Unfinished Oak Floors -Updated With Pics - Yet One More Room STARTED 3/12/12

Its unlikely that every board is the same exact thickness. So even though the individual boards might seem smooth, once installed you'll almost certainly need to sand to get the floor "flat".

We recently refinished our oak floors. We used Minwax oil based stain then Varathane "Crystal" water-based poly for floors; no sanding between stain and finish.
You'll need to put down multiple coats and don't need to sand between them as long as they don't dry too long.
You should screen before doing the last coat, however, or you won't end up with a smooth final finish. Water based finishes raise the grain and the screening prior to the final coats smooths that out.
The smell of the Varathane Crystal was not bad at all.

If you go with an oil-based poly you'll probably need move out the smell will be so bad. You'll need to sand between coats but you won't have any raised grain to deal with. Some like look of oil-based poly better.

edit: if after installing you find you find that you don't need to remove much wood to level the floor I'd recommend use of an orbital plate floor sander as opposed to the drum type. Drum sanders take some time to get used to and you'll very likely damage your new floor with one.
Use the plate type without the pad and with sandpaper for leveling. Then use a pad with screen on it for sanding the before the final coat.

You will need to do a final sanding after the floor is down. I would use a squarebuff sander over a drum type. Make sure everything is CLEAN before you put any finish on the floor, Dust stands out like a sore thumb. When I put the Hickory floors down in the cabin I built I used a Min wax stain and 4 coats of urethane over the top. Vacuum or use a tack cloth before every coat.

Yes you need to sand. Read the directions on the finish you decide to go with. Some require a sealer and sanding with 220 inbetween coats, some don't. Some finishes are more durable than others so do your research.

On the prefinished flooring the top edge/corner is usually slightly beveled so that you don't get two surfaces at different levels butted against each other. Instead you get a V groove at the joint.

You might get away without sanding, if the top edge/corner is beveled like it is on the prefinished products, but it's so easy to do a light sanding that I don't see why you wouldn't. You can rent a random orbit floor sander with three pads that does a great job at this kind of finish sanding.

It is easy to screw up the sanding (don't ask me how I know)! :lol: We ended up hiring somebody to come and redo it.

Gary

That looks awesome Katwill, job well done to be proud of for sure.

Looks nice! Looks like the same floor I put in my livingroom. Takes a long time to put that stuff down 2" at a time.

KatWill said:

Thanks Guys, I went ahead and got the prefinished Oak at the HD. Rented the gun from the HD and two days later and a very sore back and knees I put them in with the help of wife. I think they came out pretty nice. We still have to do our bedroom next week. Dont pull punches, this is my first attempt at installing solid nailed down wood floors so any imperfections or mistakes let me know so we wont make them again.

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Good call. Its very hard to beat the factory finish. We have some of the pre-finished wood from HD upstairs and its held up very well to 3 large dogs and teenage sons.

Look into putting down an isolation barrier below the wood flooring. Folks used to use roofing paper but I think there are some better materials available now such as Tyvek or Typar. The reasons for its use are varied and conflicting. Some say for squeak prevention, others say for moisture control.

Semipro said:

Look into putting down an isolation barrier below the wood flooring. Folks used to use roofing paper but I think there are some better materials available now such as Tyvek or Typar. The reasons for its use are varied and conflicting. Some say for squeak prevention, others say for moisture control.

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You dont want to use tyvek or typar. You want to use something that won't breath. Id recommend #30 felt, but there are
some synthetic coverings that will stop moisture, but don't Know about the squeaks. One advantage to finishing a wood floor
yourself over the prefinished is you don't have the micro bevel that catches a lot of dirt.

And when you look across it you see a gloosy surface like water instead of a bunch of grooves. It's a tough choice. Not having to sand and finish it plus the OEM finish is tougher than you can do at home.

It will be interesting to see the difference in the two.

Looks Good! I installed prefinished solid american cherry floors in my living room, 3 bedrooms, stairs, hallway and walk in closet. Was the most physically demanding work I have ever done, including CSS firewood.