Let me know if this sounds like a bad idea.

First off, I'm in a significant rush to get this done ASAP. Like pulling an all nighter and applying the first coat of finish by morning.

I'm refinishing some hardwood floors, looks to me like they're red oak or oak. They previously had an amberish color stain, or maybe whatever finish was used gave it some color. I am trying to match the living room as close as possible to the bedroom (which I am not refinishing).

I used a belt sander (hand tool) and started at 36 grit, then hit it all with 60 grit. Looked blotchy the first time so I went back and now it's 99%.

There are some areas that are stained/have stains but overall it looks pretty good bare. I tried spraying a bleach/water solution, scrubbing, letting it dry, and then mopping. Twice actually, but it only helped a little.

I went to Home Depot & my original intention was to buy a water based pre-stain, water based stain, and then apply the water based poly I had already purchased.

I saw a product that everyone hates called PolyShades in a color that looked just about right, I figured I'd try it with some pre-stain to see how it goes after some encouragement from the Home Depot guy. Unfortunately the guy at Home Depot said the water based pre-stain was the only one he knew about, and in the end he was wrong.

So my plan as of now is to:
1 - Not use Pre-Stain.
2 - Sand floor with pole sander/by hand with 120, and then 180 grit, and focus on any areas with sheen or spotting first with 80 grit.
3 - Clean super good and wipe down with mineral spirits.
3 - Test-spot some PolyShades that I will thin and wipe on.
4 - If color is good and even throughout after an hour or so, apply to the rest of the floor.
5 - Allow to dry until morning, wipe with mineral spirits, sand lightly with 180 and wipe again. If color is good, apply finish, if not, another light coat.
6 - Apply Water based Poly after making sure surface is entirely dry and very lightly scuffed.
7 - Sand with 320
8 - Apply another coat of poly
9 - Drink a TON of IPA if all goes well.

WELL???

Here is the test spot...I thinned a bit with mineral spirits, this is pretty much the crappiest part of the floor that will be covered by a rug anyway, and if it covers/looks okay here, the rest of the floor should be fine. This area could def. use a bit more sanding.

Only waited 2 1/2 hours, wiped, and applied a coat, full strength (with a little residual mineral spirits)... As has been mentioned, it dries very quickly, so you have to do your work fast. Going to wait an hour and if it looks good I'm going to start with the rest of the floor.

It looks REALLY good and most of the blotching is very hard to see now. I think when this dries, I will hit it with 300 and apply the clear top coat. The small blotches where some of the old finish/ stain are still there end up poking out through the stain/poly simply by being shinier. Hopefully a little more sanding will knock it out. At worst I see myself letting it dry, and focusing on the areas that stand out with fine steel wool/sandpaper.

Gotta love that India Pale Ale, does wonders for the vision.

LOL, thanks for the advice. Works wonders with women too.

The steel wool/sanding did a good job of hiding the glazed/spotted areas, I'm doing the rest of the floor with the stuff now and hopefully by tonight the poly.

It really is very hard to apply at full strength on bare wood, but if you thin it out and do a light coat first, it helps a ton.

Just want to add that I am pleasantly impressed with the polyshades. The best way to do it was to thin it just a hair, or go full strength, and apply with a brush as quickly as possible, spreading it as much as possible in small sections, then immediately wiping/rubbing it in with a microfiber cloth (which was damp with mineral spirits). The color I used matched absolutely perfectly to whatever was on the floor before and even blended well into the old finish in the other room. The only area that kind of sucks is where I did two coats, as a test spot, because you can obviously tell. The spot itself looks good (if you want to use more than one coat), but I intend on building up the Water-based finish as much as possible instead of using 2 coats on the rest of the floor.

So tomorrow I will carefully sand this finish with 180 in the darker areas (test spot/any tiny spots with haze) and then the entire floor with 300, clean it up good, wipe down (make sure no color comes onto rag aka make sure it's absolutely dry), and start applying the water based finish with my lambswool applicator.

Keeping my fingers crossed big time...and if it fails, well, beauty is in the eye of the beerholder isn't it?

Looks good from here.