That is the nature of wood it is not all identical IMO really lucky you did not get ping hued floors.

Normal to have variation from light to dark. If, you want less variation, use a clear grade.

That stuff grows on trees. What do you expect please? Embrace it.

Making changes later isn’t viable and we were unsure if this was to be expected or not, hence the post. In the past, we didn’t go light and so this wouldn’t have been as obvious.

Your floors look great. I wouldn't change it if I could.

There is always some piece-to-piece variation with hardwood floors. Often you won't be able to tell just how much until after the finish is applied. Where less variation is desired, I recommend pre-finished flooring so pieces can be culled as needed.

Once rugs, furniture and your stuff are cluttering the house, you won't notice the floors at all!

@G & S Floor Service - Should we see nails in the finished wood floor steps? (see 2 photos below)

Also, does the coloring on this riser look correct and should we ignore the crack in the riser? (see following photos)

They bleached the floors (using an A + B chemical from City Flooring), then applied 2 coats Nordic Seal, 3 coats Traffic HD.

I’ve tried to type this three times to sound nice but… you have great looking hardwood floors that show all the variations that real hardwood floors installed by humans should have. For less variation you need a man made product, your floors look great.

@G & S Floor Service - thank you so much, very happy you are part of this forum!

I’m in LOVE with your floors!!! I’m getting mine bleached also. Did you do a stain over the bleach or just clear? Also did they use filler on any gaps?

@jnakos79 - Thanks! Make sure they’ve used bleach before. Based on my research you should use the 2 part bleach not anything else (normally an A + B that gets mixed equal parts prior to application) - you can youtube city flooring who has info and sells the bleach kits. Also, insist on 2 coats, otherwise it may not achieve consistency you want.

We did 2 coats Bona Nordic Seal (which has white in it) and 3 coats Bona Traffic HD. Once our remodel is complete, they will do a final coat of Traffic HD before we move in.

Personally, if I had to do it again, I would have done one coat of Dura Seal Country White, then Traffic HD instead… wanted it to be a little more white than what we got, not unhappy by any stretch, just preference.

No filler was used; however, when they return they will need to address the stairs, including the visible nails. I imagine they will hammer them in deeper, then use filler on top to hide the nail head… TBD, based on additional discussion with them.

@G & S Floor Service - Regarding your last comment about rememants of old stain remain, would you say that’s also the case for this area at the top of the stairs too?

Hard to tell from that angle but, it can possibly be..

My floors were refinished in May and the variation is greater. I truly marvel at the beautiful grain and variations. Maybe I was a tree in a past life ; )

Not asking about the grain/variation, this is more about rements of past stain, due to lack of refinishing work.

@G & S Floor Service - the flooring contractor did 2 coats of Bona Nordic Seal + 3 coats of Bona Traffic HD. They’re going to do a final coat of Traffic HD, now that most remodel work is complete. Question - I don’t believe they used a hardner, should that be used?

If, they are doing small touch ups. You do not need to mix in the hardener. If, you are coating a entire room. The hardener should be used since, it affects the performance of the finish.

@G & S Floor Service Thank you so much for your help and time. Quick follow up question, does the hardner come with it or is that something purchased separately? Also, is going with a satin vs matte sheen going to impact the protection at all or is there anything else that should be done to ensure max protection?

The company i’ve hired normally doesn’t offer Bona Traffic HD and said that another customer who requested it complained about water falling on the floors and leaving a mark… for this reason, they won’t offer their normal warranty.

Hardener comes with each gallon. it is not sold seprately. The sheen will not affect tge hardness, only cleaning. the shinier tge easier to clean.

Thank you so much! And additional hardener or anything like that isnt recommended or will help…

Adding too much hardener will cause it to dry faster and make it more difficult to work with.

@G & S Floor Service - Our contractor says the hardner comes mixed in within the Bona Traffic HD; however, based on what I read the hardener is seperate and is intended to be mixed prior to application. Do you know which is accurate, should they have a seperate thing of hardener to go with the bona traffic HD OR is it mixed in?

It is a two part component finish. You recieve part A - finish and part B - hardene. Traffic HD has a green cap. If, you mix the two parts together. The finish will solidfy after 4 hours. Which makes it useless. Your guy is selling you crap. He is not giving you Traffic HD, it's a different product.

@Zach, when I had my floor refinished with Bona Traffic HD, hardener was in small separate bottles and had to be mixed with finish from big container

What beautiful wood!

@G & S Floor Service I reconfirmed it’s Traffic HD, the person I was speaking with just did a poor job of communicating.

Another question for you, and please don’t hesitate to tell me to leave you alone… i’ve been asking a lot of questions - and sincerely appreciate your time/advice!

They came back and redid the stairs, which was supposed to include fixing/replacing any damaged treads/risers that needed it, removing ALL old stain remanents, hammering nails down further and using something to cover them + re-bleach/nordic seal/Traffic HD… however, in this photo (bottom corner), it still doesn’t look right and nails are clearly visible. Now i’m at the point of just accepting this and moving forward, I just probably wouldn’t recommend them to others.

Do you think I should ask them to try and fix this or am I being too much of a perfectionist? This is the first thing you see when walking in the house entry (if you look down).

See corner below:

Rest of the steps at first glimps look great:

Rust marks from your handrail system. Most likely permanent. Was it there before?

You can try and sand it out but, you will be thinning down that corner. Or, you can touch it up with a white colored touch up marker.

@G & S Floor Service It was most likely from the old 1962 railing that has now been replaced with a new black metal railing.

The marks were there prior to them re-doing the stairs. In other words, the old railing was replaced before they came back to redo the stairs, which is why I ask if i should ask them to fix it or just try to deal with it myself with a touch up marker?

If the rust marks are only on the surface, I believe it indicates they didn’t sand the step(s) - is that a logical conclusion and are rust marks only on the surface?

Zach, no one has more of an eagle eye than I do. In fact as an art instructor, that's what my students always called me; Eagle Eye. And when I was building our house, there were small things like you're seeing that just bugged me to no end. However, now that I'm in the house 3 years, with rugs, furniture, etc, I no longer notice any of it.

Your floors are stunning. Relax and move on at this point. Trust me. In 6 months you won't notice them or any of the other nit picky things you're noticing now. :)

@cpartist - Thanks, I appreciate your advice and generally agree. We‘ve also paid A LOT more to get the floors we want, and so part of my reason for asking G&S what i’m asking, is to help clarify/reconfirm that short cuts are not being taken and we’re getting what we should get for the money spent.

Rust marks will be all the way through the wood, anywhere nails or screws existed. That is standard, to be expected, and is not a defect that can be spot remediated in existing floors.

Thanks for your help!

Since the marks are existing. it’s unlikey additional sanding will clean it up. i would touch it up with a marker or paint.