Here is the Euro look I loved most...

This is what it we ended up with...

Check out this recent thread and see if the end result is what you want.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/4608211/fixing-brand-new-floors?n=18

Thanks gregmills - I wish we'd fought harder. Our contractor threatened us with an $800 fee if we delayed the decision by an extra day so our designer could view the floors. We've been struggling for weeks with him and caved this time in an effort to just keep the project moving. :( It's 1200 square feet, so I imagine cost would be high - and on us.

However if we can use one of those methods to achieve the look, it's something I'd consider.

Jfc_wood - thank you! That's exactly what I was trying to achieve! Now to find out if our floor guys would know how to do it, and the cost.

It sounds like doing Bona Mega HD over the raw floors might also be an option? And perhaps less costly than using the Nordic stain. I'm having trouble finding what this would look like. We used a Bona Top coat, but the sample we saw of it on our wood still looked a bit yellow. I'm sure it was not the Mega, though.

If it turned a little yellow(er) then anticipated I would bet they used an oil modified polyurethane. They amber a LITTLE bit...but not as much as a full oil based finish. A water based polyurethane (NOT oil modified) will NOT turn yellow - ever.

Find out what type of finish was used (name...photo of the can would be a great help) and we will let you know if this is an oil based, oil modified or water based finish.

I know it is darker/yellower than you had hoped for, but it is a very handsome floor. It has the look of "smoked" European Oak - which is a very fashionable look. I know it isn't what you had hoped for, but if you do decide to keep it, feel confident that this is a handsome floor that is very fashionable that just so HAPPENS to work VERY well with your exposed brick!!! That's a very fortuitous "oopsa".

The only thing that could muck this up is the counter top. It would be a weird colour that would do it...so we can only guess what that will look like. What have you chosen for counter tops?

Thanks so much, Cancork Floor!! It's reassuring that the floor still seems to work! My husband sees no problem with them, haha - they are certainly lovely if we had to keep them, just not in keeping with the Scandinavian inspiration that was in my head. ;)

Our countertops will be a creamy marble-look quartz (Caesarstone Frosty Carrina), so fingers crossed those would still look right. :) The challenge is that I purchased brass hardware, and gold-tone lanterns for the island, so I worry everything will have a warm gold cast now.

I bet you are right, they were using Bona topcoat from a can - looking at the Bona website, I think it must have been the DriFast oil modified sealer. I'm guessing they did this because the stain was DuraSeal oil-based? Wish I'd had the foresight to research Bona products more in-depth before starting this journey!

Well I checked and the top coat was actually Pallmax96 - I thought it would be Bona, but it sounds like this one should work about the same?

The DriFast you saw was the stain. Pallmann Pall-X 96 is a single component waterborne urethane. I'm fairly sure that the Bona NordicSeal used on the floor on the other thread couldn't be applied over what you have. It has to be resanded.

The inspirational floor you want is done with hard wax oils - white/natural, 2/1 or 3/1 mix. You can do the same with floor stains and then coat with a water base matte finish.

The Pallmann Pall-X 96 is a waterborne finish with very low VOC content and is non-ambering. Pall-X 96 advertises the "deep richness" it achieves with multiple coats. That is the industry wording for making things look MORE intense (the brown wood tones) rather than less intense (like toning down the wood tones - which is what you were hoping for). That means the colour (the yellow) is coming from the stain (which is to be expected when using Provincial in a mixture).

I'm going to guess that when you showed the finisher the inspiration photo he "saw" the BROWN in the floor whereas you saw the "white". He mixed it to HIS "eye" (many many many men really LOVE the look of wood - the browner the better). What you didn't catch in the sample was the "missing white".

And therein lies the issue. The person doing the work created something that he "saw" in a photo. The person who paid for the work to be done saw something else (not knowing it was the WHITE that attracted you to the finish).

I would say this was a basic misunderstanding (with a BRUTAL time line....but that's another story) and a go-between (the designer) that didn't catch the "missing" white either.

As handsome as these floors are, there are layers upon layers of why this didn't work out to your "vision". I'm sorry you have to go through this. You might want to see if the refinisher will split the cost 50: 50 with you. I doubt they will. But there is no harm in asking. While you are asking, you can ask for the total if you were to have the floors sanded and refinished with the WHITE tones you wanted.

Very well summarized, Cancork Flooring! I really struggled to pinpoint or explain why our samples weren't looking right - it was the white (or lack there of)! Unfortunately our designer never got to see the samples in person, since our contractor did not want to wait that extra day for her to be available. With her guidance, we may not have ended up in this predicament, but so it goes!

