I forgot to say that I first vacuumed and then tacked after each buffing. To tack I used premade tack cloths (the 3 for 97 cents kind cheesecloth with varnish). I pushed them a around standing up, using a long pole with a wall screen pad attached, but with no screen. Katie

Even without knowing the kind of wood or condition, I can't imagine replacing wood flooring in an 1890 home. In my opinion, the value is in the original material. If the floor is in good condition, it may not need sanding at all; a screening and recoat might be all that's necessary and the patina would be retained. There are many threads on this topic, try searching the Old House forum. I live in a converted schoolhouse built in 1890. The fir floors had been covered with layers of linoleum, glue, paint ... they were a mess.. but looked awesome after refinishing. That was years ago and I'm planning to have them screened soon (aka buff and recoat.) What kind of wood is it? Do you have photos?

Yeah, ferrets are pretty good, but it's so hard to keep those little hard hats on! Thanks for the tip, kudzu6. I had been looking at a suspiciously cheap battery floor lamp and after reading the reviews that said the light was poor, I checked further. There's one for about $100 with much better light output, takes 4 D batteries. If I get that one I'll start with regular batteries and if quality or light and battery life are okay, I'll look into rechargeable batteries. What tips the scales to battery lamp over the recessed floor outlet, is the fact that I do not use this a great deal. Maybe 15 minutes a day, tops. Cost/benefit leans towards battery. Also, I was embarrassed to admit this, but I had not factored in rug placement. I've moved out the area rug I was using anticipating the floor refinishing which was when I started thinking of a floor outlet. That rug is not likely to be used there again, but chances are that there will be some kind of replacement. A portable floor lamp would be much more practical. Also, the room is fairly small.

If you like your current colour then go ahead and put down a new version of it. If you want something different then I would go lighter. I love the look of red oak in the 'buff'. It is a pretty wheat/sand coloured wood. So long as you work with a high-end water based polyurethane that does NOT yellow, you will have a very pretty 'pale wood' floor without much effort. Your existing finish appears to be oil based (or oil modified) which makes the floor yellow. The strong gold tones in your wood right now = the finish. Did your refinisher apply a coat of FINISH over your colour samples? If they did NOT....then you are picking BLIND. And I mean screaming and crying and tearing your hair because your beautiful gray floors turned to a muddy orange mess. Not good. Do you see the pale colour of the raw wood? You can keep that colour (very close to it) with 3 coats of water based polyurethane like Bona Traffic HD. Keep the gloss level a snick on the low side (satin is a nice low-gloss option) and you keep that pretty 'swedish blonde' look.