There are many water based wood floor sealers that help you keep the natural color of the wood.

Like Hydroline Wood Floor Sealer or Bona Floor Finish, Satin and many others.

J Design Group
225 Malaga Ave
Coral Gables, FL 33134
Ph: 305-444-4611
https://www.JDesignGroup.com

We just had prefinished shiny red oak floors sanded and finished with Rubio Monocoat pure (no stain). They have gone from hideous to gorgeous! I liked the unstained red oak underneath the shiny red stain urethane, as it has quite a lot of variety.

Rubio Monocoat comes in a variety of colours now. It has NO VOCs, goes on like a charm, wears extremely well. They're a really helpful company, too. Can't recommend the product highly enough.Rubio Monocoat colours

Why not contact the blogger? She says they used 3 coats of matte sealer, no stain. Ask them what type of sealer they used.

For Bona system, 2 coats of nordic seal and 2 coats of traffic hd matte for the Scandinavian look.

The Bona finished floor looks completely different than what the OP seems to be going for. Bona finish looks yellow and the “finish” on the floor from the blog looks like a totally raw floor and completely flat with no sheen.

Loba invisible or supra matte

Poster has red oak, nordic seal is a high build pigmented sealer. Has a touch of white in it. It's designed for the pale Scandinavian look, not raw look. You can play around with either 1 or 2 coats of sealer to get the result you want. If, the raw look is wanted, then I would recommend using 2 coats of Loba invisible as National Hardwood suggested.

Thank you to everyone who has commented! I really appreciate your help! As noted, the blogger has not mentioned what they used on the red oak only that they used 3 coats of matte sealer. I love the look of NordicSeal and that is why I mentioned it. But I am afraid it would turn out too white which I don't want. I want a look of freshly sanded oak..ha ha! If it is possible! I don't want pink, and I want the red to be more neutral...unfortunately I don't have white oak to work with; it is red oak. I am going to look into the Loba invisible and the other suggestions. If anyone has ever done a neutral to pale look on red oak (not glossy) then I would love to see your photos and hear about your experience! We plan to tackle this installation right after Christmas. Thanks!

sure niday! I feel like the sealers all add a gloss and a warm/golden look that I definitely do not want.

The blogger (Sherry Hart) provides her email address on her website (sherryhdesigns@mac.com). Have you tried contacting her directly?

Back in January or so, Fine Homebuilding magazine had an article on light cured floor finishes. I wouldn't make any decision without reading it.

https://www.facebook.com/94763592630/photos/pcb.10154220804832631/10154220803147631/?type=3&theater Loba invisible on red oak looks like what I am looking for!

Question...what would is the difference between the Loba and the Bona matte sealers? Does one have a quicker drying time? Also, since they are not "stains", is water-popping still necessary? Thanks!

lisaodwyerphoto - everything you say you want can be accomplished by Rubio Monocoat, as I mentioned last night.

You don't need to water pop unless your are staining, it opens up the grain for a darker color. In your case just need the finish 2 coats Loba invisible or Bona.

I second the recommendation to look at the possibilities with Rubio Monocoat.

Will look into the Rubio Monocoat too. Thanks so much bubblyjock! And National Hardwood Flooring and Supplies, those samples are awesome! The 2 coats of invisible protect look just like the photo I originally posted. I am amazed at how these "clear" topcoats can change the appearance of the wood depending on what is used. I thought that only stains could do that.

Just ordered the Rubio Monocoat samples in clear, smoke, and smoke 5%. Wish other manufacturers like Loba had these available. Thanks! https://eco-buildingproducts.com/product/rubio-monocoat-color-samples/?attribute_pa_color=smoke-chemlink-color&attribute_pa_size=20-ml-sample&v=2da62cf3ab72

I'd call the rubio monocoat company and tell them what you'd like to accomplish with your red oak floor and ask them to recommend samples for you. We found them to be very nice and helpful when we did our floors (though we did end up using a different hardwax oil in the end for our dark floors, long story and nothing to do with anything negative at all about the Rubio Monocoat). If i remember correctly, they have some colors that have a bit of green in them that might be useful to camouflage the pink in the red oak. I also remember that they have at least two shades (?) of clear. One of them tends to impart a bit of a yellowish color and the other has no yellow at all (i think these two might be called pure and natural, I forget, but there is a difference). Plus, you can mix the oils. So, you can do things like mix a bit of white in to achieve a more blonde look, etc. Anyway, I'd ask them what they think would be the best bet to achieve the color you want.

