We had the honor of refinishing an old downtown Kansas City loft. Talk about character! The grain patterns on this floor are amazing! We took pride in refurbishing this old floor.
Repairs
It’s super important to eliminate any distressed boards when going natural. You can hide most imperfections when staining a dark color. Not the case with natural. We had about a dozen boards to patch in on this project. Make sure to try your best to match the same grain pattern. Matching the grains can be difficult and darn-near impossible if the flooring is old, like those inside a 100 year home. You can send a picture of the grain pattern to your local wood supplier and they should be able to match it.
No Stain
When you hear the word natural, it’s two different things in our industry. It can mean a “natural stain color” or “no staining”. They are absolutely different. You can stain an entire floor with a natural stain color and it will look much different than if you were to not stain at all. This project we choose not to stain. For reasons of matching the existing stair case.
The client opted out of refinishing the stair risers but wanted the stair treads refinished. We had to match the new floors and treads to the existing stair risers. This happens often because most of time the risers are in pretty good shape or people decide to paint them. To not stain the floor was a better matchup to the risers.
Sealer & Finish
And just like that! We didn’t stain the floor. Went straight to applying the sealer. We love using a universal sanding sealer manufactured by Zinsser. It’s the best sealer used by many professionals in our industry. Fantastic product! And it dries in 30 minutes. So, extremely productive to work with! This particular client preferred an oil-based polyurethane. We used a product called Poloplaz Primero.
Project Overview
- 12 board repairs
- No stain
- Matching the stair risers
- Sealer and finish
Tags: natural oak flooring, natural white oak, natural white oak flooring, oak wood flooring