ARGHH i just had this happen to me as well. Floor guy did a great job but there are two pretty bigs stains from cat urine (previous owner) Floors are 1 1/2" red oak #1, as of right now we have applied two coats of natural stain, and Im waiting until the project is complete (install cabinets, etc) to have the final buff and poly put down. Is there anything I can do in the meanintime to get these stains up? Wood bleach for example?

Wood bleach (Oxalic acid) might do it. Follow the directions on the container, mask off the damaged boards and a board or two around them. Carefully paint the bleach onto the stained area. For the last few minutes of the bleaching, spread the bleach over the rest of the maksed area so you have a larger paler area, not a small pale spot. When you stain the floors, don't just swab a single stain over all the area. Selectively stain with various shades so that you have some variation all across the floor, making sure to break up the bleached area by having some of the boards darker and some lighter.

Hi Avivacarol, I'm still undicided in my flooring choice. I too looked at the Ark brushed linen and saddle. Beautiful flooring! What I liked about these two was the color, finish and micro bevel. The finish was matte ( UV oiled cured without the need to oil it.) and the bevel was super micro! I'm now looking at a product from www.naturallyagedflooring.com, The Medallion Collection- Donar Oak. This is not whitewashed but it is a lighter colored oak. On thier website this looks dark but in person it's not. They do have a color called Oceanside that is whitewashed and I'm waiting on a sample to see it in person. Best of luck on your flooring hunt.

Thanks happykate! I still have to pinch myself when I walk in and look at it all (esp at night when the counters are sparkling under the lights!). The granite guys had actually told me to use steel wool to remove any spots of epoxy they might have missed when they'd repaired our seam. They also used it to remove some shadowing we'd gotten on our honed travertine floor tiles in another part of the house--they said the steel wool "polishes" the stone, in a manner of speaking. The 00o stuff is pretty gentle. I used 00 steel wool in one spot, and might have buffed a little hard trying to see if I could remove a partial ring, but even at that, there's the slightest of faint scratches if I look really close (and only because I was looking really close). I'm not sure if the steel wool has worked on all the rings (not that there have been that many, but any at all is too many for me!). One that was there for a while from fairly early on, seems to be gone, as is another one. One or two that seemed to have faded after buffing them with the steel wool, had reappeared. On the advice of the fabricator, I'd re-sealed/polished the stone early last month with the stuff I'd gotten from them (an Italian product called K.R. 33, that says on the can that it "Brightens, Polishes, Protects"). I don't know if it helps at preventing the rings at all, but it sure shines up our granite so, and I love how gorgeous the counters look after I've applied it. If I wasn't afraid of harming the counters (over-applying), I'd be tempted to use the stuff monthly!