@mtpo - Your floors look BEAUTIFUL, thank you for sharing the pics, I can't wait to see the final product. (BTW - We ran into the issue with getting character grade mixed into our select a bit too, very frustrating!)

@mtpo your floors are SO beautiful, do you know where they were ordered from and cost per sq ft? Looking for something similar to yours, thank you!

@Bongo. The wood is from Cochran’s Lumber in Berryville, VA. The floors are being installed and finished by Brazilian Floors (they have several locations in the D.C. metro area). I don’t recall the price of the lumber / the price our builder charged us (he ordered it on his account). It may not be the same price you would get if you buy it yourself from Cochran’s. Cochran’s offers this wood in different thicknesses and grades which also impacts the price. We got “select” — I think it’s 3/4“ thick and 7” wide. They just came out with the same wood that’s 1/8 inch thinner as an option. It may come in other thicknesses too. Be warned... the wood and multiple coats of Bona products really add up $$$$. Our floors were recently finished — I haven’t seen them yet. There was a warning on the front door telling everyone to stay out. We peeked through the windows and the floors are covered with brown paper. When I get to see them, I’ll post pics. If you are in the area, you may want to visit Cochran’s showroom. We learned a lot from seeing the color and pattern differences between the American white oak and Norwegian white oak (and white oak from other areas). I had no idea that “white oak” looks different when grown in one geographical area versus another. The people there were very patient with us and very helpful. They do their own fuming there — I found it interesting to learn about that too. We didn’t get the fumed product because we couldn’t know for sure what color the finished product would be. (We don’t know for sure what our on site finish will be either but felt we had a little more control this way.)

We got to see snippets of the finished floor today, and we love what we see. I’ll post more photos- the site only lets me post one at a time.

The floor guys made custom floor vents. Nice, eh?!

Don’t know if you can see much in this photo — the brown paper is torn away under the island and an area of the floor shows there. Most of the base cabinets are covered with cardboard to protect them. If the floor looks as good as this little exposed area, I’ll be really HAPPY. I have read so many wood floor horror stories. So far, this seems to be going well. 😻

So your final finish was 1 coat of Nordic Seal with 3 coats of Bona Traffic HD satin? Can’t wait to see the reveal😍

@mtpo - Floors are looking fabulous! I'd love to know what finishes you ended up selecting as well. :)

@bowmeister67 and @widdy23 — I used exactly what bowmeister said —

1 coat of Bona Nordic seal and 3 coats of Bona Traffic HD satin. The finish will look different if you start with different white oak. The wood Is white oak from Norway (from Cochran’s in Virginia). It is my impression that this — as raw wood— had less variation in color from one board to another and less pronounced grain and was a bit lighter than the American white oak or the other European white oak I saw. I didn’t want to pull up the protective paper but you can see the floor a little better in this photo. (It looks a little pink on my IPad - it’s not in real life.)

Make sure your installer has experience using the Bona products — and especially the Nordic. I have my fingers crossed that I won’t see white stripes when all the protective paper is pulled up. It is my understanding that these Bona products are tricky to apply. Also — I highly suggest getting big samples done with all the coatings. If you look at my photos above, the wood sample with one coat of Bona Natural sealer and one coat of Matte Traffic HD looked nice too — but looked horrible with one coat of Natural and 3 coats of satin Traffic HD. 🤮

@mpto Thanks so much, can't wait to see your final product!!

@mtpo did you ever post final pictures of your floor? How are you liking it so far? I want a natural look as well and I think I'll end up meeting with our floor guy sometime next week to go over samples.

@Ashley I just want to lay down on my floors and HUG them!! In real life, they look lighter and more uniform in color than shows up on my iPhone. In real life, they don‘t have as much brown as in the photo. They look closer to the raw wood tone. I’ll try to get a better photo next time I go to the house (we’re still not in). They are one of my very favorite things in my (soon to be) new house. The cost of the floors and Bona sealer plus 3 protective coats was almost twice the price that my parents paid for the house I grew up in — so be prepared to gasp and clutch your wallet. However, I guess I’ll put off retirement for a few more years to make up the cost. 😁 I absolutely love the floors. I hope they hold up to daily use. Make sure your “floor guys” are real professionals and have experience using Bona. And — don’t go forward unless they are willing to give you samples with ALL the finished coats. Your wood may take the coats differently than our wood. Good luck!

