My Hardwood Floor Stain Is Making Me Cuckoo!

Hi Everyone,

This is a two-part post, focusing on the floor finish I’m going to use. While there’s already a post about floor finishes, it’s old school. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, and the comments are terrific for that post. This post is looking at some of the newer finishes and more! If you’ve read part 1, please click the link below, but if not, please keep reading from the top.

 

Part 2 Begins Here

 

Okay, I wrote about the hardwood floor stain in my condo just days after I closed on the sale in November 2020. Yes, that was almost three years ago!

So, where are we with the floors?

Wellllllllll, I wish I could be one of those designers like William McLure (see above) who just does stuff, and no matter what, it always looks fabulous.

He has done floors in everything from white to black. Please check out his Instagram. In his most recent home, he painted the bedroom SUB floor in black gloss. I adore this man!

 

Okay, I realize I’m a little odd regarding hardwood floor stains, at least in the USA. In England, I fit in better.

 

Basically, I love white, and I love black. I’m not a fan of caramel as a floor color, nor gray, but a grayed-down beige is beautiful, like Gerald Bland’s shop floors.

 

Looking at his Instagram, you’ll see many examples from his shop and home. His Greek Revival country home in upstate New York has natural pine antique floors.

However, that “no color” is a fantastic foundation for his gorgeous antiques.

 

 

Now, some might think this natural no-color is too contemporary and not traditional enough.

 

Of course, I understand why you might think that, but the reality is that 200 years ago, they laid the wood down, maybe with a light sanding, and then brought in the furniture. There was no finish whatsoever.

So, Gerald’s no-color, matte raw wood finish is 100% historically accurate. This IS what a traditional floor color looks like.

Please look at Rose Uniacke’s home.

 

Above is a cropped image from Rose’s shop.

 

Imagine telling the floor finisher.

 

I want the floor to look like it’s 400 years old, with dirt that’s seeped into the crevices and cracks. Also, no sanding whatsoever. I want it all splintery.

No, I’m not that extreme. I like to walk around in my socks. :]

Circa 1985, in my upper Westside, NYC apartment, I was metaphorically sliding into home plate to pick up the phone in time. As I did so, I felt a sharp pain in my foot.

Oh, shit, a splinter in my foot!? Well, my sweet roommate came home about an hour later, and she tried to help me yank it out. I think she got something out, but by morning, I could barely put any weight on my foot, so I went to the doctor, who froze it and extracted it, not a splinter. No. It was a sliver of wood, over an inch long!

 

Therefore, pleeeeease sand the hardwood floors!

 

I also adore white floors.

See the beauty above by William McLure. Or, if you missed it, I very much recommend the companion piece to this post written in 2020.

In addition, I swoon over black or nearly black floors, like in this exquisite Greek Revival home in Kinderhook, NY.

 

Here is the problem with black floors, and I mean shiny black floors. (aside from the dust factor)

 

I think they look amazing at night, but in the bright light of day, they would be too heavy for my place. Please see this post about dark floor stains.

I think that super dark floors are better in smaller spaces or rooms where most of the floor is covered by a rug. OR when a truly moody vibe is intended.

My place does not have a moody vibe, except maybe more so with the den. While I could paint just the den dark, that room will already be mostly rug, so there’s hardly a point.

 

The dark wood stain works beautifully in the JK Place Capri because there is an abundance of white AND dark blue walls to balance the depth of the floor.

In my case, I will not be able to cover much more than half of the floor, as the entire bay with the dining table will be rugless. It would look better with a lighter floor.

 

Like here, in Gerald Bland’s shop in NYC.

Ack! That table! Love!!! The marble chimneypiece is in his 1stdibs shop for $96,000!

Oh, wait! That’s my designer’s net price. I can’t see the retail price.

Although I love black and white, as seen above in this charming home decorated by Albert Hadley, I think it’s not right for my 19th-century Brownstone. Please see another beautiful post with lots of lovely white floors.

There’s much more of Albert Hadley and Billy Baldwin in one of my favorite posts about furniture that needs to go on a diet. (There are also both white and black floors.)

