Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - refinishing existing wood flooring

We have a continuous wood floor in the first floor of our home. The living, entry and dining room areas are in great shape, but the floor in the kitchen and breakfast room need to be refinished badly. We are going to do it ourselves. We have a moderate to deep mohogany stain with high gloss polyurithane finish throughout. I am an interior designer and feel confident I can match the finish, but due to the continuous nature of the floor, I am unsure as to how to do the two rooms only and blend into the other areas so that it looks natural. We will probably put a fresh coat or two of polyurathane over the entire first floor to give it a consistent overall finish, but don't want to sand it all down and restain. Can we blend into existing finished areas effectively? If so, what is the technique?

Here is an illustrated article from Reader's Digest "The Family Handyman" magazine on sanding and refinishing hardwood floors that might help you:
http://www.familyhandyman.com/199911/feature1/main.html
As far as matching the new finish with the old, that's going to be a bit experimental.
You might ask the pros over in the Painting forum if they have any tips, or maybe someone in this forum can help you with that.
You also might do a search in here on refinishing hardwood floors.
Good Luck!
Mike

http://www.finishingwoodfloors.com/

Kelli:

Try this link for some ideas. If you have any questions I can put you in touch with the fine blote that put together the text and photo piece, as he's more than willing to help the novice at all times. As a matter of fact I'll ask his permission to place his email link on the page itself. The only problem is finding Ian as he's having the time of his life in semi retirement, travelling the globe helping out new friends he's found on the internet. Truly a great person!

Ken Fisher

[www.floridawoodfloors.net/job.htm