Oak hardwood oiled look

[andrew61987]

I just pulled up all the carpet in my 1935 and found oak floors in rough condition but intact. 1/8" gaps between some boards and moisture stains. Also carpet glue around the perimeter. I intend on sanding it and applying poly. I am a hobby woodworker so I already know a bit about wood finishes but I have no experience in the context of flooring.

Out of curiosity I applied some mineral spirits in a corner and I fell in love with the look. Darkened it up significantly and hid the glue stains and moisture stains very well. I usually do this on projects as a temporary test when I want to know how it will look after applying penetrating oil finishes like BLO or Danish Oil or whatever.

If this was a little table in my shop I'd probably mix up some BLO, poly, and mineral spirits for the first coat or two then follow up with just poly or thinned poly for additional coats. But that sounds like it would be a disaster and make the house unlivable for a week (plus dust??) and in my experience that kind of finish can take weeks to get hard.

This has me leaning towards a water based poly. Is there a water based product that has just the right tint to simulate an oiled look? Should I bite the bullet to get what I want? Some woodworkers say you can put water based poly over just straight BLO as long as you wait "a while" (a whole summer?) but that sounds so iffy to me and I've never tried it. Any experiences? Thank you.

 

[duneslider]

I just pulled up all the carpet in my 1935 and found oak floors in rough condition but intact. 1/8" gaps between some boards and moisture stains. Also carpet glue around the perimeter. I intend on sanding it and applying poly. I am a hobby woodworker so I already know a bit about wood finishes but I have no experience in the context of flooring.

Out of curiosity I applied some mineral spirits in a corner and I fell in love with the look. Darkened it up significantly and hid the glue stains and moisture stains very well. I usually do this on projects as a temporary test when I want to know how it will look after applying penetrating oil finishes like BLO or Danish Oil or whatever.

If this was a little table in my shop I'd probably mix up some BLO, poly, and mineral spirits for the first coat or two then follow up with just poly or thinned poly for additional coats. But that sounds like it would be a disaster and make the house unlivable for a week (plus dust??) and in my experience that kind of finish can take weeks to get hard.

This has me leaning towards a water based poly. Is there a water based product that has just the right tint to simulate an oiled look? Should I bite the bullet to get what I want? Some woodworkers say you can put water based poly over just straight BLO as long as you wait "a while" (a whole summer?) but that sounds so iffy to me and I've never tried it. Any experiences? Thank you.

Here is my opinion. I am not an expert floor finisher. I have installed wood floors for a lot of years and have spent a great deal of time helping sand and finish but would not come close to calling myself an expert finisher.

I personally love the look of Rubio Monocoat. Makes for absolutely beautiful floors. I don't have any experience living with that floor finish and from what I understand it might not be for everyone. I really wanted to try it in my own house a couple years ago but ended up chickening out at the last minute. I honestly wish I would have tried it though...I have used it on furniture and love the look and feel.

I would recommend you not go DIY on creative finishes. The current finishes are very good and I just don't see a reason to try to be creative here.

Is there a reason you feel tied to a water based top coat? From what it sounds like you would be much better served with an oil based stain (neutral) and then an oil based poly top coat (or just the oil based top coat and no stain). I really haven't seen any advantage to using water based poly. Most of the time, people are trying to get away from the warmer richer look of the slightly amber oil based poly. If this is the case we try to mix a neutral and whitewash together to stain the floor and then do the poly, this will produce a bit less of the "amber" look but there will always be some there. I know a lot of this is personal preference but I personally am not a huge fan of the waterbased floor finishes and the only one I would use is the Bona.

You can apply a good natural/neutral stain and then top coat with the water based. I have done it and I think we just had to wait 3-4 days with good air flow before we could put the poly down.

 

[Stelzer]

In addition to the solid product recommendation before me for Rubio Monocoat, Bona Traffic is also very easy to apply and tough as nails after full cure. I wouldn't suggest BLO for floors. Stays tacky for far too long, not durable, and contains no UV inhibitors, which might not seem like a big deal being interior, but I've seen people remove runners on BLO floors only to discover how much of their exposed floor has faded due to light coming through windows.

 

[duneslider]

In addition to the solid product recommendation before me for Rubio Monocoat, Bona Traffic is also very easy to apply and tough as nails after full cure. I wouldn't suggest BLO for floors. Stays tacky for far too long, not durable, and contains no UV inhibitors, which might not seem like a big deal being interior, but I've seen people remove runners on BLO floors only to discover how much of their exposed floor has faded due to light coming through windows.

All wood floors will change colors with the UV from sunlight coming in. It doesn't take long for it to happen either. I honestly have never seen someone do a floor with BLO, so I can't say how it would compare but its gonna happen no matter what finish you use. Well that's not true, if you use black paint the wood won't change at all But yes, quality floor finishes will have better UV inhibitors.

 

[andrew61987]

I'm realizing I wasn't quite as clear as I thought I was.

I am deciding between water based and oil based poly. I would never leave my floor just bare BLO finish. My ideal finish would be oil based poly because that would allow me to use BLO under it and get the desired color. But I'm worried about the amount of time my house will be unlivable due to VOC offgassing. Therefore my question is about the possibility of perfectly emulating the look of BLO+oiled poly with water based products.

