Stained with poly still on floor

Q: I made a mistake. I thought I only needed to ‘rough’ the finish of my floor before staining. I stained it with a good bit of poly still on the floor, applied the stain over polyurethane finish. Not it looks bad. How do I fix this without starting over?

A: Oh boy. This is why I try and tell people to hire a professional! There is a lot of know how goes into sanding, properly preparing a floor and then staining and finishing it. There isn’t one step along the route that is for the DIY person. If there are a lot of spots then, yes you will have to start over. This may be a good time to heed my advice before the floor is finished and that has to be replaced too.