I've done jobs with different oil products but used the Rubio only twice. One turned out perfect. It was a mix of White and Pure on rift sawn White Oak. The owner insisted on using a green finish with no solvents and I warned her it was fine except for potential issues with dog accidents. You can probably guess what happened. The second was Super White that we water popped. It ended up with some cloudy areas which points out issues with finishing technique. The floor needs to be sanded perfectly and scrupulously cleaned before oil application, and the finish needs to be removed completely or it will be cloudy. I just finished a natural color job with WOCA. It turned out nice in the end but took a bit of work. We washed the freshly sanded floor with the Wood Cleaner. The effect of the water made the floor look less smooth than desired. We tried extra coats, abraded with an abrasive nylon pad then re-oiled to the same end. Then we re-screened the floor, applied two more coats and it looks great. I think I'd forgo the cleaning step in the future. I like the idea of the Rubio and even have enough material in stock to do my own floor however I like the ease of maintenance and relative simplicity of the WOCA product line. The Rubio Soap is crazy expensive IMO. Coloring my opinion is that my local Rubio distributor is somewhat pathetic. I found a distributor in GA that carries WOCA and Rubio so that will at least put that issue to rest and give me a resource with expertise to draw on. I like the Rubio Smoke, Fumed and Precolor products for the breadth of unique looks it can achieve when used with their products. The bad? It requires more routine maintenance than poly. It's more susceptible to minor spills and stains. You are unlikely to find maintenance product for sale locally, so stock up. I have two older parquet floors in a wood that's no longer available. I plan on sanding it, wire brushing it, then applying a mix of White and Super White with the idea that the floor will go from it's current dark mahogany look, to a coffee with cream color with white in the deeper grain. I don't know that I'd use it in my own kitchen even though I can pay my own workers to change it fairly effortlessly. I am something of a skeptic when reading the claims of the wonders of the new generation of oil finishes, even though I'd like them to be true.

My construction is very similar to our main office at work. I don't have a dog in this fight, so I really don't give a crap whether your house lives like your office or like my home. However, I can tell you that we have a couple of commercial buildings just like this on the farm and your building looks similar to my father's warehouse which has an office. Those are not homes. I don't care how it is usually done, I care about the marginal cost of doing it better and, in fact, the marginal cost of doing it better is low enough that not doing it better is shortsighted and wasteful. There is little point in trying to build those to the same standards as my home, the amount of air passing in and out through openings necessary for business make many of those things moot. However, when you attempt to tighten those openings up you don't simply get a tighter house, you get a moldy and/or uncomfortable space. Is it livable? Sure it is, people make due with a lot worse. Is it optimal? No! Is it even suboptimal in any practical way? No! Are you going to believe me or even use the device you are typing your response on to actually investigate whether or not good enough is really good enough? Probably not. I wish you all the best. Enjoy.

I purchased a new home and got these new gray oak floors installed but now the paint that was in the home prior( Dolphin Fin by Behr) looks too blue and dark. Need a lighter or less blue color that will go with the floors, white cabinets, white Calacatta quartz, white subway backsplash, and brushed gold hardware. My painter only uses Sherwin Williams. Thinking Snowbound, Origami white, Zurich white, Aesthetic White, or even agreeable gray( although I tested it and it doesn't look too far off from the Dolphin Fin). All with High Reflective white trim. Please share thoughts.

Thank you for asking. Unfortunately, we have put our kitchen reno on hold. We were advised to wait until the economy rebounds. But, my husband and I are closer in agreement. We have decided to go with a mix of white and light wood for the cabinets. I have found some great inspirational pictures. I still love the white oak but maybe with less wood cabinets maple will be ok. I checked Durasupreme and they have white oak but not in the shade we like. Also, Durasupreme got less than good reviews online. Plato has the white oak shade we like - nude cream - but the estimate came in really high. I still hope to get my dream kitchen.