 

Okay, we’re making headway. However, there are some more things to consider when choosing the best wood floor stain.

 

I’ve decided 100% that the kitchen and entry will be painted with a large-ish checkerboard for the entry and kitchen. And, not a dead black or a neon white, but also a little old-looking. (It won’t be this marbleized.)

I also want to do the checkerboard downstairs for the new entrance, the adjacent embrasure hallway, and probably the bathroom.

If you missed it, all of the new floors are now wood. Yes, you can do wood in the bathroom.

We’ll be going over that in another post.

Another important piece of the puzzle is the staircase railing. Overall, I think the railing will look best with a lighter floor.

 

One final point is that the floors in the living room ARE old.

 

I do not want to make them look new, but I also don’t want them to stay the orange-y color they are.

 

Above is the new floor in the entry/kitchen, which will be the black and white checkerboard. It is juxtaposed next to the existing old oak floor. Interestingly, it is probably original. However, it was laid in the wrong direction, so there are gaps in the wood.

 

This floor is inherently rustic.

 

Admittedly, it looks pretty cool here, but as a whole, it’s not quite there for me. In addition, some of the floors will be new, so it must blend.

So, I spent a few hours today looking for something to help me decide.

Here’s what I came up with.

the_fox_group_ on Instagram lovely floors kitchen/mudroom

This is a very popular post on their page. I can’t believe how many people are asking the same question repeatedly. The cabinet is Swiss coffee. They didn’t say, but the wood floor looks red oak with no stain and a satin water-based poly finish.

 

You can see all of that from an image, Laurel.

 

In this situation, yes. The marbles are Calacatta and Bardiglio. At first glance, I thought it might be painted. I’d love to do a well-done faux finish, but that is very unlikely because it’s bloody expensive. However, we can get some nice effects so the checks don’t look too flat.

We’re a long way from that, but there will be more information about all of that next summer.

Just kidding. They better be finished before then!

I went back and looked at Gerald Bland. His floor looks old. Alas, his showroom has an industrial vibe, even though his antiques are quite refined. I just don’t think I can go quite this greige in tone.

However, it looks different depending on the light.

 

And then, I saw it. I dare share only a tiny portion of the gorgeous image taken by S.i.m.o.n Upt*n.

 

Believe me. The trolls will have my ass in a vice if they find one of Mr. Upt*n’s images on my website. Too bad. I would link to him and have his image tagged with his name. However, I can’t. I can’t even write his name out.

Laurel, is there a way for us to see Mr. Upt*n’s images? And, if you post one or two on your blog for us to see and link back, isn’t that a good thing for him?

 

Yes, but let’s not go there regarding the images.

 

There are numerous articles written about this exquisite property. At the time, it was for sale and belonged to Jasper Conran.

 

Please enjoy the gorgeousness!

 

This is via Tatler.

This is via House and Garden.

I don’t want mine to be too gray, too yellow, or, God forbid, in any way pink.

 

So, for Monday evening, I will share a rendering or two for what I have in mind.

In the meantime, feel free to discuss products you’ve used and can recommend for this type of no-color matte finish.

One product I know that gets high marks is Rubio Monocoat.

 

Most of the Jamb images have these fairly light floors that are historically accurate in that they look like unfinished wood that’s aged naturally and gets swept with a broom daily to keep it clean.

But, that’s all.

Speaking of mantels, mine is all paid for, and I expect to leave the Netherlands before too long.

xo,

 

Wait…. Laurel! Stop!!! You forgot about the marble slab. Remember? You left us hanging the other day. What happened?

 

Oh sure. Well, for those interested, I finished the story at the end of Thursday evening’s post.

 

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Part 2 Begins Here

Hi Everyone,

Thank you so much for your fantastic comments. Yesterday (Sunday), I spent hours researching the hard wax oil finishes that are very popular in Europe but gaining traction in the USA.

While I helped dozens of clients with their floor finishes, for two decades, the technology has changed quite a bit in the last 20 years but is only catching on here in the US for maybe the last ten or so. Like I often say, I am constantly learning new things, along with y’all.

