Gorgeous White Oak floors, what to finish with?
We had gorgeous 5” rift and quarter white oak floors put in I think he said they were a high grade because I chose no knots. I am trying to figure out stain color. Originally, I wanted really light, almost like a Nordic stain. Now, I am wanting something warm and inviting. My walls are White Dove. I am looking at Natural by Bona or mixing Weathered with Neutral by Dura Seal.
Comments (18)
Silvey Marshall
last yearI know this is not what you asked but I originally started out wanting a light floor. My 1951 home has white oak which had never been refinished. The contractor put down a sample of special walnut and chestnut. The special walnut looked washed out next to the rich warm chestnut. Even though it is not the light flooring I had originally desired, it is just beautiful. And it is a medium neutral brown.
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Industry standard for on-site finishing of white oak hardwood floor?
Comments (9)This floor was put in by an actual flooring company. It is the company that is contracted with this GC to do all his flooring. When He told me that I should use them because I'd get the best price, yada, yada, yada, he also said because "their installer/finishers were second to none". Now I want to ask if he knows this from his experience with them or because they told him that their installers/finishers were second to none! I was billed for "dustless" sanding & the GC has said the word dustless but neither the GC or the flooring company approached us to discuss how actually dusty the dustless is. I'm beginning to understand that you can ask as many questions as you want but if you don't ask the right questions, because of your lack of knowledge you won't end up with the information you need. Am I understanding both of you all's recommended course of action? I insist they go back and sand the floors-back to no stain? I do not ask the holes to be puttied except maybe the one in the photo below or similar, this one being dime size? I feel like this knot will lift out eventually. Then I make sure to start they are sanded properly, then stained, sealed or sealed, stained? Then poly'ed with sanding between coats. Total 3 coats. The boards with the deep gauges? The first pic really is quite deep & in a spot that will not be covered with a rug. It would be very difficult for sanding to get rid of the 2 places in the wood in the first 2 photos. Do I insist they be replaced? When you say problems with the short ends do you mean the cracks that show opening up from the show ends? Is the area in the center of the last photo lippage? The 1/2" linear sort of dome-shaped rise in the wood? As far as the humidity ect. We had small leaf acacia engineered hardwood installed in the bonus room last month by same flooring company. When the wood was delivered they did not want to bring it upstairs. I told them it was to be installed upstairs & delivering the wood early so it could acclimate make zero sense if it was not put in the room where it was to be installed. The wood was vertical stacked & left downstairs in unopened boxes. I emailed the owner/acts as install supervisor to voice my concerns about lack of proper acclimation ect. He said we would check the meter readings together before the install, although he did snidely ask me if I had a meter. Anyway, morning of readings were fine, inline with what I had researched as well as what he told me. The downstairs wood acclimated for at least 3 weeks, was not in boxes but was vertical stacked. We heated & cooled downstairs as normal during this time. Nobody offered to share any meter readings the morning of this install & I missed the owner when he was here at the start before he left. Sophie, do you still feel the issues here are from possible humidity/moisture or more likely poor preparation (sanding) & lack of dust control/cleanup before applying the poly finish? You know if you "dustless" sand & leave all the dust on the walls next to the floor being finished, pretty unrealistic to not think it 's going to float down onto the floor all day. Thank you so much for your input Cancork Floors & Sophie....See MoreWhat stain for a rich, dark finish on white oak floor
Comments (6)A regular stand alone stain will not be that dense. You will have to find, a finisher that knows how to layer colors by pre-toning the wood with aniline dye and then your choice of stain color. In your case, pre-tone with ebony aniline dye and layer with antique brown or espresso. How well, the pre-tone is applied will be critical of the final stain outcome. If, you do not want to go that route. You will have to find a finisher that knows how to apply General Finishes water base floor stains. Water base stains has a short working time and can lap. Normal stains are not dense enough, even when pre-treating the wood by water popping....See MoreOur new site finished white oak floors are a mess. Please help.
