To stain or not to stain hardwood floors (painted, sand, kitchen)

[601halfdozen0theother]

I'm having the kitchen and dining room hardwood flooring in my house refinished. (Just cleaning and polishing wouldn't work in those rooms - the floor had been painted and there were old dog pee stains.)

The hardwood is white oak. I'm really liking the way the floor looks just sanded (whitish with darker graining.) I'm thinking of not staining it and going with just the sealing and and 3 coats of polyurethane.

The guy who's doing it is strongly suggesting a stain that will make it look similar to how the floors in the other rooms look with just cleaning and polish - kind of a golden amber.

The baseboards are very wide and solid oak. They have been painted that golden/amber color, but somehow look more "fake" than the flooring. These aren't being refinished, just cleaned.

If I don't stain, the floors in the dining room and kitchen will be much lighter than the other rooms, and the dining room and living room are only separated by an arched partial wall (1938 house).

Have to decide by tomorrow morning!

To stain, or not to stain?

[K'ledgeBldr]

The question would be...

Are the floors that are not being refinished stained? Oil-based poly will "yellow" as the years go by. So, it's quite possible that they could closely mimic the unfinished floors in 5-10yrs.

However, if you plan to refinish the other floors in a year or two- and you want lighter floors- don't stain. As for the baseboards, remember when you are looking at them the light is reflecting in a different direction than that off the floor. So color can always look different.

[ChessieMom]

Originally Posted by K'ledgeBldr

The question would be...

Are the floors that are not being refinished stained? Oil-based poly will "yellow" as the years go by. So, it's quite possible that they could closely mimic the unfinished floors in 5-10yrs.

However, if you plan to refinish the other floors in a year or two- and you want lighter floors- don't stain. As for the baseboards, remember when you are looking at them the light is reflecting in a different direction than that off the floor. So color can always look different.

Huh?? I can’t imagine that the older floors will ever mimic the unfinished floors.

OP, if it were me, I’d just do the clear. I love the lighter look, and despise the gold/amber/brown/red looks that most traditional floor stains provide.

[Coldjensens]

There is a stain called "natural" it does not change the wood color very much (a little) but it evens out the look and brings out the natural gran patterns.

[emm74]

I think the look of unstained wood is nice (and also agree with Coldjenses that you should look into ones that enhance the graining without necessarily changing the color).

But

I'm not sure that I'd like the look of that next to the amber color baseboards. I'd worry about the floor looking unfinished in a bad way next to a finished wood baseboard. If the baseboards were white, I think that would look great but two different color wood finishes, I'm a little more iffy on.

Here are some photos to give an idea of what it might look like so you can see whether or not you like it

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C...SIvEa9L4FHgKM:

[601halfdozen0theother]

Thank you for ideas, All. And emm, thank you so much for the link! The 2nd one that shows up on that link would look very much like what I have if it stays unstained.

I'm still liking it as light as it is, though if the stain is "natural" as Cold mentioned, it could be fine.

Any more opinions or ideas out there?

[4dognight]

Originally Posted by 601halfdozen0theother

I'm having the kitchen and dining room hardwood flooring in my house refinished. (Just cleaning and polishing wouldn't work in those rooms - the floor had been painted and there were old dog pee stains.)

The hardwood is white oak. I'm really liking the way the floor looks just sanded (whitish with darker graining.) I'm thinking of not staining it and going with just the sealing and and 3 coats of polyurethane.

The guy who's doing it is strongly suggesting a stain that will make it look similar to how the floors in the other rooms look with just cleaning and polish - kind of a golden amber.

The baseboards are very wide and solid oak. They have been painted that golden/amber color, but somehow look more "fake" than the flooring. These aren't being refinished, just cleaned.

If I don't stain, the floors in the dining room and kitchen will be much lighter than the other rooms, and the dining room and living room are only separated by an arched partial wall (1938 house).

Have to decide by tomorrow morning!

To stain, or not to stain?

I refinished my hardwoods several years ago and decided against leaving them the beautiful natural oak color and stained them. I have regretted it ever since.

[601halfdozen0theother]

Thank you, 4dog - that's exactly what I needed to know to make my decision to keep my floor unstained.

[davebarnes]

The major problem with "coloring" your hardwood floors is that tastes change.

We whitewashed oak floors in 1987. Very trendy at the time. When we sold the house in 2011, we had to refinish the floors in some other color.

The current trend—according to house porn shows—is for dark floors.
Let's see how this plays out over the next 30+ years.

[K'ledgeBldr]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

The current trend—according to house porn shows—is for dark floors.
Let's see how this plays out over the next 30+ years.

They already "played" out! Lighter floors are definitely in right now.