 

But, you know where a lot of that research happened?

 

Right here on my blog– in the comments of the main hardwood finishes post and this post about the controversy of hardwood finishes. There are also some great comments on this post about dark hardwood finishes.

However, before that, I found this amazing website, which I’ve seen before, that’s written by a professional floor finishing company, Naperville Hardwood. I’m sure some of you know about them already, but if you don’t, I highly recommend heading over when you can, to check out their posts. I will be linking to them near the end.

 

There are numerous blog posts where they systematically review the top brands for hard oil wax finishes and more.

 

They are all very well-written and easy to understand. However, I will cut to the chase and give you their top recommendations. Please know that whatever information I’m giving you, is only the briefest overview.

BUT, here’s the thing with the hard oil wax finishes. Despite the words oil and wax that evoke a vision of a gleaming sheen, most of these hard oil wax finishes are dead flat. Or, at the very least, towards the flat side of satin. But, they do not look like the very plastic-looking polyurethane satin.

 

 

Now, I need some of you to chime in if you can, and have experience with hard wax oil finishes.

 

Rubio Monocoat, one of their recommendations, is typically dead flat. It’s flat as if there’s no finish on the wood. Or, what they call “build-up.” It’s the lack of build-up that makes this a tough sell for some of us, as it seems like there’s nothing protecting the floor. But, there definitely is.

Rubio gets high marks because of its immense library of colors and the fantastic effects one can get with their products. For example, they have products that give the floors an antique look before the stain goes on. You can use their fume product with other stains and typical polyurethane top coats.

 

However, it was tied for first with another brand, Pallmann, which makes numerous products that they love.

 

Their hard wax oil does come with a way to produce a lovely satin finish.

In addition, Pallmann also makes their favorite product, which is a new wave of polyurethane with exceedingly low VOCs, super quick dry time, and only three days to fully cure! It also does not look like plastic. I can’t stand that.

 

Way back in ’96, when we put in our hardwood floor in our New York townhouse, we used golden oak stain on red oak and a finish of three coats of Fabulon oil-based poly in a semi-gloss finish.

 

I loved it! I loved it so much I didn’t want to put the furniture back. lol

So, to escape the fumes, we went on vacation for a week and returned about one second after the floor was dry enough to tip-toe on with socks. But, we couldn’t put the furniture back for a week, and it took at least a month for the finish to cure fully.

What else about that finish? Well, it looked like a beautiful waxed finish. It was exceedingly durable and still looked gorgeous when we sold our townhouse 16 years later.

The finish DID NOT YELLOW! While some oil-based polys do yellow, ours did not. It did lighten slightly where the sun beat down on it, and it may have deepened slightly in the north-facing den where the sun never hit it.

 

So, here’s the latest on Fabulon.

 

Duraseal bought it out. And, Sherwin Williams owns Duraseal and Minwax. Duraseal does make a product that is probably like or very similar to the old Fabulon.

One thing I know for sure is I do not want to stink up the house for a week. I can’t move out again. So, I love the idea of using a low VOC poly.

But, here’s the thing. I do like flat, chalky finishes for the no-color pale and whitewash stains.

However, for medium to dark finishes, I prefer a semi-gloss finish.

 

Okay, here are the links from Naperville Hardwood that are super interesting.

 

What’s also incredible about these posts is they were originally written 11 years ago and recently updated.

 

This post is a review of Rubio Monocoat

The Pallmann hard wax magic oil experiment

How to choose a floor finish.

The hard wax oil experiment and the winner!

This one is one of my favorites because of the beautiful burnished floor.

Of course, there are numerous other fantastic blog posts on their website and images, as well.

 

There are two more terrific companies for hard wax oil finishes, Fiddes, and Osmo.

 

Both are from the UK. Fiddes’ product does come in a semi-gloss finish, I believe. If any of this information is incorrect, please let me know, and I’ll fix it.

Otherwise, I told you I might have a rendering for you today. Well, I’ve been working on that, too, but I want to do one more. So, that will have to be for tomorrow’s post.

xo,

 

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