No.2 White Oak In Cabin For Rustic Look-Poly Or Not?

Texwing

Well, this forum has been so helpful, especially for an HVAC guy. We are doing our own cabin on a lake with 3 and 1/4 wide no.2 white oak 3/4 plank, and at first I was running down a conventional path of lay it, fill imperfections, sand, stain, and poly. But we are slowly wising up and with the help of this forum's contributors, realizing that conventional may not be the look we want for a rustic lake cabin. So, we have decided not to fill the many imperfections, and not sand. We are using a min wax oil stain in provincial color.

So here is what should be my final question: what is the three coats of poly really getting us, other than shine? In other words, would not the oil stain generally seal and protect the wood? Is the polyurethane just for looks, or does it perform some other function we must have, or make the floor easier to live with? It would seem easier to touch up a just stain floor, but hey, I dont know so I would appreciate some advice-thanks.

cleveman

easier clean-up of spills for one thing. yeah, makes it smooth. Protects the wood better than stain alone, will last longer.

the big 12 inch

Sometimes I get the feeling your not listening!!!

jamestrd

1) you need to sand the flooring for stain to take properly.

2) stain is not a sufficient sealand t and will become a nightmare in maintenance. it will scratch easy, will stain easy and will wear easily..you will never be able to keep them clean looking. you need some kind of protection on there, even if only wax if you want easy application and care, touch up etc.

if you want rustic, sand the floors, then walk around and beat the floor up with a chain, wieghts, hammer etc. then stain and finish.

you can also hand scrape the floor in areas randomly to give it a honed look.

Texwing

I am listening! Hey this is our own place! Asking alot of questions may drive everyone crazy but usually good decisions result. In my trade, HVAC, I have seen many "standard" solutions that really don't work well for people who have unique situations or homes.

One thing about these hardwood floors-they are not going to be changing anytime soon due to the level of difficulty. I can't think of anything in this cabin that would be harder to "redo", as I am trying to impress upon my wife on stain color choice.

In any case, I really do appreciate the advice.

Sanding: Well, I did a test patch of oak, and the wood seemed to take the stain well without sanding. Went ahead and did three coats of poly on the patch, all is well. Still, I am the flooring novice and would appreciate the comments on no sanding. Min wax does recommend sanding for staining to enhance it, fyi, with no finer than 100 grit. Still, I am wary of "catch all" recommendations.