# oiling hardwood floors vs polyurethane



## bluebird5 (Dec 13, 2010)

I am remodeling a house that I will be selling and one thing that I am considering is using a natural finish on the floors. I will be mixing 2.25" red oak with 5 inch pine. I am really interrested in oiling them and maybe using some oil with some pigment in it. 

I do not want the wood to turn yellow (especially the pine)

If I do oil the floors and someone moves in and down the road wants to stain and poly them, is this do-able or is oiling the floor an irreversable process? 

Will the hallways have "trails" down the middle where everyone has been walking after a year or two with the oil? 

Is there any long lasting oil out there comparable to poly?


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## Metro M & L (Jun 3, 2009)

What kind of oil are you going to apply? Linseed, tung or some oil varnish blend? Any oil is going to oxidize and amber just like an oil polyurethane. Tung or linseed oil will not protect the wood from water and will not last, at all.

If you want the color to remain more stable you can use a waterbased system like bona seal and traffic. 

Whatever finish you apply can be cut back off and redone.

I would be a little concerned about putting fir next to oak. The fir is going to move much more than the oak and may make for larger gaps at every seem between different materials. Not sure on this but there is probably a reason Ive never seen this done.

You can recreate the wheel but there might be some pain involved. There are a many different finishing systems. You might look at osmo or monocoat oils; which may be what youre getting at.

These products are an open grain look. Essentially they are high maintenance wax systems that are pushed by flooring pros because they need to be applied yearly and they only require one coat resulting in tremendous time savings and profit for the contractor.


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## Metro M & L (Jun 3, 2009)

One other thing. When you sand the floor the pine will cut significantly faster than the oak. I think you will be very hard pressed not to produce a floor that undulates up and down between the pine and oak columns. Think rolling waves.


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## cleveman (Dec 28, 2007)

I'm afraid if you put oil or wax on the floor, you won't be able to poly over it without a comlete sand.


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## ArtisanRemod (Dec 25, 2012)

Here's my $.02. i've never seen pine and red oak mixed in a floor, and doubt they will complement each other, especially considering the resale factor. go with one or the other. I've only worked with tung oil, and I like it, but it is not going to protect the wood, you will see traffic patterns and wear very quickly. If you were to want to poly the floor at a later date it will require a complete resand. I do not use my drum machine on pine, just my buffer with a hard plate attachment.


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## [email protected] (Jan 3, 2014)

Everyone else has given great points, also note that the pine and oak will accept the finish at very different rates due to the softness of pine and hardness of oak. 

On the finish, you say you don't want the ambering that oil provides, you are pretty much left with waterbased, something to think about with the waterbased, it can washout as it ages/under sunlight from windows etc...

They both have their advantages and disadvantages. If you are not staining the floor my opinion would be oil based as the "yellowing" actually adds some warmth and richness to the wood color.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 3, 2010)

Why experiment with a flip home........

I would not consider any added value...or lessened cost (significant) with an oiled floor....

I sure would not want to experiment with a pine/oak combo for a flip.... yes a potential buyer might like it.... but your broadest appeal would be a more universally accepted flooring treatment.

As to non yellowing,(although I'm not sure yellowing it isn't a good generic/warm appeal for a flip) use a flooring water poly (like on maple).

For a flip, I always use generic/universally accepted major cost components (flooring, carpet, base tile/granite, even neutral paints) and if you want to differentiate your product/house, specialty products that are easily swapped (chandelier, vessel sink, ceiling fan, fixtures, or even just staging colors)

Just an opinion... but my hold period is always nominal.

Best

Peter


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## bluebird5 (Dec 13, 2010)

Thanks to all for the response. I did not get notification in my email that you all were writing in, so I forgot about the thread until now. Thats why so long to hear back. 

As for the comments on the oak/ pine combination. They are both 50 years old minimum, so I do not anticipate much movement from either. 
The oak is flooring that is already down in much of the house. The pine will come from ceiling joists and rafters that I am going to turn into flooring. I am going to run the oak floor through a planer and take off 1/32 of and inch and manufacture the pine to be the same thickness with planer and tounge and groove router bits (infinity with nail slot).

I will then sand with square buff to remove any planer marks and smooth them down as needed. 

Now with all of the responses, I guess I'm leaning toward water based poly. I was also thinking about waterlox. Any thoughts on that? 

I used poloplaz supreme satin matte with minwax special walnut stain on my last floor. I had drying issues. It took a long time, but turned out nice, however I should have used primero instead I think and probably not minwax.


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## bluebird5 (Dec 13, 2010)

Metro M & L said:


> What kind of oil are you going to apply? Linseed, tung or some oil varnish blend? Any oil is going to oxidize and amber just like an oil polyurethane. Tung or linseed oil will not protect the wood from water and will not last, at all.
> 
> If you want the color to remain more stable you can use a waterbased system like bona seal and traffic.
> 
> ...



