Hi jharrin123, first of all sanding the paint off is NOT practical, the paint will gum up the sandpaper at a fast pace and you'd need hundreds of pieces. What you need to do is strip the paint using a paint stripper, just go to the local hardware store or paint center and talk to them. Once you've stripped the paint off you should see the grain of the wood, and then you'll want to sand it down to a smooth surface. Then after cleaning up ALL the dust, etc., you'll be ready to apply a stain followed up by applying a polyurethane coating to protect the floor and give it a nice shine. Hope this helps, and post back up if you have further questions.