Refinishing Hardwood Floors

[odoreater]

I'm going to have my hardwood floors refinished later this week. The floors are red oak. I am going to have them stained with "Early American" stain. Anyone have any experience, suggestions, insights, thoughts, etc. on this topic?

Personally, I love the way that hardwood floors look and I appreciate all different types of woods. I think this particular stain will go well with my house and will bring out the colonial charm. I'll post pics when it's done.

 

[oscarthewild]

If you are in Hudson valley, western CT/ greenwich etc, I can rec someone who is very very good

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[odoreater]

I'm in Jersey. How do you know that someone is good at this sort of thing other than by that person having done work for you in the past?

 

[chorse123]

There's the rub.

We used someone recommended on apartmenttherapy.com, but may have looked around more if we weren't constrained by time. We had our whole apartment done at once before we moved in. Red oak sanded and finished with no stain. I think it worked out to just under $3 a square foot, but we're in NYC, on a fifth floor walk-up, with no elevator. You may be able to do better in Jersey.

 

[odoreater]

Originally Posted by chorse123

There's the rub.

We used someone recommended on apartmenttherapy.com, but may have looked around more if we weren't constrained by time. We had our whole apartment done at once before we moved in. Red oak sanded and finished with no stain. I think it worked out to just under $3 a square foot, but we're in NYC, on a fifth floor walk-up, with no elevator. You may be able to do better in Jersey.

My brother is a contractor and we are using his floor guy. He is giving us the same price he gives my brother, who gives him a significant amount of work (1.50 sq.ft. with stain). I guess at that price you can't really lose, but I've had estimates that have ranged all the way up to about what you paid in NYC.

 

[chorse123]

And I think our price was low-ish for NYC.

 

[EL72]

I think Early American is a kind of a lighter honey oak color (I just stained a hand rail in that color if it's the same). I think it looks fine. I personally prefer darker looking stains like antique brown that have a more modern look but darker is more maintenance and shows scratches, dings and dust a lot more.

$1.50/s.f. is a good price (I paid $2 a couple of years ago). That said, last year I bought top quality 3/4" pre-finished red oak for $4/s.f. and replaced all the hardwood in our new place.

My only recommendation is to avoid staining a floor a lighter color than it currently is, much like polishing shoes.

 

[odoreater]

Originally Posted by EL72

I think Early American is a kind of a lighter honey oak color (I just stained a hand rail in that color if it's the same). I think it looks fine. I personally prefer darker looking stains like antique brown that have a more modern look but darker is more maintenance and shows scratches, dings and dust a lot more.

$1.50/s.f. is a good price (I paid $2 a couple of years ago). That said, last year I bought top quality 3/4" pre-finished red oak for $4/s.f. and replaced all the hardwood in our new place.

My only recommendation is to avoid staining a floor a lighter color than it currently is, much like polishing shoes.

According to Minwax, this is Early American:

I'm kind of in the middle between Early American and Provincial, which is:

Maybe I should buy a little can of each and do a little spot test on my own before the pro comes in.

 

[EL72]

Originally Posted by odoreater

According to Minwax, this is Early American:

I'm kind of in the middle between Early American and Provincial, which is:

Maybe I should buy a little can of each and do a little spot test on my own before the pro comes in.

Unless you sand the floor, you can't do a spot test. Just get a couple of pieces of oak at the lumber store (they may even give them away if they're small).

That's the early american I used (from minwax). It's nice and quite traditional. The other may be too dark for the look.

Also, I doubt your $1.50 flooring guy will be using minwax stain from Home-Depot. You could just ask him to stain it a shade in between. Just make sure you're there when he starts so he can show you on a small part of the floor before doing it everywhere. I have friends who just ended up with a black hardwood floor because of this. Keep in mind that you can always go darker once he first stains it but not lighter without sanding it all down.

 

[odoreater]

Thanks for the tips. My understanding is that he is actually going to be using minwax stain (not sure where he's going to get it from). My house is an old colonial and is very traditional, so I wanted to stick with the traditional style of the house with the flooring.

 

[Thomas]

Hmmm. I may be telling you things you already know, but I'd rather err on that side than keeping quiet.

If it were me, I'd test it on a sanded corner of the floor, to be sure it will wind up as advertised. Raw red oak generally has a pinkish shade, and I think the Minwax - actually all - stain manufacturers use a pale/neutral/yellow-ish wood (like maple) to show their stain's effects. Your floors will probably end up darker than the sample swatch, due to being pink-ish at the get-go, and you might hate the resulting look. If I had to guess I'd say that the Early American will probably wind up darker than the Provincial.

Also, once you put a oil-based varnish over it it will get even darker, so I'd factor that into my testing. Your floor guy may use a water-based varnish which tints slightly bluish compared to oil which has a yellowish cast, so even that will make a difference in the final appearance. Odds are you'll get oil-based, but still it's worth double-checking. Good luck.

 

[odoreater]

I had a couple people come in for estimates, and they all told me that the color I already have on the floor is Early American. I basically want to keep the same color (except in the bedrooms, where, for some reason, the color doesn't match the rest of the house, and I want those rooms to have the same color as well). Also, he's definitely using oil based sealer (for two reasons: (1) it's cheaper, and (2) it's actually supposed to make the floor more durable than a water based sealer). It would kind of suck if we redo the whole floor only to end up with a color we don't like - that's why I'm kind of worried about this whole thing.

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

VOC regulations, which are in effect in New Jersey, may limit the usage of oil-based stains. Something to think about.

 

[odoreater]

Originally Posted by Ambulance Chaser

VOC regulations, which are in effect in New Jersey, may limit the usage of oil-based stains. Something to think about.

The can says "250 VOC Compliant" on it. Damned if I know what that means though.

 

[Nantucket Red]

The test of a good floor refinishing job is to check the edges and corners of a room for sanding marks. If you see any swirls from a disk sander or raised areas that weren't sanded flat, it's a ****** job. A good floor refinisher takes the time and effort to remove any sanding marks and get the whole floor down to a uniform level before applying the finish.