The Hardwood Decision
Initially, the ground floor of the house was finished with 400 square feet of solid hardwood floor. Despite the scratched-up state of the 60-year-old narrow oak strips, the decision at one point was to keep it and refinish it. The floor was red oak. To achieve the desired final aesthetic of the Scandi-style light floor, the floor would have had to be sanded, treated / washed with lye several times, then finished with polyurethane, sanding in between each step, with no guarantee that the old would match the new.
Rather than chance spending money on a new floor only to find the problem unsolved, we decided to remove the old floor altogether (a reoccurring theme in this project that was once more of a renovation proper than the total gut job it became).
Putting in a new floor also provided the opportunity to run the floor north-south, to draw one's eye from the front entrance straight out the back door. We decided on 8" wide, unfinished white oak boards from Moncer Specialty Flooring. The stain is Duraseal Country White. After staining, a sealer was applied, then finally, three coats of Zenith Matte Waterborne Polyurethane Finish (for commercial use), the same product used on basketball courts (needless to say, our floors are also child proof). The result is a stunning, clean, continuous feeling that likely could not have been achieved with the original.
The original floor.
Floor treatment samples.
Ripping out the original floor.
The new floor!
