Why We Refinished Our Floors “Naturally” Without A Stain
So We Decided to Refinish our Floors…
This was unexpected. I didn’t expect we would choose not to stain our hardwood floors. And I didn’t expect to renovate them at all! Here’s why we refinished our floors naturally without a stain color.
As you know, Lockie and I bought our first house last month. We decided to do some renovations before moving in- we planned to paint the interior, redo the fireplace tiling and overhaul the kitchen. We did not plan on touching the floors. But O-M-G I am so glad we did.
Somewhere in the middle of renovation planning, we realized that if we ever wanted to redo the floors, now was the time. We didn’t have furniture in the place yet and, honestly, once you start construction it’s easy to add to the job.
How We Did It
I’m still in shock that we were able to pull this off. We started gathering a few quotes to a.) Replace the floorboards or b.) Refinish the existing floorboards. After talking to some industry folks, I got the sense that refinishing the floor was the more popular option. It didn’t seem like flooring companies wanted to rip out your floor and put new ones in. As if it was a pain or something. So we got persuaded to refinish the floors instead of replacing them. I was a little bummed since I was excited about getting rid of our thin floorboards and getting thicker wood. But on the bright side, refinishing is half the cost of replacing. Within a couple days we had the floor scheduled for the following week.
So what the heck is refinishing? They basically sand back your existing finish and then add a stain and seal with a water-based finish. Back in the day, they would use an oil-based finish, which is why many floors now have an orange and red hue. Not my fave. The good news is that refinishing only takes about 3-5 days to complete. Ours took 3 which really helped us stay in our timeline.
The flooring company gave me a pamphlet of stain colors to choose from. Of course, I picked out a few from the new “trendy” section of colors. One that had a white tint, one with a gray tint, and one that was a medium-wood color. After having some candid convos with my flooring guy, he admitted that most people who use these “trendy” new stains are unhappy with the end result. He suggested we consider a natural floor with no stain added at all. I was initially against this idea but started to warm up to it after I went to Floor and Decor and realized I loved the look of naturally finished floors.
So I decided to make the call after the floors were sanded back and we could do some “test” areas. They obliged me in some of the trendy stain colors and also did a test of the natural look. Spoiler: I picked the natural finish with no stain.
The Results
Guess what? I am SUPER HAPPY with my decision! This has completely changed the look of our house for the better. It is amazing how much a floor color changes a vibe. And better yet, this was even cheaper than we expected since we did not add a stain. We ended up paying around $3,500 for the naturally finished floor.
Got a question about our floors? Ask me below!
