r/HardWoodFloors

I just put Polyx oil on my maple parquet floors and I hated every part of the entire process and I’m so disappointed with the results. First I sanded the old finish off to 80 by floor orbital machine, then to 120 with a pole sander. I had two adjoining rooms so given this was DIY I had to use one room to hold the furniture of the other room which means committing to a 20 day process.

I started with a brush – too much went on. OK, that’s no good! So the next coat, I used rags, and a plastic scraper to knock back the ridges, and rubbed it off. It still didn’t resolve the ridges and streak marks. So after rubbing it down hard with the purple Scotch Brite pad, I applied a third coat with a microfibre floor pad, and as each section was done, I hand-buffed it off.

Nope! the surface may feel smooth, but the appearance is still streaky below the surface and it still looks patchy. Some of these pics are exactly that. The whole floor, but the most-visible runway especially. So I’m fed up and plan to sand back what is in plain view, and do it again.

Round 2 with the adjoining room: Apply with the microfibre pad, buff it out 5 minutes later, working in sections. Next day, the floor looked patchy and dry. So then I simply applied a thin second coat with the microfibre pad and left it to dry with no buffing. Finally, it LOOKS like a floor should look, mostly – the two glossy floor pics you see here amongst the other fuckery – with some thin patches that still need to be addressed (and now I do NOT trust the process of addressing them!). So after a day, I buffed the whole floor with a single pass of a floor buffing machine, and left it to cure.

Nine days later it is not glossy, it’s mostly flat, and it FEELS like a gritty, dirty floor. The section nearest the stairs where it gets the most light and traction will also 100% need to be sanded back and reapplied. All the thin patches, still thin, but adjoining sections that look ok to the eye feel like fine sandpaper.

I fucking hate it. This has cost me more than just copious amounts of effort and time. Whatever I had on the floor before, was far better than this. The reason I chose Polyx Oil is because I have rabbits and so I need to be able to repair parts of a floor without having to do the whole thing. “easy peasy” — no, no, you lie. Well, at least the transition between the living room and dining room isn’t obvious, but NO ONE will EVER admire this floor. I wanted a floor I could care about and I now could care so little about this dirty-feeling floor, why should I even buy Osmo Wash and Care?

Osmo does not fully and properly document the way to choose to do a given floor, and they have split their info across enough sources that when you ask AI to help you choose a remediation path, even the AI gets confused. Moreover, Claude told me for my square footage, the big can would just cut it and leave a little behind for my bathroom counter - ackshully, I have slightly more than half a can left, so I only applied one coat Too Much. This is not a product I would recommend to DIYers for floors. Moreover, the cure window is just insufferable. This is a product for professionals only. I’m so disappointed.

Any thoughts on what kind of flooring this is?

The age old question…Refurbish or replace?

I’ve got a nice little bungalow with the original hardwood floors (2.5”). They’ve seen better days. Visible nails, gaps, peeling, scratches, etc.

Should I painstakingly go through and tap down the nails and try to repair any holes? Or should I pull it all up and put some fresh wood down.

I’m pretty sure there is enough material to sand.

Or I could do a full tear out and also put in new subfloors to help get rid of the creaky board sounds.

What’s the opinions say?

Edit/Follow Up :

Thanks for all of the suggestions, recommendations, and insults. I was leaning towards refurbish initially and I am now firmly planted in refurbish. Maybe I’ll revisit this post in a few years when I get around to finishing these old floors.

Looking for the best option for a beginner do it yourselfer, also what would cause this is it just old flooring? Appreciate any ideas

Long story short, my AC condensation pump stopped working for a while and my leak went undetected until this weekend. Found it and stopped it but have to refloor my hallway. Looking for this specific finish and size and everything. Please help! Leak seems to be localized to just the center according to a moisture meter but would rather just do the repair right.

I’m possibly an idiot. Not sure. But I’d been using bona floor polish on my hardwood floors for a couple of yrs. And recently the floors have a film or buildup of some sort. They’re dull, and streaky and lots of smudges. I can’t get them clean. When I wash them using the bona cleaner I get massive streaks, and film and blotchy look. They don’t look clean or shiny. Hard to see what I’m talking about in the pics. Someone online suggested the Bona polish remover, but said you have to do it in small sections in your hands and knees. I’m a senior and can’t do that due to shoulder injury, back issues etc. but I can’t leave the floors with this film buildup. I’m assuming the buildup is from the Bona polish. But I don’t really know. I don’t want damage my floors or lose the original finish. Any suggestions on how to remove the buildup using a mop or is there a machine that can do it without damaging. Or are there companies that can do this without sanding and stripping away my original finish? I’m in Toronto, Ontario.

I'm getting a kitchen remodel done, where the hardwood flooring in my kitchen is being replaced with red oak to match the rest of the house.

My contractor is asking me if I want to add a header here or not:

https://imgur.com/rSiz0Kn

Note that there's a doorway here but no actual door.

He also said

>The difference would be if you put a header piece in there that runs against the floor we can stop and start the stain right at that point. If we finger it in to the floor, as if it were always laid like that, we will have to pick a point to stop and start the stain and it will be a bit noticeable. Either way will be noticeable, however putting the header piece in would be less noticeable I’m inclined to think to tie it into the rest of the floor at that doorway, instead of putting the the header piece in. The noticeable difference would be on the other side of the basement staircase instead of in the doorway. The noticeable difference will be old wood to new wood, and then also after wood is stained it changes color as it ages. That's why it's impossible to completely match it

I'm thinking the same thing as well, no header. What do you guys think?

