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Need advice, QUICK: wood floors & dogs, picture included

15 years ago

So after a whole year of agonizing and failing to find a whole-house tile I liked, I decided to do hickory, rustic and unfinished. Thought I could add/refresh an oil finish as needed.

Big problem: I can get the floor in a finished version for $1/ft more, now; or wait up to 8 weeks for the unfinished product, and still have perhaps a week of waiting after that for acclimation and finish. That's killing me: I hoped to move in in about 4 weeks.

Bottom line: if I use the Aluminum Oxide finish on a floor this rustic, it basicly can't be refinished-- I'd loose all the character. So what will happen if I wipe a little tung oil [or similar] on the inevitable scratches? Will they blend in enough [given that the floor is VERY rustic] to be ignored, or will it cause the surrounding oxide finish to loosen and look even worse?

It's a very matte version of aluminum oxide, seen here in 'cider' finish:

{{gwi:1443594}}

Is there anyway to refresh an aluminum oxide finish-- not asking for perfection, just making the damage less noticable. I'd really like to make this decision by Friday evening-- there's a sale on...

Cross posting on 'new house' since time is of the essence.

Here is a link that might be useful: virgina vintage hickory

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Comments (4)

jacobfloors
15 years ago
My opinion is go with the prefinshed , enjoy from it for the next few years and then when you feel that you need a change send it and then any kind of finish that you like.
After you sand the floor and cover it with matte finish it will look amazing like the day you install the floor.

And if you like to fix scratches there is many products for that purpose.
boxers
15 years ago
all you have to do with prefinished flooring is have it screened and recoated. That will eliminate any scratching and you have a brand new finish. You should NEVER ever have to resand a prefinished floor unless your looking to restain in another color. The finish on prefinished is way harder than what you would get on site finished. And NO you can't apply something over a urethane finish, however there are touch up kits made for almost every shade of prefinished floors. Buy from a flooring guy not Home Depot.
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oruboris
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the help so far-- I'm leaning towards the pre-finished, just because this whole house project is going on so long that I'm not sure I can bear to wait another month just to get the floor I wanted.

But can the oxide finish be stripped off without destroying the hand scrapped [and this stuff is actually hand scrapped-- every board different], rustic nature of the wood?
boxers
15 years ago
of course, it just a chemical abrasion of the top coat to allow more finish to adhere. You never get close to the wood. Garrison has very expensive hand scraped. To recoat you use 3m scrubbing buffing pads so nothing too abrasive, more of a chemical roughing up the surface.

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