Those are STUNNING! We have 4 inch white oak installed, but I was reading through your post and have no clue where they are from. I'll be sure to question about their history with using bona in the past. Here are our raw floors right now. Not the best lighting.

@Ashley Your floors look beautiful. Your house lay out seems very much like ours! We have one big space — kitchen, then dining area with doors to exterior, then the family room. We also added the clerestory windows like you did. Here’s a photo of our family room. I haven’t figured out if I’m going to use any window coverings yet. Curtains will block the bookcase. (I didn’t think about this before adding the bookcases.) I don’t want to hide the clerestory windows with coverings and don’t like the strings that show with bottom-up shades (maybe OK for the bedrooms). Maybe I will just buy new bathrobes for me and DH instead. We got our hardwood lumber from a lumber mill in Berryville, VA. They bring in wood from various locations. Ours is from Norway. They were great to work with. Very patient. Brazilian Floors did the installation and finishing. They did a great job. BTW, we used Corian — old fashioned solid surface Corian in our kitchen and in 2 bathrooms. (Thank you @Joseph Corlett for giving me the confidence to use Corian and to Heartwood Solid Surfaces for doing the work.) think it turned out well.

@mtpo Your floors are beautiful. Why did you decide to go with Corian? What color are your cabinets and what color Corian did you go with? We are building next year and making decisions now. I'm thinking of using HI-MACS LG Hausys solid surface countertops, which I think is similar to Corian. Haven't made decisions on flooring yet, but I love white oak. This was such a great informative thread. Please continue to post pictures of your kitchen.

@CEM TOSA It took me forever to decide on countertops. Get ready for a LONG story! If you search my other discussions on this site, you’ll see how I flip-flopped so many times... Corian, stainless, Neolith, D e k t o n, Quartz, wood (for the island top) and finally back to Corian. I originally wanted Corian in the kitchen with a stainless area (Near the cooktop) because they withstand abuse, can be refinished and are hygenic. I could also put hot pots on the stainless. My builder’s subs didn’t handle either material and just about everyone except @Joseph Corlett (who regularly comments on Houzz) grimaced when I mentioned Corian. My cabinets are a true white (forgot name of paint) and all of the Dekton with a “white” background was too gray. The solid white D e k t o n didn’t clean up as well as Neolithic or Corian. My sister has Neolith and loves it (clean up a breeze but she does have nicks near her sink after 1 year). I went to the Neolith east coast showroom and actually picked something out I loved but my builder’s fabricator talked me out of it. He said my sister was lucky ((so far) — he said it’s really not supposed to be used for countertops. He said mitering the edges is a nightmare (if you don’t mitre, there is a white edge because the color doesn’t go all the way through - at least the marble design I chose). The fabricator was really nice and pulled whole Quartz slabs from his warehouse into the parking lot for me to see. Originally, I had declared “never” to Quartz after reading people’s complaints about chipping and cracks. I wasn’t wild about any of the patterns. I settled on something I didn’t love and it turned out it was one of the most expensive ones. The white background wasn’t a true white but it wasn‘t bad and the marbling was pretty. MEANWHILE... earlier in the process I had contacted the main Corian wholesaler for the East Coast, and had gotten the name of a fabricator in my area. My builder said he’d work with them even though he never had before and I had several conversations with them. I had some 2” x 2” Corian samples that kept calling my name. 😁 Just about the time I had to FINALLY make a decision (about a year later than when I started due to the architect’s goof ups and COVID shut downs), the Corian fabricator sent me a couple 4x4 samples of Glacier White. It was so clean, perfect match for my cabinets, so WHITE (no yellow, gray or beige cast). Just seemed so right. My stomach-- which had been in a knot for a year due to indecision — relaxed. I knew this was IT. BTW... after the fabricator installed the countertops (and carefully covered them to protect them), other contractors uncovered them and used them as a work bench and scratched them up - a lot! ! ! The Corian fabricator came back and polished them — just like new. I hope I get into the house before any subcontractors mess them up again!