It looks like white oak but I’m not too familiar with wood species so wanted to get some additional opinions

We are redoing the floors of our 1903 Dutch Colonial. The floors are mostly Douglas fir, as well as yellow pine in some rooms. We also have a little bit of Walnut on the stairs and in the kitchen, and some Brazilian cherry on the banister! Adding to the complexity, on the second floor. At some point the floors on the second floor were painted, and little bits of paint has seeped deep into the cracks between the boards and can't be removed. Overall, we're going for a maximalist cozy English country house/cottage vibe. I'd love to do something that shows off the heritage of the house and doesn't look too jarring given that we have such an eclectic mix of woods. Which would you pick?

I am in the midst of remodel and the contractor is going to finish up the sanding of my floors tomorrow, so it’s getting close to final decision time. We’ve always planned on keeping it a lighter more natural color and we’re thinking either Nordic seal or natural seal. But seeing the look of the freshly sanded floors, we would love to find a way to just keep that color with either a satin or matte finish. What’s the best route to go for that?

The photo here is slightly darker than real life.

I’m leaving my apartment and looks like something of mine leaked into the floor and it’s not coming out or lightening up again (could be detergent?)… what do you think my landlord is going keep from my security deposit / what would something like this cost to fix?

Looking for some advice on a hardwood floor refinishing issue.

We had our first-floor hardwood floors refinished and overall they came out really well. The contractor used Bona Traffic HD.

Before the job, we had agreed that the kitchen island could stay in place and they would work around it. During the job, they decided they needed to move it, so they moved it, sanded underneath, and put it back. At that point there were no dents.

The next morning, after the first coat had already been applied, I noticed the island had been put back in a noticeably different position from where it had originally been. I asked them to move it back to its original spot. When they moved it, it left these shallow dents/drag marks in the freshly finished floor.

I asked the contractor about it and his response was basically that the dents were caused by moving the island, that eliminating them would require re-sanding and doing the process again, and that whenever something heavy is placed on the surface, the same thing can happen.

I’m attaching photos, including some low-angle ones where the dents are easier to see.

I’m trying to understand what the realistic options are here. Do these look like something that could be repaired without redoing a large area? Would you leave them alone, try a localized repair, or re-sand a broader section?

The floors otherwise look great, so I’m not looking to create a bigger problem. I just want to understand what an experienced flooring person would consider the best fix.

Thank you!!

I am installing new 3/4'' hardwood across the 1st and 2nd floor.
Subfloor is 3/4'' thick, 4'' wide planks screwed on the diagonal + plywood on top, so not too concerned with floor joist direction (or should I be?)

https://imgur.com/70zTPma
Pros/cons

Vertical - I don't get weird 3' planks next to the stairs as it will run lengthwise

Horizontal - aligned with all windows, but does not run lengthwise next to the stairs so I end up with short planks in the hallway.

1st floor is installed horizontally as the hallway dictated the direction, if that changes anything.

Any suggestions would help. Was told not to use water !

They are not sealed this is just raw wood I believ it is pressure treated but I’m not sure.

My ac unit was dripping water behind my dresser I didn't hear it before tonight. I found this behind my dresser when I looked for what was making the noise. Is the wood floor too far gone or can I let it dry sand it put wood filler in and re finish this section. I'd rather not have someone come out here and rip up the floor.

Hello there. For the past two years, I have had 3/8" thick gym flooring on my hardwoods in one of my bedrooms. When preparing for an upcoming move, I lifted up the flooring and layers of "protection" that I had underneath the gym flooring, and I found these stained areas of my floors. Underneath the gym flooring, I had a layer of plain brown "butcher"-type paper as well as a layer of cork underlayment. I did these two layers based on Reddit research at the time. The staining (?) seems worse underneath where I had a heavy stationary bike (in the far back corner in the 1st photo), but there aren't really any explanations for the other heavily stained areas. The entire room had the paper/underlayment/gym flooring covering the hardwoods, but these are the only areas that were affected.

Can anyone lend some insight into what might have caused this? I find it hard to believe that any of the black coloring from the gym flooring could have gotten through the cork underlayment to stain the hardwoods. Could it be from moisture under the floors?? And are there any products that could clean these stains, or do I just need to replace the flooring?

I appreciate any knowledge or advice you can share!!

Here is the gym flooring that I had:

https://www.sparksfitness.net/products/8mm-pre-cut-rubber-flooring-rolls

And the cork underlayment:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Eco-Cork-Foam-75-sq-ft-3-ft-x-25-ft-x-3-2-mm-Waterproof-Premium-Plus-10-in-1-Underlayment-Vinyl-Plank-Laminate-Engineered-Wood-220000503/204700858

Hi all!

I am.closing on this house next week.

1900's crasftsman, that I need to have the floors sanded and sealed.

This is not in my wheelhouse.

I will be having this done professionally. What are the best brands for a clear finish, preferably a matte finish.

TIA!

We are moving into our new home soon and I'm debating whether or not I should have these floors refinished. The first darker color that you see is what they look like now, which in person was actually nicer (less red) than the saturated real estate pics made them seem. So I'm actually pretty good with them. But I still really like how the lighter more neutral stain appears, makes the rooms seem brighter and more open/airy.

I have to make this decision soon and this is like, a one time thing as it would be a total PITA to get these refinished after moving in. So I want to strike soon if I do. Help me decide - would you keep the darker or go with this lighter, neutral stain (targeting: water based Duraseal Neutral)?