A colored wax would be cool, but slippery. This floor was stained (2 different stain colors: Puritan pine, allowed to dry, then special walnut 3 parts and red mahogany 1 part) and waxed with two different colors of wax from Kingdom Restorations, a coat of dark oak wax, then black wax. It was then buffed with a power buffer. The floor was reclaimed heart pine, 190 years old. Casey Here is a link that might be useful: Kingdom Restorations waxes

Would sanding the wood floors irritate your childrens' asthma? The fine dust you don't see is actually worse for your lungs than the bigger particles you do. We paid over $8/sf for reclaimed barn wood (pine) about 5 years ago in upstate NY. I'm not an expert on removing flooring, but what do you have to lose? Remove a few. The first few will be the hardest, then if you're careful, you might be able to get the rest up cleanly. My guess is that you'll have a % of damaged boards, but you might be able to save most. You can then salvage some of the damaged boards by cutting out the bad parts. We removed a T & G wood ceiling once and my husband did his usual UNcareful job. We still managed to salvage a lot of it. And on the floor you'd have more control. As for health concerns with old wood, I don't know. There might be lead paint traces on it. There was on our old barn wood. Maybe finishing the floor will seal everything in... I don't know. good luck!

@breezy_2 I know this post is from 13 years ago, but I wonder if you were able to resolve your situation and how?

glennsfc - Thanks for your replies. I was so despondent last night when we got home that posting on this forum felt like crying out for a voice in the wilderness. Things are looking a bit brighter today. My husband was able to contact a person from the flooring company who assured us that all is not lost. Our GC contacted a pro floor installer from our area who is coming in tomorrow to sand the floor. It's a more delicate process than DIY'ers like us should attempt at this point. The stain should take well after that, and though we won't have the same milled finish we would have gotten had there not been a problem, one look at those beautiful planks indicates to me that we will have lovely (though glossier) floors in the end. We took your suggestion about finishing all the treads and risers for the stairway before installing. Another tip the pine guy told my husband was that instead of wiping down the floors with a dampened tack cloth, he uses a rag wrung out with mineral spirits and goes over the surface with it before staining. Supposedly this helps remove any dastardly glue spots - or at least lets you spot them so you can gently and discreetly sand them down before staining. They are nearly invisible buggers that bond with the wood in an instant. Wish we'd known that one day earlier! Again, thanks for your responses - I appreciated that you took the time to offer an ear and some help.