P.S. - I got the curved 1/4” backsplash (if you can call that a backsplash). I like it a lot — no visible seam at the back of the countertop). I’ll post more pictures when I get back to the house.

P.P.S. I got a quartz remnant for the tub area (a “kinda” white) in my hideaway bathroom and Ocean Jasper Quartz for the master ADA bathroom. The tub area is ok -but I’m glad I didn’t get it in the kitchen. The edge is not as nicely finished as the Corian.

My vanity with Corian and porcelain sink. (Mirror and lighting still not in). The only design mistake in the house (IMHO) is this floor - the sample and photos looked so different!)

My tub with quartz top. You can see how the quartz is not as white as the countertop.

Below — Jack and Jill bath with Corian countertop AND Corian integrated sinks. Blue tape is where some contractors messed things up. The tile on the back wall of the shower and the backsplash is a soft baby blue glass. (Side shower walls are white).

Thanks for taking the time to write all that! More great information. Hard to believe contractors would use your countertops as work bench! Imagine if that would have been quartz? If you think of the paint color of your cabinets....pass it on please. Thanks again! Look forward to more pictures.

My husband and I had 5" white oak floors installed and we are like the look of one coat of Bona Nordic Seal and two coats of satin water based polyurethane on our floors. The contractor has also suggested one coat of Loba 2K Supra on top.

Based on the research I've done, Nordic Seal has a tendency to show white streaks on the floor. I am nervous about this and I'm wondering if anyone had trouble with white streaks on their floor?

White streaks in floor. It's a installer issue. They apply the product too thin and it sets up quicker than recommended. Then the installer goes over it a second time causing lap marks or white lines. Look out for inexperience. Buyer beware, you should be nervous. Nordic seal is not a easy product to put down, unless you have experience.

Why would you use Bona Nordic Seal (Bona product...obviously) and then go with LOBA??? Whaaaaat???? Just stick with Bona Traffic HD in a satin and you will be fine. Bona Traffic HD is 10 times EASIER to find (but a snick harder to work with). Don't change chemical companies in the middle of a refinish. It doesn't make sense.

@mtpo We are also considering the Bona nordic seal on white oak. Did you use one or two coats of the Nordic seal? We did samples on floor and two coats looks significantly different. I worry that two coats might look too light, but with one coat, I still see some yellow coming through (my sample has the Traffic HD matte though, not satin). Looking at your photos, I love the look of your kitchen. It seems much darker than the close up picture with the paper removed... Just wondering which is closer to what you see in person? Thanks so much in advance!!

Has anyone applied the Bona Nordic and HD to white oak stair parts…newel posts/rails ? I am attempting to coordinate real white oak with white oak LVP…the unfinished white oak is an amazing match to the Paradigm Conquest Windsor and Tower…wanting to basically stain/seal the posts and rails in a way that changes the natural state the least, neutralizing any weed tones.

These are the LVP samples and my unfinished white oak stair parts.

Its small enough, you should be able to manage it. Have a wet rag handy to wipe away mistakes and drips.

Thank you!

Should a distributor be able to walk me through using this product for more details? I believe there is a local one and I plan to at least explore that.

Also, will the Bona Nordic take the white oak lighter at all or darker?

Nordic seal has white pigments. It will make the white oak whiter. The supplier may help you out. The instructions on the bottle is straight forward. Finalize your sanding with 150 grit and apply the first coat. Give it a light sanding after it dries with 220 or 240 grit sandpaper. Apply the second coat.

Just found out distributors only sale in gallon size…so it’s not going to be an option for me…too expensive to pay for gallons in seal and finish just to test it. Back to square one.

If, you’re looking for a small amount. All you have are tge home centers to choose from. professional finishes are sold in gallons only.

