I have bought a Oak Wooden floor planks unfinished. I have filled all the knots with clear resin and sanded it back for a lovely finish. I now need to protect the planks from drying out and cracking, from wet feet, UV, dirt and stains. All the general wear and tear a floor takes. What ever I finish it with, has to work with the resin. As there will be traces around the knots. I don't want to the finish to change the colour of the wood. As I love it as it is. I am considering Tung oil and white spirit? or a wax maybe. I don't mind the floor taking on dents and scratches, as its a 200 year old house. I think keeping the floor looking new like new would make it look to modern for the property, and a worn patina would complete the house and be more practical. I also want it to be easy to maintain and not have to sand it back in 5 years to reapply. Any advice would be really welcomed.
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1Hi, welcome to StackExchange. "I don't want to the finish to change the colour of the wood." This is generally an impossible requirement. "I am considering Tung oil and white spirit?" That's a dreadful option. Any straight oil gives NO scratch resistance (literally zero), virtually no water/alcohol/stain resistance (oak stains blue-black if iron salts get to it), and oils darken the wood most. In addition to this not being what you want anyway, this will maximise the chance of any excess resin around the knots standing out (this is going to be a problem, no matter what you select).– GraphusJul 8, 2021 at 16:21
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From your use of the term white spirit I presume you're in the UK or Ireland? If so do you know if the oak is European or imported from the US? European oak (what used to be called English oak, Quercus robur) or American white oak are exterior-durable hardwoods, so if you don't mind the stains the floor might accrue, e.g. from iron salts in your tap water, then no finish at all is actually an option you might want to consider. And certainly this fulfils two key requirements you specify: no change to the colour of the wood and minimal maintenance :-)– GraphusJul 8, 2021 at 16:31
1 Answer
As Graphus pointed out in the comments to your question. Many of your requirements are mutually exclusive.
Any oil finish only give some protection from moisture, at least as far as flooring goes, and they definitely all make the wood darker (change color) some times by quite a bit, depending on the oil and the number of coats, oil will need to be reapplied more frequently than many other finishes.
Anything short of an epoxy floor finish will likely need to be redone every 10-15 years with moderate to heavy use. An oil finish might be 2-3 years. Primary entry doorway vs the unused guest bedroom makes a huge difference in wear. White oak can take a pretty good beating all by itself for physical abuse, but without protection it will tend to stain and discolor, which would require more sanding to fix.
My dad put a clear epoxy floor finish on his hardwood floor, it had 5 different hardwoods in it and they all have beautiful color and the floor is very scratch/wear resistant. Dog nails don't leave a mark. It should be a couple decades before it needs any work baring any extreme misuse. Now because it's an epoxy, (2-part to mix, then apply) it takes a little more work and forethought, but once it's done shouldn't have to worry about it for a long time.
