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ryanhouse_gw

Pine disaster - please help!

ryanhouse
13 years ago

We are building an addition to an 1860s farmhouse.

We had the original wide pine floors refinished when we moved in 6 years ago with an oil-based polyurethane. The dog destroyed the finish.

We used new pine for the addition, and they have also used it in parts of the old house so that it goes from old to new in the middle of the entrance hallway. The old pine is a dark gold; the new pine is almost white. The difference is, needless to say, glaring.

We were planning to refinish the old and use Rubio Monocoat throughout. The Rubio Monocoat was critical in getting our pricing down, since it would require only one coat rather than four coats of Waterlox. I wanted a finish that could be touched up as necessary, since the dog is staying (and the oil-based polyurethane clearly didn't work for our soft old floors).

However, now that we are actually testing the Rubio Monocoat on samples of the old and new floors, I really don't like the look. Although it feels very smooth, it looks like nothing is on the floor. I REALLY don't want bright, white, brand-new pine floors! I just tried mixing Rubio Monocoat's mahogany and dark oak, but it turned the old flooring really dark (and blotchy -- perhaps the color soaked in more where there was bruising or something?) and hardly affected the new flooring at all, except to make it look like I'd wiped a little dirt on it. So, in effect, it actually accentuated the color difference between the old and new flooring.

Help! How do we get the old and new flooring to look great together and period-appropriate, especially without spending a fortune on multiple applications? I think they're going to be ready to start on the floors next week, so we urgently need to find a solution.

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