The carpet had to go. 

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I wanted a "farmhouse" look so we decided to try plywood. These are the steps I followed after ripping up the carpet and removing all of the nails. 

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Step 1: Of course, get your plywood. We cut our plywood into 8" planks. (My dad owns a sawmill so we did it there but I think home depot would do it for you) 

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Step 2: Sand and Prime the planks. I did not do this step here (That was a huge regret later - I did after the floor was down and my knees were killing me.) Next Time, it will be my step two also. 

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Step 3: Lay your boards. (My hubby did this job) We used 2" brad nails and a nail gun. 

(After this I sanded and primed the floors, but like I said next time that will happen before they go down)

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Step 4: This is going to vary depending on the look you want. We wanted grey. I mixed 2 cups of mineral spirits with 2-3 tsps of black enamel paint in an old (large) jar. Then I grabbed my brush and i stained each board. Some of my boards got a little dark when I got to the bottom of my mixture (It all ended up okay). 

I let this dry overnight. I wanted a more distressed look so I went back over some of the pieces with the sander. 

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Step 5: Seal. Seal & Seal again. I did 3 coats on our floors. We have 3 children and 3 dogs so I didn't want to take any chances. 

I let that dry 2 hours between coats. 

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& what you have been waiting for..... the results....

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