Kitchen flooring

[zdech123]

About to refinish red oak flooring that is about 20 years old, also weaving in the living room, that is currently carpet. We are looking for a lighter color, grey/whatever is in style nowadays. We have heard that we can add some green dye to lighten it up. Have seen some Pinterest builds where they concocted recipes to make it light.

Any help/direction would be great. Thanks.


Ps, I know sticking with red oak is going against common sense but that is what is there now so we’re going to try and roll with it.


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[ddawg16]

Nothing wrong with Red Oak flooring....That is what is in my house.

Toss out the 'what's in style'...........do what you like. You are the one living with it. And, to be honest, I'm not sure 'grey' is a style.

If you want a 'light' color....then just sand it down and put on a clear coat.

 

[Kaizen]

Ayuh putting dye on it you might as well piss all over it. No way to reverse that. Make sure it’s solid floor and not just veneer. Very common in the 70s


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[didit]

It will have to be a very thorough sanding for the best results. Save the sanding dust to mix in with white glue for filling in imperfections and sand over these areas after its dry. I have replaced and blended in dozens of new strips/planks with nothing more than a handheld biscuit cutter, some white glue and sanded dust to make filler. Using reclaimed oak strips, it all blends in nicely. I agree the best result after doing all the repairs and prep work would be using a clear coat, with the lightest of tint just to make it all uniform.

 

[Jackfre]

I refinished a fir floor last year. It came out really well, but is very old and there was no getting rid of the "character" so we went with it. I tented the room carefully to minimize, not eliminate sawdust intrusion. I had windows at each end of the room and put a big box fan pulling in and blowing out. That gave good flow to get the dust out. I rented the walk behind orbital sander and went at it. I used Dura-seal products and went with the natural color. Oh, I removed the baseboard trim first as well. You can't cleanly feather in the sanding and finish and removing it makes an easier transition. I cut new trim as the old stuff had a million kids feet and heads hitting it and it was shot. I would strongly suggest that you get some more red oak and make a couple 2x2 pallets out of it and try your colors. Your floor being older wood, it will not come out exactly as you saw on the fresh wood sections. Dust! If you have a dust collector get it in there. I was really careful in the room sealing and it was a freakin' mess everywhere.

 

[ddawg16]

The floor sanders with the square pad are the best way to go. The have a built in dust collector which make a big difference and it's easier to get into the corners.

A good shop vac is also your friend.

Use the right grit sand paper.....80 to get all the old crud off....then 120. I think I finished up with 250.

Try to get an oil based clear coat.....it smells....but it will last longer.

 

[Toolfool]

Best finish product is Bona.

 

[yeldogt]

I'm doing wide plank white oak in my new build -- for two reasons. One you can get 10 and 12" wide boards and full boards for step treads at somewhat reasonable prices and I don't want any red/ orange tones. The key there is you have to use a stain w/o any red and use a latex polly. I want something that looks old and dirty .. was going to use all re-claimed. Unfortunate --- the really wide boards for the steps pushed me into $15+ sf for materials on the JOB

Do yourself a favor and get some scrap and try some small stain samples -- spending $50 on some stains will give you real benefits in getting what you want. Be very careful (very) with dye ... it's a different animal. I never use.

I'm not sure about the long lived white/ light floor craze ... It's a Scandinavia look and it does work with some house styles and locations. But -- it's hard to do with red oak. That's why you often see the nicest ones going darker .. sometimes you have to embrace a Rosewood .... Jacobean can also work and you can cut either w/ 50% natural. Red oak has a lot of grain varieties -- especially in typical 2 1/2 strip flooring w/o a deeper stain you can'd make it uniform. Old wide pine and strip fir floors looks great natural ... not oak IMO. Even white oak can have lots of movement unless 1/4 sawn.

I made up 8 sample floors for my new build .. and I'm not there yet. The advent of man made products being easier to make realistic in lighter tones has driven some of the style. But -- you don't get the look with real wood .... we have become conditioned to see some of these floors as "real" when they are fake.

 

[yeldogt]

I refinished a fir floor last year. It came out really well, but is very old and there was no getting rid of the "character" so we went with it. I tented the room carefully to minimize, not eliminate sawdust intrusion. I had windows at each end of the room and put a big box fan pulling in and blowing out. That gave good flow to get the dust out. I rented the walk behind orbital sander and went at it. I used Dura-seal products and went with the natural color. Oh, I removed the baseboard trim first as well. You can't cleanly feather in the sanding and finish and removing it makes an easier transition. I cut new trim as the old stuff had a million kids feet and heads hitting it and it was shot. I would strongly suggest that you get some more red oak and make a couple 2x2 pallets out of it and try your colors. Your floor being older wood, it will not come out exactly as you saw on the fresh wood sections. Dust! If you have a dust collector get it in there. I was really careful in the room sealing and it was a freakin' mess everywhere.

They look great redone ..... It's been a while since I did one so it was an oil top. The orange tone of the wood is not a problem w/ oil. Did you use oil or latex?

 

[chrismane]

Yeah, red oak is a great idea. Keep up with that.