The old house we had in Chicago...one Sunday we decided to pull up the carpet...we found hardwood floors.

We stripped, sanded and stained. It was very hard work (we did the front entry way, hall and stairs.)

Some things I learned....

Do not sit in wood stripper. It hurts.

If the cat (we only had Edwina then) escapes from the room in which she has been "locked" and runs across the wet stripper - she will not like getting her feet washed.

But it WAS worth it!