OK I explain. It is a floating floor what we call in the UK engineered floor, so it is not solid throughout but a thickness of the wood mounted on a plywood base. It is a Malaysian wood, not so hard, so I suppose high heels could dent it perhaps, it is not the hardest. It is a click system not requiring glue, interesting. Now from Malaysia it says it has five factory coatings of which some contain aluminium oxide. It got worn out over the years. So a year ago I sanded the wood with the machines with the correct paper and vacuumed well. Then I applied one coat of Bona Traffic silk, you know the glossy one. I then noticed a number of parts were very coarse to the touch. So after some hours I sanded again with slightly finer paper but still coarse. Now I applied again Bona. Once again certain areas were coarse to the touch and you could see stains. So now I did a final very fine sanding but this was by hand with very fine paper particularly in the areas affected. It took me hours. Then I applied the third coat. I called the Bona representative who was at a loss!!! He gave me a bottle of Bona "refresh" it is a type of product to do another pass over. I applied it to the worse parts of the floor. Although one could see areas which were coarse to the touch and which did not look quite right the shine was sufficient to fool guests for Christmas. Now I am exactly one year on. In those area I mentioned there are now black marks. I attach some photos of the present situation with example of the black marks. (sorry I do not know how to create a new thread). I want to sand it and apply Bona again before New Year when my mother is visiting, my wife will just about tolerate me sanding on the 27th Dec. I had the suspicion it was the Bona product maybe the bottle I bought was old or had been exposed to low temperatures where I bought it from but the Bona representative told me it was very unlikely to be the case.

Just to be clear- the bevels come from hardwoods being prefinished, not engineered. You can get solid hardwoods as well as engineered hardwoods prefinished (which will have bevels). Although less common, you can also get engineered floors site finished. These won't have bevels and will be indistinguishable from solid woods floors on looks alone. A small general summary below, which may help your daughter. I'm sure there are exceptions to these statements but by and large this is what you're looking at. Pre-finished vs Site-finished Pre-finished: Bevels. A more durable finish. Fewer color/stain options. Site-finished: No bevels. A less durable finish (doesn't mean it's not a good or good enough finish, it's just not as hard as factory finishes). Virtually unlimited ability to mix stains and find the perfect color. Solid vs Engineered Solid: Usually ¾" solid wood. More prone to problems (cupping and gaping) with changes in humidity. Can sand and refinish many times. Can only be installed over a subfloor and not over a concrete foundation, making them not an option in some situations. Engineered: Has a solid wood "wear layer" that will look indistinguishable from solid wood floors. The thickness of this wear layer, which can vary significantly depending on which engineered floor you choose, determines the number of times the floors can be sanded and refinished (anywhere from zero to maybe 3 times, always fewer times than solid floors). More stable which means less susceptible to problems like cupping or gaping, although still possible. Can be installed over concrete and in other situations where solid hardwoods are not appropriate. Hope this helps!

I'm going through the stain choosing process right now and also am experiencing anxiety over choosing the right one! I just saw one in Early American, but now I am liking Nutmeg as well! Looks gorgeous!!

Why follow a trend IMO floors need to go with your style and what you like .We have been in many Paris aprstmenys during our visits to Paris I have found the best ones are hwere the owners filled the space with things they love regardless of what any trend is. To be honest I would probably do all floors in the herringbone if this is your forever home.Almost every space we have been in had those floors very old and very beautiful in those settings. Most if I remeber were quite narrow planks .