I just went to a showroom where I saw some gorgeous finishes - my favorite was done with Rubio Monocoat in a fumed finish (I think mixed 50/50 fumed and a brown color). I've been searching for reviews, but would LOVE to hear from anybody here who has experience with it! G&S - is this the type of oil you were referring to?

Our floors are in a kitchen and entire lower level of a house with two small kids. We are hard on our surfaces, but I'd be willing to oil and touch up as needed. What I'm wondering is - what happens if a spill is left on the floor and not noticed for a few hours. Would floors be ruined? What expectations should I have for durability? Since we have character grade oak, I think small dings would blend in and add to the charm, but I also don't want them to look sloppy, if that makes sense!

Thanks for all of the fabulous advice thus far!!

I just finished my master BR with Rubio Smoke (active stain that turns wood brown) and Cotton White 2c oil. The floor is #1 common White Oak shorts. The Fumed active stain turns wood gray rather than brown but this might give you an idea how it would look.

I don't know that I'd use Rubio in my own kitchen. I have a customer for whom we did Rubio Fumed (thinned with water to make it slightly gray) and Cotton White in their kitchen/breakfast/family room. It looks great but I don't think they have a particularly active kitchen, dogs or young kids.

Thanks jfcwood - your floors look fantastic!! The Rubio finishes really are stunning. We are strongly considering clear or 5% white Rubio, however I also saw a sample today of raw white oak with nothing but Bona Matte on top, and it was really good looking as well. And would definitely be a safe, durable bet for our situation.

Jfcwood---you did your floor with ONLY shorts? Was thinking about this for my kitchen. Wasn't sure how it would look with just shorts. Would you mind posting some pics?

@jfcwood - that's a handsome floor. It shows how attractive a "short ends hardwood" floor can be. The movement is outstanding. The finish colour is superb. Thanks for showing how attractive these types of installations can be.

@JKH, just found this thread because of the same heartbreaking issue, what did you end up doing? Any advice? I feel the exact same way about my floors, was going for a custom stain on the darker side, but didn't want too dark, and wanted more gray tones than brown. See pics below of what I was I going for and what the floors needed up looking like (the sample looked ok on the floor when they finally got close enough, which was a painful process-lighter than we wanted but seemed in the same realm, but now looks totally different across the whole floor). Some angles look ok, but others are just strait up red brown which is literally my least favorite hardwood look, just a preference. I also ordered select white oak and got way more charactered boards than I anticipated, I wasn't expecting so much variation...contractor assured me it was select...but there were knots in a few boards, pushed as hard as I could and had to just move forward.! Anyway, just curious as to what some folks end up doing. How do I get the look I'm going for, are my expectations to our of what for what I want? Everyone, including the hubs says they look good, but they're just not what I wanted, no where near the look or my personal style. Wall colors, fireplace, etc. will be changing, but won't make me like the floors. Not sure I can live with them, but we also were on a timeline. Is it easier to sand newly stained floors, shorter process to sand and re-stain without the install and with new boards? Thanks everyone for any feedback!!

@emlouhall, I’m so sorry!! I do think your floors look beautiful, but I totally understand the pain of not ending up with exactly what you were hoping for! We did not change ours in the end - it was a lot of square footage, and we just couldn’t justify thousands more dollars at the end of our renovation - when everything else had already gone over budget. I think expense will be the same no matter when you re-finish - but the headache of moving furniture back out is the big drawback of waiting, I think. We plan to eventually put hardwoods on our staircase and upstairs, so when we do that we’ll probably refinish. For anybody reading this and still in the planning stages - the biggest thing I’d have done differently is to hire or my own flooring people versus allowing our GC to bring his in. For very specific finishes, you really need a boutique or more high-end flooring crew, IMO! I have since found a few in my area who know how to achieve the look I wanted, and will use them next time!

All of that said, I have grown to like my floor color and haven’t thought about it too much ever since everything was moved back in and decorated!

@emlouhall. I completely feel your pain as I’m going through the same thing with floors we had stained last month. I think the polyurethane made the color more orange in tone which isn’t the look I was going for and doesn’t match the example photo I gave the contractor. Just curious what color you used on your floor as it is close to the color I was looking to achieve. Was there anything you could do to get the color you wanted without a complete sand and re-stain from scratch?

@Lauren We had to sand and re-stain with a custom mix, but so worth the extra cost...the first time was a custom mix too so I can’t be much help. Our second go around was bona and a water based finish (I think)...we’re really pleased!