Can they put some samples directly on the floor? That way you can easily compare the different formulas. They all get sanded off, so it doesn't matter. Enjoy your floors!

Yes, Nini, they will do that. Still, I'll have to decide right then.

They spent all day today sanding, but I'm sure they'll sand more to remove our test patches.

Btw, I gave them the formula you used as a combo i knew i liked from pics. Thanks again for posting it as your floors look amazing! Oh, and when I told them that formula they said, "wow, that's dark." Your floors don't look that dark to me.

We had the situation of having to instantly decide as well. It's not as scary as it sounds. Once we had the sample stains down and held our sample cabinet doors up next to them, the answer was obvious. The only strange things was that the obvious answer was not at all what we had thought beforehand.

We just had ours done and it STINKS! But you're not living in the house right? We were planning to live in the basement while our floors were being done and thought the three sets of french doors would provide adequate ventilation and we were WRONG! We had to leave for two nights because it was so bad.

As for the color, we were looking for the same thing. We picked a color based on small samples on new boards they brought and thankfully on the actual stain day I was there and asked for a large sample near the kitchen just to see it before I left for the day --it was way too dark! So I called my husband home from work and called the owner who dropped everything and drove an hour to our house. While the guys sanded, he looked at our furniture and rugs, etc. and chose the perfect mix. It's a custom color using 3 parts Waterlox and 1 part Antique Brown (Duraseal). It's a medium brown color that looks great with our oak pieces and our darker cherry and mahogany pieces. It doesn't show dust at all, but once in a while, in the right light, I will notice a stray piece of blonde hair! But I love the color so much. And it looks GREAT with Simply White cabinets!!

I would definitely ask for a large sample after they prep your floors so you can see it in your light. It really saved us from a huge mistake!!! HTH! Good luck tomorrow!!!

Have them blob down some of the poly as well. It changes the look.

Don't ask me how I know this.

hey Breezy!
i dont have any advice or anything, just... - omg! so exciting! such a huge fun step! post some progress pics! the best pics i have of my floor are when there was nothing else mucking up the beautiful view of them .ha!
fun!

ps, go darker than you think you should...

Hi Breezy--it sounds like you & I had the same look in mind and like you I had to decide 1-2-3. We thought we were going to go with the 'Red Oak' stain. Suprisingly, however, just a clear poly looked the best to us. It allowed the character of the wood to shine through and the rooms kept their "open & spacious" feel while gaining a casual warmth at the same time. As my Mom pointed out, the darker you go the more the dust shows & heaven knows I don't have time to be dusting every inch of my hardwoods every day! This is the best pic I have at the moment. I might be able to get a better one in the AM.

Sas--now I'll remember to tale my cab door sample.

Erin--we aren't living in the house. Glad you got the color right. That was close!

Marcolo--I never would have thought of that.

Celine--it IS exciting! Seemed hard to believe 9 months ago that we'd ever get to this point.

Dreamhome--your house looks great!

Thank you all for the tips and stories. I go over in an hour! I'll post pics as soon as I can.

breezy.... The guys that finished our floors used Minwax stains... we chose Provincial w/a satin poly finish (I included a chart with colors). I like it very much, not too dark, not too light. (pic below/the bottom of the pic is more true to color than the top)

It STINKS!! I takes a couple days, because they sand, then stain, sand, then poly, then maybe sand and poly again (can't remember). We stayed the first night after staining but I could not stay any longer, the smell was too bad. We ended up going to a hotel for a night or two.

Here is a link that might be useful: Minwax stain colors

Breezy- Marcolo is right. Also, have them do the samples wider than one plank each but all right next to each other. That way you can choose the obvious winner. Our choice was clear when we saw the sample colors laid out like that. Hopefully it will be easy for you too. Also, take the inspiration pics and ask how to achieve those looks. Sometimes they can help you because they get to see the finished product instead of the 1 sq ft patch you get to see before deciding. HTH

Wait, so why couldn't they doctor up a few boards from your lot earlier in the install? All they needed was some scrap pieces with sample graining. I had floors put in a few years ago and I was able to "live with" some samples for at least a few days, giving me plenty of time to think about it.

Mercy--your provincial is beautiful. Thanks for showing me.

Briana--they did just as you described. Bigger than 1" squres, and laid them out next to each other. Some were very easy to eliminate. I did show him pics on the iPad so he could see what I liked.

Jscout--they didn't offer and I didn't think of that. I'll pass that tip along to anyone I know doing floors in the future. Wish I had done it!

I did it!! I picked a stain! The finisher laid out 4 samples straight from the can to get a general feel of colors and what I did/didn't like. With that direction, he mixed some colors together a couple more choices. In the end, I went with 75% Jacobean and 25% coffee. Coffee is a different manufacturer than Dark Walnut, but its similar and he didn't have that one with him.

I'll post some pics later today. Thanks everyone!

P.S. The poly top coat DID change the color a bit. Thanks for that little nugget, Marcolo and Briana.

Forgot to mention that they water popped the floors before showing me samples. That makes the floor take the stain better, yes??

Here's a shot of several of the stains. This angle makes them look nearly the same. Mine is top left.

From this angle, you can see the variation more. I chose the one nearest the furniture pieces. Funny how in this pic the stain looks almost the same color as the antiques.

In this close-up of the stain, it looks much lighter next to the antiques. It's a warm brown without red or yellow undertones that I did not want.

Looking at pics instead of IRL, it's interesting how different the stain looks in the pics. Hhmmm.... Well, it was pouring raining in the second one, and then 5 minutes later when I took the third one the sun was out again. Hey, that's fall in the PNW.

You chose well! It's going to look so lovely, breezy.

I love the color and the glimpses of your furniture. They have beautiful colors to them too.

Breezy, I love the stain you chose--not too dark and not too light. Your floors are going to be beautiful! And congrats to you on making a quick decision--not an easy thing to do. ;)

Great job -- it looks perfect!

Really great choice! You are going to love them!

Your Jacobean looks exactly like my Provincial. I found the Jack-o had way, way too much green for me. Funny how wood types and light affect stain colors.

You're right, the good thing about those just-plain-brown colors is the way they play well with other woods. Anything with a yellow undertone made my floor look like somebody hadn't learned to use the big bowl yet.

Thanks Lisa, Erin, Dianalo, Flwrs, and Nini.

Marcolo--I still keep looking at my pics over and over again noticing how different my chosen Jac/Coffee Brown mix looks. I take it your floors aren't white oak. What are they?

I don't know if I'd recognize a green undertone in wood or not. I hope mine doesn't have it. I could easily see reds or yellows, but didn't even think to look for greens.

And LOL about the big bowl!

eek!!! so exciting...

After staining we finished ours with %50 semigloss and %50 satin. It has a nice soft glow, but not too shiney.
Jill

The Jacobean definitely had a slight green undertone for us. Which is why it worked for our green cabinets. I like the mix that you chose, Breezy. It's going to look great.