There are loads of complaints about Rubio Monocoat finishes here on Houzz, so just be aware of that before you get in too deep.

And loads of people who ended up with pink floors because they thought they could negate the red in red oak.

There are loads of people who are extremely happy with their hardwax oil finishes and you can read about that here on gardenweb if you search for hardwax oil, Rubio Monocoat, etc. When there are problems, a lot of the problems are due to the person applying the finish not doing it correctly or not sanding the floor to a high standard before applying the finish. You need someone who has experience applying these finishes if you go with one.

Do make sure, before you purchase and install red oak, or any other type of wood, that you can get it finished how you want (and, if you use red oak, that you can avoid those pink undertones, if you don't want them).

For the record, our previously pre-finished high-gloss red oak was stripped with the sander and re-finished with Rubio Monocoat Pure, and it is gorgeous - exactly what I wanted. The natural tones of the wood are lovely, the finish is smooth and satin-like to the touch. There are NO VOCs, so the smell of beeswax and linseed oil (for that is all it is) that pervaded the house was a welcome change from the noxious fumes from most finishes.

Our contractor had never used Rubio, let alone Monocoat. I encouraged him to do his homework - there is SO much info available out there - wood-flooring forums, videos, phoning Rubio, etc - and he did, somewhat, with much grumbling.

But then ...

He sanded down an old pine floor which had previously probably been variously painted, urethaned, goodness knows what else over its 150 year lifespan. He replaced some old boards with new ones, which obviously weren't a match in tone, very obvious before refinishing with Monocoat. This time, however, he didn't bother to consult with Rubio, so, although the satiny finish is what we wanted, the colours of the boards are uneven, particularly the mismatch of old and new, the ends of the boards look ... odd, and I'm generally not a happy bunny.

Lesson learned: get yourself a flooring contractor who's used Rubio Monocoat lots, and get him to make you up some samples before you get the whole floor done!

I have ordered some samples of the Rubio Monocoat bubblyjock and am looking forward to trying them out. I also have done some research on problems and I do think red oak will be fine. The people who have had problems with it are with woods like maple and pine. I like a matte look, not glossy. I have a bunch of sample wood planks and am planning on testing each color with water-popping and without. Will report back here soon :) Thank you so much for commenting!

Pete's Hardwoods say maple is a "blotch-prone wood" and also warn against pine https://www.peteshardwoodfloors.com/rubio-the-best-hardened-oil-finish.html

lisaodwyerphoto - don't chuck out your Monocoat samples when you're done! You can use them to pretty up wooden chopping boards, etc, as it's non-toxic, among its many other wonderful properties. Hope it works out for you!

Non toxic does not translate to food contact safe!

Beautiful Johnson Flooring! I love that look!

We will be installing the same oak in the other sitting room and kitchen and I would like to try a whiter shade or a darker shade to try and mask some of the pink. (I didn't waterpop and maybe that could have added a more opaque effect from the smoke 6%).

Advice please: I bought UMO to add the extra level of protection and sheen. Tomorrow will be the 36hr curing time from the smoke 5% 2c to apply UMO. Should I just save the UMO for when we do the other rooms in a year or so? Is is possible to blend this smoke 5% floor with a new floor done with a different shade (a whiter or more medium brown shade)? Can a new shade be applied over this smoke 5% or should the floor be sanded?

Thanks!

Rubio claims it seals in one coat and no more will penetrate after that. I'd love to know how the UMO works out for you. I haven't tried it.

@Lisa, Don't buy finish to have it sit on the shelf for a year. Purchase it when you need it. Finishes usually have a 1 year shelf life. The chemicals will expire and not work properly, not worth doing.

hello and help! I am debating 1 coat of Nordic Seal before 2 coats of Traffic HD on Maple. Any advice? I am scared of pink floors. They are currently orange, and with some strange sanding marks from the sanding machine because I sanded them. Can't afford a flooring person. I have raw maple floors currently. Any advice? Maybe Nordic will hide a bit of sanding imperfections, but turn the maple pink? uhghghg.

You can’t NOT afford to hire a Pro.