I like the open grain look, but I do not want to put anything that will not last. So there is no oil system that will hold up like a poly?


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## jamestrd (Oct 26, 2008)

bluebird5 said:


> I like the open grain look, but I do not want to put anything that will not last. So there is no oil system that will hold up like a poly?


that is subjective to living conditions and arrangements.

I would like to add my own thoughts and clear some issues up.

1) you can absolutely topcoat any oil finish as long as it is in fact that and not and oil wax.

Pure tung oil, tung oil finish ) like waterlox can absolutely be coated..but why?

you lose your advantage.
I would like to add since you are flipping why would you care how long it lasts?

tung oil will last as long not over built which is what people tend to do..2-3 coat max..We applied It to pine in commercial steak houses a few times..you'll be surpised how well it performs..better than poly!

the advantages to oil finishes are this

no surface build..the thicker the build the less the finish performs and scratches.

these finishes penetrate then harden..this creates a texture that the wood itself is the primary wear layer..the oil makes it maintainable.

2) localized repair..wipe on wipe off.
scratch floor light abrasion and wipe on oil..scratch gone and perfect match..

Natural look..wood looks like wood..

as for the oak /fir combo..I like it!
plank/strip.grain pattern change..aged together..could be nice..can easily make dry run and feel it out.

lastly..a Rubio Monocoat can color and provde all the benefits I listed as well as you can use technique finishing by smoking or fuming it..mixing colors and more..it has endless possibilities.

this will even the tones of your mix.

Wocal Oil is another great product..

Europe need doing this for centuries

follow your gut but don't put too much into it..its a flip!


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## bluebird5 (Dec 13, 2010)

jamestrd said:


> you lose your advantage.
> I would like to add since you are flipping why would you care how long it lasts?
> 
> follow your gut but don't put too much into it..its a flip!


Don't take this the wrong way because someone else said almost the same thing. I am not trying to be a smarty pants or anything but just because I am selling the property to another person, does not mean that I do not want to give them a quality house. You see, i am not a "flipper". I am a remodeler and I want to be proud of the product I provide. Most "flippers" do not care about their buyers. I do. I want to give a house that someone will enjoy without issue for many years to come. My work is my best advertisement. Do unto others... you know the rest. 

However, thank you for your info.


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## jamestrd (Oct 26, 2008)

bluebird5 said:


> Don't take this the wrong way because someone else said almost the same thing. I am not trying to be a smarty pants or anything but just because I am selling the property to another person, does not mean that I do not want to give them a quality house. You see, i am not a "flipper". I am a remodeler and I want to be proud of the product I provide. Most "flippers" do not care about their buyers. I do. I want to give a house that someone will enjoy without issue for many years to come. My work is my best advertisement. Do unto others... you know the rest.
> 
> However, thank you for your info.


that's fine..and if you make the coin you want to make then all good.

I answered your questions yet you picked one aspect that you feel tapped into something..you said you wanted to flip.
it that mixed emotion your throwing in is what makes most flippers lose money.

if you want to be named a builder than say that.
but you didn't..all your personal touches will kill you either way.

be practical and offer good finished and honor your warranty..the rest is pointless pride in the game your playing..accept it


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## jamestrd (Oct 26, 2008)

rather than erase my post..i will add I re read your OP and realize I was wrong..you never said you were flipping..i guess I picked that up from the thread.

but one thing holds true..don't overthink and don't over finish for your market and price.

im out


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## CarpenterSFO (Dec 12, 2012)

Post some pictures when you're done with it.


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## bluebird5 (Dec 13, 2010)

Will do. Its gonna be a while though. I got a lot to do to get ready for the floors.


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## intersound2005 (Jan 1, 2014)

I refinished a maple floor in november. After long hours of sanding I then used 3 coats shellac which looked fantastic, however after a week it started having spots all over the place from wet shoes etc,, I then, not happy with it, decided to redo it, using floor poly this time. It stunk, & took 10 times longer to dry but at least it is more durable to moisture. I like the look of oil finishes better over the plastic filmy look of poly but I do need durability. 
Why mix softwood & hardwood? It will totally look blotchy. If youve ever stained a solid pine door you know what I mean. 
For my floor I had to repair places & I had no extra maple. I then cut a 5x7 out by the door and did ceramic tile & used the removed maple to make repairs. If you do use poly, take your time and do it right, going to all the work of making a floor look nice, then to have it peel cause it wasnt sanded between each coat will cause heartache.


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## JoeCole (Feb 4, 2014)

I'm surprised no one has brought up Magic Oil....

http://www.pallmann.us/nc/products/product-search/details/magic-oil-2k-2003/

it's a two part mixture that dries fairly quickly. I've been back to visit floors a year after installation and they still looked as good as new.


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## Azwoodman (Feb 28, 2014)

I recently mentioned Magic Oil in the post "Best finish for a 10000 sqft wooden flooring"


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