Yeah, that’s what I am realizing. Do you know if Duraseal is found in home stores? I cannot find any locally. Or is Minwax and Duraseal the same thing?

Nora are you installing tower or Windsor?

@mtpo sorry to bring this thread back. I had a question as to why you decided only to do one coat of Nordic as opposed to the recommended two? and 3 coats of Satin (which satin did you choose since there are 5 satins from Bona). Thanks so much!

@Jonathan Margareten Hi. it’s been so long since I posted - I’d have to read through my old posts to recall the sealer we used. We told the company to put 3 coats of the Bona product on the floors. We’ve been in the house with our two pups a little over a year now and the floors are holding up - so far, so good. There are a couple places where either a dog’s nail or something created a tiny gouge all the way through to the wood - so the Bona is not impermeable.

@Jonathan Margareten- I read through my old post, and am not sure if that’s what we ended up doing. I recall having 3 layers - but my old post notes 4. If you’re really interested, I’ll call the installer — Brazilian Floors— and see if he still has the info. What was really helpful to us is that the installer did lots of different samples for us — and every new layer of the top coat changed how the wood looked. The one that Bona advertizes as “clear” made our wood look a tiny bit orange. It’s really helpful to see the product on YOUR wood. We wanted to end up with a floor that looked as close to our raw wood as possible but had lots of protection.

@mtpo did you use a satin or matte finish?

We ended up using one coat of Bona natural sealer and two coats of HD matte on the floors.

There are some lap lines on the floors from the sealer. And it is taking me some time to get used to a matte floor. There is a haze to the floors as someone posted it’s most likely due to the matte finish. Our contractor unfortunately was in a hurry so we didn’t test many potential finishes. I think I would have done semi-gloss as a base and the matte as a final top coat or maybe satin as a top coat. Take the time to try all of the sample combinations.

@renee, can you post photos of the completed project? Our project starts on Dec 5.

Will do.
My two cents now that we are almost 6 month in. Get the third coat of sealer. We only did two and are already seeing wear and tear on the first floor in our main living space. Three teenagers, a dog. It should have had one extra coat of protectant.

3 coats of the HD?

Yes. 3 coats of HD.
I am OOT so will post photos when I get home.

Would love to see pictures of this!

Let me see what I can find on my phone. Our kitchen is still under construction. Here’s the dining room - installing a new chandelier.

Dining room
Not the best lighting

So this is a photo of my red oak stairs with min wax weathered oak stain next to my white oak floors.

Kitchen WIP

It’s hard to capture the color of the floors accurately in the photos. There is zero orange or amber in the floor color but the photos make it look as though there is a slight orange hue. We opted against replacing the red oak stair treads with white oak treads as there are 13+ treads and it would have been a super expensive project (will end up getting a runner over the stairs anyway so a lot of the step will not be visible).

I really appreciate these updates! It looks like the Bona products have really held up as far as color is concerned. We have LVP throughout and just purchased white oak stair treads. I tried and tried to match with stain but the yellow kept bleeding through. I’m now considering the Bona finish on my treads and keeping the natural oak look. Unfortunately the Bona is only sold in large sizes and I will probably use less than half of it. Your treads look really good! You said they were stained with minwax weathered oak. Do you happen to know if there was a sealer applied first or what the top coat was if any? I think that’s where I may be going wrong. Any advice you can offer is greatly appreciated! Thanks again for taking the time!

No sealer on the stair treads.
One coat of minwax weathered oak and two coats of the Bona HD traffic matte finish. The minwax was applied directly to the stair treads.
What’s interesting is that there isn’t a single scratch on the stairs. I wonder if the minwax protected the stairs a bit more than the Bona natural seal 🤷🏻‍♀️
I think you will easily go through a gallon of the Bona on your treads (if you use three coats) but maybe not depending on the number of stairs.
There’s no way around it. I had two essentially full bottle of Bona essentially bc I tried different finishes.

Thank you, this is so helpful! I really appreciate you taking the time.