You need to do a little more archeological digging still. You need to know the whole construction of the floor before you can decide how best to install something new. I'd take up that plywood piece in the kitchen and see what's under it. It's higher than the surrounding floor, so needs to go. You should also be able to see from there what subfloor is under the original kitchen hardwood. It's too bad the space under your entryway is finished, but I'd still do some exploring from below to see what's under there, and to figure out the fix to stop it from squeaking. Is it drywall below or a drop ceiling? I know it probably seems like a pain to tear out drywall, but if you cut out a clean patch, like 2' x the width of the joists, it'll be relatively simple to repair. Just make sure to cut it down the center of the joists so that there's room to screw the patch piece to it later. Cut the hole under the area that squeaks the most, if you can. Have someone walk on and watch the floor from below to see what's moving. It might be as simple as pounding in a couple shims from below, or face-nailing a loose board from above. You want to find out what's underneath the hardwood. It might be laid directly on the floor joists, or there might be 10" wide boards that the hardwood is nailed to. Another thought is to take out a board in the hallway, since that's not original and you want to replace it. See what the subfloor is there. I am a bit puzzled at why, when you've stripped the kitchen down to the original hardwood, it's still higher than the hallway floor. Is your current surface perhaps not the original kitchen hardwood? Peeling back the plywood area will help determine that. BTW, I haven't heard of that stop squeaking product you linked to, so can't offer any personal opinion. And don't pour self-leveling compound over top of hardwood. It needs to go over plywood.

I just wanted to thank you all for taking the time to answer me. Your responses really helped. The wood floors are all original oak, except for in the kitchen, where we think they are pine (and never meant to show, but we stripped them anyway!) I actually have high gloss finish in the kitchen, by accident. See, we did the LR and DR floors in 2001 and used semi-gloss and a medium stain. In 2003, we did the kitchen and stripped the floors and I bought high-gloss poly by mistake, and didn't realize it until it dried! I do like it, very much. But I just wondered, in that big expanse of my LR and DR, would the high gloss finished be too much gloss, know what I mean? My instincts tell me to go for it, but I still have some doubts. We definitely need a new topcoat, though. I don't want to ruin the floors! I did cover up the floors partially in the LR when my daughter started to walk. It's just a carpet remnant, no pad underneath, but I think I should keep it for the kids for now. I wasn't thinking how the hardwood floors would work out with babies! Here are some updated pictures of the house. Since I took those pictures on the pbase site in 2004, we've done a few more updates - new fence, stripped/sanded/painted the front porch gray (and I'm still working on the trim, that's why there are no new pics of the front porch - but it looks so much better!), and totally finished the basement. WHEW! And two babies in that time, too. :) Thank you all for your complements and opinions! I think I might try the high gloss. Here is my site with the older/remodeling pics: http://www.pbase.com/yellowduck and here are the current house pictures, minus the front porch: Here is a link that might be useful: The house

I know of several people that use and swear by steam mops on hardwood. One friend has a 100 yr old house and said her floors have never been as clean as they are now since she started using the steam mop. I do not have hard wood and was told by the manufacturer not to use steam on laminate because it can cause some of them to start to delaminate on the edges. I have a shark steam mop and can tell you from experience the floor does NOT get wet it is dry pretty much instantly. It would get more water exposure by using a wet mop which is much wetter than a steam mop. But it is up to each individual as to whether they want to try it. My friend tried it first in a closet that had the same hard wood as the rest of the house and she was thrilled with the cleaning. When I was trying to decide if I wanted a steam mop and what kind I found my answer right here on GW at the cleaning forum and if you don't think there have been tons of discussions on the topic then just check out this link from that one forum. steam mops IT is a very heavily discussed topic here at GW. LOL If I had hardwood I would likely do the same test, I would try it on a location that is not right out in the open. Or specifically ask the manufacturer of the hard wood if that is a possibility. When I steam mop my tile it is completely dry in seconds after the mop goes over it, I can't risk the slipping factor, which is why it is really good for me. And I can do it sitting in my chair because the mop is so easy to use. I would certainly never presume to tell someone what to do I think we are all intelligent enough to make those informed decisions.

Vermeister Oil shouldn't be any different to any other hardwood floor hardwax oil finish (should be like Rubio, etc). It would be much like the current finish you already have on your floor. If I remember from your other thread, you have a dark stained wax/oil finish on maple. The Vermeister will have all the same issues as what you are seeing right now. It might be a snick better regarding presentation (scuffs that are shinier than the finish) but I wouldn't hold out much hope that it is SUPERIOR to what you have. If you want a natural maple finish, you are welcome to work with a water based polyurethane....but I would NOT recommend the matte. It has the same issues (oil foot prints, shiny drag marks, etc) that you are facing right now with your hardwax/oil finish. A matte finish looks hazy in certain lights, shows oil foot prints (skin oils are SHINIER than matte finishes) and it will look "shinier" if you have dragged something across it (thereby creating a small "polished" streak across your floor). If you must have low gloss, I HIGHLY recommend working with a satin finish. These finishes are SUPER easy to live with. They are the PRECISE gloss level of oily foot prints! They hide EVERYTHING. And as they age, they get DULLER! Yah. The little bit of glow you see on day 1 should be reduced by month #1. And reduced yet again by year #1. If you want a stain on your maple, be prepared for BLOTCHY. I mean NASTY blotches. Like it looks like an elephant used their feet to apply the stain. It is not impossible to get a beautiful stain on maple....it is just SUPER DIFFICULT and might take more than one attempt. When staining maple, the darker the better. The darker the finish, the easier is to 'hide' the blotchy appearance (the floor being too dark to tell the difference between 'blotch' and 'smooth' finish). If you go with a natural colour in polyurethane, I HIGHLY recommend Loba 2K Supra AT in Satin. It is GORGEOUS with a relatively low gloss level (even for satin). It is costly (no where near $250/gallon CND) but well worth it. Loba also has a UV Protect additive to be used WITH MAPLE so that it does NOT turn MARGARINE yellow.