What brand of stain? TEST your mixes on sample boards. There's a definite limit to how many times you can sand a floor. And remember that the wood species is a major part of the mix. With the strong reddish tones of oak, you'll have to neutralize it to get a "greige" (which isn't really a color, it's a decorator's term for all shades of brownish=grey with any sort of undertone).

PF offered to come buff and put another coat, but we objected it since all 4 coats were put within 6.5 hours and we are not sure that previous coats are good. PF also offered to do full refinish but we don't have confidence that PF can do a good job this time. PF himself does not guarantee that second time the finish will work because as he says we do not have perfect humidity conditions. PF says all his employees are certified and did everything within the Bona's guideline. I don't know how 4 coats in 6.5 hours is within Bona's guideline but he is a type of a person that can claim that yogurt is black. The inspector made a mistake and told us that only one person was certified from PF. After we told PF that we talked to female inspector and she said that from our description it looks like PF was at fault, PF tracked down the inspector (we did not disclose inspector's name to PF), called her to correct her that all his employees are certified. In addition PF threatened the inspector to take her to NFWA ethics boards and told her how much money he makes a year and that she should be careful. PF told the inspector that she cannot work for us since he hired her once and that would be a conflict of interest since the inspector has a dislike for him. He is willing to pay $1400 for the damages and walk away if we sign NDA. I told him $1400 would not even cover our accommodation and moving and storage fees of our belongings that we are incurring because of him plus we have to sign a NDA that will free him from any future responsibly of his subfloor and floor install work. We contacted PF and told that it was wrong to track down the inspector and threaten her. PF denied that he threatened the inspector and only called her to correct that all his employees are certified. Also PF tried multiple times to convince us to hire an inspector of his choice for $500. We said we want an independent inspector. He says the inspector we found is a rip off as their fee is $2800.

I think the middle ground in terms of stain is what you are looking for. When I read "walnut", I think of a very dark "walnut" color. Natural (no stain) are light but the color Oak & Broad posted, seems in the middle. I had a dining table made for me and it is a combination of maple (very light) with walnut inserts (dark brown contrast). FWIW, I had a LOT of custom white oak cabinetry built and had them stained a warm medium tone color and I love the color. My oak floors are natural but that is because I wanted them to specifically contrast because I had so much other stained wood. I think a very dark stain - e.g. what I think of as walnut would hide the beautiful grain of rift (or quarter sawn) oak whereas a medium stain enhances it. These are my quarter sawn cabinets stained what I think of as a warm medium tone. This is the chair which as "inspiration" for my cabinet stain. I knew the color I wanted but wasn't able to communicate it through words or any pictures I had found and then eureka - there was the color residing on a chair I had inherited from my mother. I went through a bunch of stain samples and none of them were what I was looking for. I was sorting through some stuff with my designer in terms of whether I would be using after the remodel and I looked at the chair and realized it was the exact color I had been attempting to describe - the light sections on either side of the middle. The cabinet maker actually took the chair with him so that he could replicate the stain and then he brought me a sample door to approve :-)

If, you are using an oil base poly over it. The ambering is more pronounced. Use a water base finish and your browns will be browns.