baby, you may want to decide when "enough is enough". I see a couple options: apply a couple coats of a higher gloss finish or call a pro for an estimate and advice. In my area, a refinishing job with three coats of poly runs $3-4 a square foot by an experienced pro. It will take several days because the poly needs to dry between coats, then cure before getting walked on.

I don't think high gloss will hide anything. I would either call in a pro to do it right or just list it as-is and let the new buyer notice any flaws and decide what they want to do. They might want a different stain color anyway. Also, I don't think you will be saving yourself much money by having a pro just sand before you stain/poly. It needs to be buffed between coats of poly, too.

"I know you're thinking uh oh right about now."

How'd you know? Ha!

First and foremost, don't do anything else to the floor!!!! Next, ask your realtor for advice.

More finish won't fix it. We redid our floors due to damage that was hidden below crappy wall to wall carpet... we used a floor sander that we rented, but we also used a palm sander to get the areas that were not adequately stripped-- you really have to get all of the old stuff up. It is A LOT of work, and knee pads will be your friend. My husband skimped on an area of one of our floors because he was tired of doing it and there was some variation in the finish with the natural wood because of the differences in coats. 3 years later, you can hardly see it now unless you really look for it, but that won't help if you're listing now and can't wait a while to see if it evens or to try it again later, and the stain bit may mean too much variation for it to do so.

Get an estimate for refinishing, talk to your realtor (which I see you noted you're doing). Will be interested to know what you do.

Yeah please keep us updated. You definitely didn't sand enough the first time around, as you have realized.

The new photos show the floor damage. Yes, it's pro time.

Ask your realtor about offering a flooring allowance as part of the sale.

We just bought our 3rd home over the summer. I would ask your realtor about your price point and what people would reasonably expect. The problem with the blotchiness in your photos is that it looks like actually damage not just a sanding issue and so as a buyer in my mind, not being a flooring professional I would automatically assume floors needed to be replaced which is a much bigger outlay than just refinishing them.

I hear ya. I've got big yellow labs and I know it sounds grim but I'm waiting until my senior lab crosses the rainbow bridge to refinish the wood in our family room.

If I recall we were told to try to nuetralize urine spots when we went to redo out floor to reduce the staining. We definitely missed a few spots - guess work since it was from previous people.

Retrievers--especially of the black Labrador variety--never cause damage to floors so I don't know what you guys are talking about. :|

It just occurred to me that another reason you're having such a hard time getting the finish off (and evenly, at that) is because maybe that's factory-finished flooring with a beveled edge.

I'm thinking that, with the amount of labor that will be needed to fix this, it might end up making more sense financially to replace it with carpet. Is this the only area with hardwood?

We are too late for anything other than a pro. And a full sand/refinish is what is needed. Sadly, the BIGGEST problem you have is the stain over finish (Minwax is HIDEOUS...and a BAD DIY level product - I'm waiting for a class action but that's just a pipe dream at this point).

Your BEST bet would have been a "buff and coat". That's when you rough up the finish (but don't take it all the way off - kinda like what happened by accident) and then apply a clear coat of finish. Your issue (what mucked it up) was the attempt to stain a finish. That's where you plan fell apart. I'm guessing you were trying to hide some of the urine stains.

So...now the ugly truth is it must ALL come off. All of it. And it has to go PAST the urine stains (which will require bleaching/cleaning once the finish is gone). Once you have raw wood, you can then stain (as per normal staining procedure - no tinted finish short cuts) and then apply 3 coats of finish.

A regular floor that has very little urine damage = $4-$5/sf for a complete sand, stain and refinish. A floor that has been mucked about with (bad sanding, stain applied to a finish and then more finish applied) AND urine stains is going to take a bit more time and effort (time = money; effort = money).

I would hazard a guess that you will be looking at a quote at $5/sf or higher. And you better check to see if this is solid hardwood or engineered hardwood. This has the look of a factory finish (which is why there are bevels on your planks and the finish was so hard to deal with). Hopefully this is solid hardwood and not engineered. If this is engineered then the top layer (could be as thin as 2mm) is the only part that is "hardwood". The rest is a form of plywood.

I suggest you look at a cross section of your floor (heat vents are helpful at this point) to see if you have "solid" wood (one piece top to bottom) or engineered hardwood (should look like several layers of wood glued together - which is exactly what it is). If this is engineered then you run the risk of being able to do too much with it. The thickness of the wear layer will tell you how much can be done.

Good luck. This floor needs some extra attention now that it has had things done to it.

What's your price point? If you are below 100K, in the bottom portion of the local market or your entire area has low market values, it may not pay to have a professional refinish job. In which case, I would add some high gloss finish and large area rugs and run. Otherwise, go with a professional refinish.

woo hoo! that's great!

Well, there's something to be said for peace of mind. Glad to hear you've found an affordable, EASY resolution!

Please post some new photos when you are ready to show off the newly refinished floors.

The crew came on Monday to start the re-finishing of the wood floors. We had cleared the room of furniture and had the dogs at my parent's house. When they got there, they said they could not sand these floors because they are pre-engineered hardwood. I was pretty frustrated as the person who came to do the quote and set up the work ticket knew that, I think they felt pretty bad so they sent the sales person back to our house just a few hours later for a new quote (to rip out and replace). They gave us a new quote to replace the wood flooring, AND to tear out the carpet in the back part of the house (where the living room is) and they gave us a great price. They accidentally mis-measured, short, and honored that quote for us. I am very pleased (obviously, lol). The materials came in on Friday and they will be here on Tuesday.

On top of all of this, I put my house on Zillow's Make Me Move (at a very high price) and have an interested party. They want to see the house once the floors are finished. Woohoo!

I will post pictures of the finished product this week!