The only difference I can see with older wood flooring is that a lot of it seems to be clear or high grade and thus it was likely cut from the outer portion of a tree as opposed to the center. Wood from the center of a tree is called juvenile wood and is formed during the first 5-25 years of growth. It tends to have less dimensional stability and lower density (contrary to Lowe's "center cut is better" lumber ads). So it quite possible with some of today's flooring (especially strip) that you are seeing softer juvenile wood from the center of the tree. That said, many hardwood sawmills do not cut the center of a tree for any grade lumber and instead utilize it for pallet cants or railroad ties. Softwood sawmills cut studs right down to the pith, much to the dismay of today's framing carpenter. Commercial sawmills sell the higher grades of lumber (FAS, #1 Common) to cabinet plants and distribution yards while the lower grades (#2, #3) go to the large commercial flooring plants. Through optimization, the flooring plants can make select or #1 Common grades of 2" wide flooring from low grade lumber. What I posted earlier about density is true if one is comparing apples to apples. A tight growth-ring piece of oak lumber from the non-juvenile portion of a 150 year old tree has LOWER density than a second growth piece of similar lumber from a 70 year old oak tree. The explanation is simple. Slower growth results in a higher proportion of lower density earlywood cells (the annual rings you see). With faster growth, you get more thick walled latewood cells and the same amount of earlywood cells which remains constant. For anyone interested in learning about wood and wood properties, there are plenty of good resources available. My source is "Forest Products and Wood Science" by John Haygreen and Jim Bowyer.

I have friends that work at Home Depot and friends that work at Lowe's (they were friends before they started there). But in general, the people that work behind the paint counter at either are not knowledgeable in anything other than putting formula into the machine and a can of paint into the shaker. They are the last people I would take wood finishing advice from. As soon as the word, "Polyshades" came out of their mouth in a recommendation, I'd be out the door. Five coats of polyshades!!!! You can get the same result with two coats of paint.

Well i guess a picture would help, i will try to take some today. The nails are still holding it together but the heads are all rusty. Its held together pretty well actually. I just want something that can get me through a few years untill i can replace it maybe 2-5 years? I just purchased the house and i want to work on a lot of other things first, i thought if it can be sealed or anything it would be a good job for my fiance through the week. Thompsons water sealer? Liguid wood? What do i have to do to it to assure a few more years of life out of it? Thanks for the replys so far!!

I used Howard's Restore-A-Finish on my 80's oak cabinets as a temporary dress up while waiting to remodel - just wipe on, wipe off. Won't do a big color change like a gel stain, but will enhance the finish - bring back some color and shine. You have to make sure you really wipe off what does not soak in as it can get on your clothes (guess how I know). You'd probably still have to clean them first if they're really grimy, though I did not. I found it at Home Depot and Fred Meyer...