 

[duneslider]

Just to be clear, water based poly has almost as much VOC's as oil based. The limits are 450g per liter and 350g per liter respectively. So, there really isn't that much difference between the two when it comes to what is happening inside your house. Most of the off gassing occurs in the first 48 hours but they both will continue to off gas for about a month. If you are doing all oil, you can stain and seal in one day and then generally later the next day put a second coat of sealer on. Then by the next evening if you have good air flow you can be back in the house with little issue. If you pick a good time of year to do it so you can have windows open lower humidity and get good air flow it all dries and cures fast and there is little issue.

People tend to believe that the water based poly doesn't have VOC's but it does. The only real way to get around the voc's is to install a prefinished product so the off gassing has already happened. I really don't think your method in question will produce significantly less VOC in your house. My experience with WB poly is it doesn't cure that much faster than oil either. It initially sets a bit faster but time to recoat is pretty similar when it comes to floors.

 

[Montauket]

Have you looked at Woca oil finishes? They require a little more maintenance than say a stain with Bona Hd traffic on top. I’m in the process of a remodel and am contemplating to put down some circle sawn boards with a woca oil finish on the lower level of the house/ Man cave with lots of taxidermy. Upstairs is getting Bona HD

 

[duneslider]

I believe Woca is similar to Rubio monocoat but it isn't one I am very familiar with.

 

[freebirdwelds]

Watco Danish oil

 

[benwah]

Came here to say Rubio Monocoat. Sand to 120 grit, Vac, Solvent Wipe/Condition, Mix, "Wax on" with a 17" buffer and a red pad to rejection, let cure for a bit, "wax off" with a white pad, cure.

 

[paulsomlo]

I used Waterlox, essentially a varnish, easy to apply and looks good.

 

[Garcky]

I just pulled up all the carpet in my 1935 and found oak floors in rough condition but intact. 1/8" gaps between some boards and moisture stains. Also carpet glue around the perimeter. I intend on sanding it and applying poly. I am a hobby woodworker so I already know a bit about wood finishes but I have no experience in the context of flooring.

Out of curiosity I applied some mineral spirits in a corner and I fell in love with the look. Darkened it up significantly and hid the glue stains and moisture stains very well. I usually do this on projects as a temporary test when I want to know how it will look after applying penetrating oil finishes like BLO or Danish Oil or whatever.

If this was a little table in my shop I'd probably mix up some BLO, poly, and mineral spirits for the first coat or two then follow up with just poly or thinned poly for additional coats. But that sounds like it would be a disaster and make the house unlivable for a week (plus dust??) and in my experience that kind of finish can take weeks to get hard.

This has me leaning towards a water based poly. Is there a water based product that has just the right tint to simulate an oiled look? Should I bite the bullet to get what I want? Some woodworkers say you can put water based poly over just straight BLO as long as you wait "a while" (a whole summer?) but that sounds so iffy to me and I've never tried it. Any experiences? Thank you.

When I pulled the carpet on my mid-50s house, I also found oak flooring under it. I wanted to keep the wood through out the house, but there had been water damage in one place in the living room, so that room got laminate. The bedrooms, however were that 3/4" x 2" oak flooring. The hallway in that ranch house, though, was sound, so I sanded the oak and used Danish Oil on it. Three coats of a light walnut tone made a good match with the existing floors in the bedrooms. 8 years later, it was holding up very well when we sold that house.

 

[Treeman]

Box store type polyurethanes seem to yellow a lot in my experience. I am currently experimenting to find something better. Pratt and Lambert 38 soya alkyd varnish was my go-to product until it became unobtainium.

Sorry I cannot assist more.

 

[jkeyser14]

Tung oil (the real stuff, not the "tung oil finish" which has zero actual tung oil) would work great. Thin the first coat for better penetration.

 

[Chris Christiansen]

We are redoing the hardwood floors in our house flooring this week.
We are having a third party flooring company do all the sanding, staining and application of the poly.
We selected a floor stain and a water based poly floor finish by Bona. Bona Floor Finishes

You can check out this GJ message thread, for a little inspiration. 50 year old wood. . .

I think you are doing the right thing by exploring the possibility of restoring a wood floor. We love our wood floors, you might enjoy these type of floors as well.

 

[P0234]

If there is a water based finish that gives the look/performance of oil, I'd love to see it. I've got some furniture that's not lived an easy life, it was finished in Watco Danish oil covered with Varthane floor finish. Its been following me for almost 30 years and it still looks like new. I have a floor I have to redo soon and I think I'll probably be going that direction.

 

[theflyingjay]

We are redoing the hardwood floors in our house flooring this week.
We are having a third party flooring company do all the sanding, staining and application of the poly.
We selected a floor stain and a water based poly floor finish by Bona. Bona Floor Finishes

You can check out this GJ message thread, for a little inspiration. 50 year old wood. . .

I think you are doing the right thing by exploring the possibility of restoring a wood floor. We love our wood floors, you might enjoy these type of floors as well.

There is nothing like a hardwood floor to tie a room together. We kept our hard wood floors and love them.

 

[f121]

We are redoing the hardwood floors in our house flooring this week.
We are having a third party flooring company do all the sanding, staining and application of the poly.
We selected a floor stain and a water based poly floor finish by Bona. Bona Floor Finishes

You can check out this GJ message thread, for a little inspiration. 50 year old wood. . .

I think you are doing the right thing by exploring the possibility of restoring a wood floor. We love our wood floors, you might enjoy these type of floors as well.

+1 for Bona water bourne poly finish, I've used this in a bathroom on oak and it worked very well.

For less busy areas I'd look at a hard wax oil