New to this forum--hi--looking for opinions!

[MorningGlow]

Hi DIY forum! This is my first post here--need halp and opinions on a floor issue!

Mr. MG and I are remodeling our old house (140 years), which is quite decrepit and has had many terrible things done to it. Right now we're working on the "mudroom". It had been a back/side porch that was enclosed and chopped in half--half powder room, half mudroom closed off to the kitchen by a wall with a door.

See pic below for visuals--the mudroom part is now wide open to the kitchen. The mudroom had a plywood floor that smelled like wet dog. We replaced it with new plywood and put down reclaimed quartersawn oak boards--much better.

Our dilemma now is...to stain/poly, or to paint? The kitchen floor is painted a greyish-blue color because it was the old subfloor. (We didn't have the money to put in a new floor of any type, and the "subfloor" boards were better than modern hardwood floor boards.) Anyway, now that the mudroom is open to the kitchen and the floors will meet up, would it be bad to stain/poly the quartersawn oak? It's gorgeous wood and we're having a hard time bringing ourselves to paint it.

However, because it's reclaimed, it was kind of "take what you can get", so the boards are two different shades. Would it look bad to leave them that way? Should we make them more uniform (paint)?

More details--the powder room is to the left--that floor was also subfloor, which I painted the same color as the kitchen floor), windows to the right. Will be putting a door in the back wall. The walls will all be beadboard paneling painted white to match the kitchen beadboard paneling (also white). The paneling continues into the bathroom as well.

What would you do, if this were your house (besides burn it down, I mean, which Mr. MG constantly threatens to do!) Thanks! :hi:

[amerikat]

1. Urethane it. Let the beauty of the wood show through.

I used oil based urethane (3 coats without stain) on these floors(pine). The urethane gives it a golden glow and tends to accentuate the grain.

[MorningGlow]

4. That looks really nice! (as do the kittehs!)

Thanks for the urethane vote. I have a feeling the majority of opinions will go that way...! :hi:

[Warpy]

6. You can get water based varnish

and two coats of it will do an adequate job. If that's the mud room floor, though, you might want to go with oil based and do three or four coats, just for increased protection against, well, mud.

What I would be tempted to do is strip up that white stuff in the kitchen and either tile it or put down a flooring like cork to be a little less jarring against that lovely wood.

[MorningGlow]

7. Yeah, I'd do the oil for sure

We've done stinky stuff before--we can take it!

Oh dear gods we can't rip up the kitchen floor! :rofl: I am concerned about the stark contrast between a varnished hardwood floor and the grayish-blue painted floor--and a nicely varnished oak mudroom floor will make the painted kitchen floor look less nice of course--but there's too much other stuff that needs doing in this place first. Besides, I went through pure hell to get the halfway decent painted floor we have now--ripping up the cheap vinyl squares and then the disintegrated linoleum that was underneath, including the disgusting adhesive that stuck to the subfloor and had to be scraped off with a putty knife after being doused in a slurry of Goof Off...then all the sanding...no, that painted floor is staying for a while, if only as a testament to my elbow grease! :D

[yy4me]

2. If you feel compelled to made the boards a more even color,

you could try and stain the lighter ones, being careful not to touch the darker boards(use a q-tip near the edges, cloth dipped in stain for the main part of the boards). Oak is very hard so it will be difficult to stain. I have used Minwax to even off a couple of old floorboards that were just too light. Would have looked like a stripe down the middle. I agree with the prior poster. Minwax makes a Poly varnish that is clear and pretty wear resistant, do 3 coats minimum. Seeing it is a mud room, you will still need some kind of a rug. Walking in from outdoors with pebbles and grit on the bottom of your shoes will chew up the varnish in no time.

[Kolesar]

3. Oh, yeah--and I have "double stained" boards when I was splicing in a replacement

My opinion is that oil-based polyurethane is tougher than water-based (acrylic) polyurethane. It smells bad and takes a long time to dry, especially in clammy weather.

[MorningGlow]

5. I toyed with that idea

Mr. MG nearly fainted at the thought of that much effort (even though I'd be doing the staining). I think I'll play with some scraps and different stains to see how it works. Although I have a sneaking suspicion that the "mismatched" colors might actually end up looking better. Thanks for the tip about the poly varnish--I'll check it out.

Rugs are definitely on the agenda, especially because once we get the door in, it's going to be our main entrance as well as the way we'll be bringing in our woodstove wood. Of course, those rugs'll mostly end up being "barf mats" for our three cats... :crazy:

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

8. Sure darken up the lighter boards with stain

than bring it all in with a good floor varnish. Mim wax is helmsman but there is better brands than that . You want the three or four hour drying time.The stuff they make now does not require sanding between coats,that's the floor varnish. If you went to very very dark stain you could stain it all ,but that woud take at least three coats to balance it out.

If you just darken the lighter boards close as you can get to the darker boards than put down your varnish, I would imagine that would look great.