How shiny for wood floors?

15 years ago

Hi everyone - I had a post a few weeks ago about wood floors being a different color than the cabinets. Well, since then I have had 9 different samples at my house of stain colors! The problem is that I have golden oak cabinets and my dining room table is a cherry wood with a purpleish tint). When I put the darker stain up to the cabinets it looked nice but when I put it up to the table... ick. So I've decided on a color that is a little darker than the cabinets but more of a brown stain. My question now is, what sheen should I go with? The shinier the better? I want something easy to take care of. My cabinets aren't real shiny, more of a satin. I think I like the look of the shiny. The shine wears down anyway, right?

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Comments (5)

lesmis
15 years ago
Do you have pets? Or I should say pets that rip and race around your house? The shinier the floor the more it will show scratches, water spots, etc. Though shiny wood floor is quite striking, it can be a pain to take care of. I've had both and found the more matte the finish, the easier it was to hide things.

We just put in natural quartersawn white oak flooring and we actually specified a #25 finish. Most matte or low sheen finishes are #35 so we went with even less sheen but we have two very active larger dogs and live on the water so we wanted the least amount of sheen possible on a pre-finished floor.

We did have shiny oak flooring in our last house in the family room and when it was clean and unscratched it was really pretty, we just can't have it due to practicality issues! If you want I can post pics of each of the different floors we've had, let me know.

Good luck, it sounds really nice!

Kat :)
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johnmari
15 years ago
What Kat said. :-) PO put a semigloss finish on our antique wide-pine floors and every ding and dent and scratch (and with pine, of course, there are a LOT of them LOL) sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb. We have a dog whose nails grow at turbo speed and who fights like we're yanking them out or something if we try to clip them, and I can't always get him over to the groomer every week where he DOES behave like a gentleman. Even in middle age he tears around the house like his pants are on fire (we even call it "pants on fire"), thank goodness for area rugs! In our previous house we had matte wood floors (ash) and I loved the effect. You had to look at just the right angle in just the right light to see the inevitable dings.

The shine does wear down, but it does so unevenly - traffic areas will wear down, while the areas that are not walked on will remain shinier longer. We are probably going to have to screen and re-poly within just a few years, after less than 2 years we have visible wear patterns in the semigloss finish. You can see it especially at and near the door thresholds. Also, depending on what finish is used, a glossy finish can also look somewhat plasticky, rendering the wood underneath less "woody" if you catch my drift.
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Um, no. There's no lost security deposit here for numerous reasons, but most importantly because there's nothing to "fess up to", I didn't damage anything. I only cleaned the area that the sun hits, and it looks exactly the same as the rest of the floor that I didn't touch with the steam mop. It's just not shiny when the sun hits it and I'd like it to be. There is ZERO wrong with the floor and in regular light (without direct sunlight) it looks nice and has a faint shine. I would like it to be shiny in the sun the way it was when the cleaning company left. Not to mention, if cleaning the new floor was such a specific issue I should be given instructions from my building manager when the floor was laid down. I wasn't given any info at all on its care and maintenance so I couldn't be blamed even if I did damage it with the steam mop. I have a unique case because of the sun. Without the sun the floors look fine. I happen to have an extremely bright, well lit living room with north, south and west facing windows / balcony doors that allow an enormous amount of direct sun, which acts like a spotlight showing up every smudge or speck of dust. To combat that I'd like it to be shiny. So thanks, but not very helpful. I don't need to know what I shouldn't do, I posted because I'd like suggestions on what to do, ie what will make / keep a wood laminate floor in an extremely bright room looking polished.
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sue36
15 years ago
My floors are satin and my cabinets a slightly shinier than satin, but less than semi-gloss. Unless you live in your stocking feet and don't have pets or kids I would do satin.
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thermsen
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you so much... you guys have been really helpful. I think I will go with the satin and will post pics when it's all done!
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western_pa_luann
15 years ago
Ours were done with multiple coats of oil-based gloss over ten years ago... and they are still shiny as new!

We raised kids (and their friends) on those floors, and continue to host many events/gatherings at our house. So we had/have high foot traffic.

We do NOT have dogs though!
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How shiny for wood floors?

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lesmis

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How shiny for wood floors?

Comments (5)

lesmis

johnmari

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thermsenOriginal Author

western_pa_luann

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thermsen
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