I have decided to try again and refinish the floors in a few years after I add new flooring to the main level of my house. So I am going to try to mix a one-coat stain for the stair treads. I'll try minwax red oak and espresso first. I might buy a dark walnut or other dark color stain if that doesn't work. When I refinish, I will probably build new flush-mount vent registers and toss the ones I have. They are not that well made nor structurally strong, especially at the intake. (I keep stepping on the edge of the vent register in front of the patio door and I'm afraid I will break it.) But I will keep the registers I have until I redo the floor. I think I need to frame out the vent openings with mitered floor planks and run the register slats across the shorter dimension. Two more immediate concerns: (1) Stair Tread Project: The varathane water poly on the wood floor is being scratched from the dogs' nails. The scratches are white-ish. I have been letting the dogs play and I need to do a better job trimming the puppy's nails. However I do not want to deal with scratched poly on the stair treads that I will be installing soon. Do the scratches come out when you sand-screen and apply a new coat of poly as maintenance? Or should I use a power buffer? What tool would you recommend? I prefer not to remove the white painted side trim when I refinish the stair treads every couple of years (as necessary) because it will be thin and will probably have to be replaced (and it will be hard and time consuming to cut new trim pieces). (2) Fireplace Project: I will be re-tiling the fireplace hearth this year. The hearth is framed by wood flooring that I just refinished, and will refinish again. I purchased carrera marble tiles, about 3/8" thick. The marble hearth will be flush with the wood floor. How should I tile this so that the marble is protected when I refinish the wood floor again in the future? I don't want metal edging between the tile and the wood. I sealed the inside edge of the wood floor that surrounds the hearth with poly already, and I won't be changing the color of the wood floor significantly.

This thread is so helpful. Wondering if anyone has photos of Coretec Cyril Oak LVP with orange honey oak cabinets? We're hoping to make something work with our current cabinets and trim. We'd like a flooring that works well with the strong orange tone while also downplaying it. We've looked at a number of different samples and I keep leaning toward Cyril Oak. I like how light it is and the subtleness of the grain and variation. But I would love to see it in a kitchen with honey oak cabinets if anyone has a photo they'd be willing to share.

Merriebeth, I hear you--I can pick out the patterns instantly. The repeats in Noble Oak were so distinct, long, and dark grey against the light wood color it made it worse than usual I think. We are sticking with LVP because it's going in our walkout basement, and because I can't get my money back. I was lucky the flooring company we hired agreed about the repeats (they stopped work and brought it to my attention), and they are willing to exchange for a different color. We are going with Hayes Oak. There will still be repeats (the price you pay for LVP), but the pattern is much less obvious because background and markings are lighter and the boards are bigger.

Since painting SW Alabaster on the walls, new blinds and new sofa. Everything looks different. Changed to Coretec Bedford oak. It seemed to look better next to the tile in the bathrooms where it would meet in the doorways. Had to consider that also. Not replacing the tile. Now am second guessing. Doing the whole house except the bathrooms. Already ordered. Hope it will be ok. Does anyone have Bedford oak or pictures. Would appreciate any pictures. Did not want gray and it didn't seem to have gray in it.