Comments (5)Dish out is common on plain sawn oak, if, you do not have the right equipment, sandpaper and sanding sequence. More softwood is removed than hardwood, creating the undulation. A resanding is needed with a hard plating sanding driver, multi-head, power drive or trio to remedy the issue. Scuffing - will depend on the quality of the product and their process. Did they split the finishing process - sand and applied a couple of coats and returned at later date to finalize the project - contamination? Was there a stain applied - insufficient dry time? Did they, thin the product to save some money? What brand and product line did they use? Something happen to affect the performance of the product. Dragging a light cardboard box shouldn't cause too much damage, unless the scuffs are caused by staples. What was in the box - tv, toys, clothes?...See MoreNew white oak floors - best sealer and finish to prevent darkening
Comments (16)The Loba 2K Supra A.T. in semi-gloss is technically on the low end of a standard semi-gloss coating and is shiny under certain light but is, in my opinion, a long way from "basketball court shine." See more information below this photo. Loba's Technical Data Sheets provide a numerical gloss rating for the finishes measured at 60 degrees on glass. Here is how the following finishes stack up: 2K Invisible Protect, Approximate Gloss Level = 9 2K Supra A.T. Satin, Approximate Gloss Level = 25 2K Supra A.T. Semi-Gloss, Approximate Gloss Level = 43 2K Supra A.T. Glossy, Approximate Gloss Level = 130 What those numbers tell us is that the Invisible Protect is a tad shinier than a flat matte which would be considered anything at 5 or below measured at 60 degrees on glass. The Supra A.T. satin and semi-gloss finishes are consistent with their names, while the glossy is a super-high gloss almost like a mirror. There's a huge jump between the semi-gloss and gloss. The semi-gloss is on the low end of gloss, and the glossy is off the charts by some calculations on the high end of gloss. As mentioned previously in this post, the Loba satin finishes can look cloudy after several coats. Some people use gloss for the base and then finish off with satin, but that can make repairs difficult mixing sheens....See More
Sara Burks
last yearslab
last yearSara Burks
last yearI’ll also mention that it will darken a little bit when you do the clear coat - as our mantle is white oak with just a clear matte poly finish and it did come out a little bit warmer/dark than it was before the poly coat. I don’t have a before picture but this is it now with a clear poly finish.
Vonnie Stanchfield
last year
Therese N
last yearlast modified: last year
daisychain Zn3b
last yearskatermom
last yearVal B
last yearDon’t mind the state of the fireplace and all the boxes, but this is duraseal 3/4 weathered oak and 1/4 country white with bona water based poly on red oak. I think it would look great on white oak too. Definitely have your flooring person do samples and you can see what you like and adjust as needed.
Therese N
last yearlast modified: last year
Eva Grossman
last yearlast modified: last year
This is my white oak floor after 6 years. We used Bona traffic naturale extra matte waterborn laquer. It was great choice. no wearing, no scratches.
daisychain Zn3b
last yearlast modified: last yearI’m glad you are taking your time to choose the finish for those floors. they are spectactular and getting the finish right will be key.
We are happy with our penetrating oil finish but one thing ive found with the oil finish is that water spills need to be wiped up fairly quickly or they will leave a mark. For us this is minor as we dont have it in our kitchen or bath. we have rubio but our friends got the osmos and they were horrified that their new puppy’s pee accidents left marks everywhere.
we also find that the matte finish shows footprints like crazy. we have to wipe down the floors more often than when we had the satin and semi gloss poly. This really surprised me as i had expected the opposite.
Like i said, there is a lot to love about the finish but after living with it for five plus years, ive realized that, like other finishes, it isnt perfect.
one thing i absolutely love is the colour. we went with Rubios natural (or maybe its called pure?) and, while i know that cool light floors all all the rage right now, this warm natural colour makes me so happy and goes perfectly in our 110 year old home
PROLSJ insulation
last yearJ L
last yearWe just went through this with original white oak tied in with brand new white oak. We looked at a bunch of duraseal colors from natural to golden oak and ended up choosing fruitwood because it’s super neutral. It’s like the greige of stain colors. I originally wanted very light too but when I saw it with the finish coat in the sample I knew it was too yellow for me and would clash with our stuff and our style. I personally think adding some sort of colored stain is a smart idea to push the wood in the direction you want it to go. Basically don’t let the wood color dictate the style of the home because it’s going to be there a long time!
- PRO
LSJ insulation
last year wdccruise
last yearlast modified: last yearI used the following:
- Bona Dri-Fast Stain Natural
- Bona ClassicSeal Sealer
- Bona Mega Satin
If possible, I'd try a small area without the stain before deciding whether to use it.I considered NordicSeal Sealer but didn't want the whitewashed appearance.
I certainly wouldn't darken or tint the floor further as was done by other commenters.
rebasheba