I remember reading that...but it's still just as funny.... I am completely surprised that I didn't find a post from me on there...My DH has done a few things during our 42 years that I tell on him every now and then. patti

jfcwood- thank you for your perspective and info. I think there are a few issues going on with the floor. Obviously something with the filler, there are a few places that are sanding issues, but then the mystery ones. I appreciate your thoughts on that. Perhaps it was the urethane reacting with the tannins, like you mentioned. If that is the case, hopefully he can get the first finish coat really even on the next round. He seemed to think that it had something to do with the fact that the stain was a light color, but that doesn't explain it well to me. He had a knot filler he used on, well, knots, and then later he did a trowel fill with a different filler that I didn't care for much. It cracks and breaks something awful. (I have more gaps than I like between boards, but they tried.) I don't remember the name of the product. There are places I think it might not have been sanded off, but it did a weird bleed looking thing on some of the joints. I wasn't around for a lot of the staining and finishing because I was trying to get my kids out of the house so they wouldn't be underfoot. I saw lots of white rags during the staining (like cotton jersey, not terry) and I know he buffed it with pads. The stain was applied for about 18 hours before the first finish coat. The first coat of the streetshoe he mopped on. There were streak marks and some places that didn't look great but he assured me it would look better with the next coat, so I waited and let him keep going. He rolled the next coat on because he knew the first coat hadn't gone well. At this point I stopped waiting and said there are too many areas that are looking bad. He's talked about rolling on his first coat of the street shoe this time around. He knows more about this stuff than I do, I just want it to look good and even when it is finished. I don't remember the name of the sealer he said he would use, but I'll ask him. He started sanding off today and will finish up tomorrow. Crossing my fingers big time here!

If this was one of my projects Id specific that the old floor be torn up and new wood floor with a factory finish in your preference color and finish to be installed. the kitchen is a concern to have a full wood type situation ... but if you do at least take a look at potential bamboo flooring with a nice stain that would match your existing floors... if that doesn't sound interesting then I would proceed with the new floor with the manufacture you are referring to Mirage. Regards MS www.msdg.design

This is the name and manufacturer of the countertop. https://www.lghausysusa.com/viatera/color/view.do?pid=2020011011194700708 I honestly hadn't thought of replicating the same wood as the entrance for the fireplace floor but could certainly consider it. I'm not sure that we would be able to find the same wood color and plank size now 15 years later which is the same concern we would have with adding the wood floor to the kitchen. If we chose wood, we would wait until we could replace both the kitchen and the entry floors at the same time. One question regarding the wood floor option for the kitchen - the kitchen also connects directly to our door from the garage, laundry room, and a 1/2 bath so they currently all have the same tile flooring. I have some reservations about durability for a wood floor in a laundry room and garage entrance that has potential for water on the floor. The kitchen also has doors to go to our deck and backyard which the kids and dog are constantly coming in and out of also bringing in dirt and wet feet/shoes. Obviously we use rugs in these places but we live in a climate with snow and ice and winter is just messy. Is that a legitimate concern or am I just underestimating the functionality of wood? I would say our current wood floor must be a softer wood because we have some scratches on it that are very frustrating considering that area of our house isn't really very high traffic use. The short answer as to why we are looking at changing the fireplace because the surround now is the same tile as the kitchen floor. We had picked a ledger stone for there at time of construction but the installer couldn't get the stone to lay right (at that time it was larger stones) and because of construction timelines we eventually just had to put that tile around it. I love my mantle but I have never loved the tile surround. The long answer is a very frustrating and complicated story that I won't bore you with here but in general the fireplace has never worked properly and if we want an actual functional fireplace our choices right now are to take out and repair the current one or take out and replace it. Either option requires removal of the tile surround.