I'm adding some new red oak flooring and refinishing the original red oak flooring that was sealed with oil based poly. We have dogs and need a tough, non toxic floor finish to replace the toxic oil polyurethane.

Hi,

I'm adding some new red oak flooring and refinishing the original red oak flooring that was originally sealed with oil based poly. I am using the same contractor that installed the original floor. Once the new floor is laid and the original floor is sanded we want to stain both a darker shade than the original natural red oak finish.

​I have large dogs and need a durable finish. Soooo, which stain/finish would you recommend, what kind of finish longevity can I expect, and what sheens are available? Additionally, I am concerned with VOCs, toxins and long-term VOC/toxin exposure in our home environment.

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Hi Dan, 

Mountain Laurel is currently my favorite stain on oak floors. What kind of stain tone are you looking for? How big is the space? If you could send a pic of the area to be blended I may be able to make a more accurate suggestion. 

Generally, when blending new and old, a deeper tone works best on oak since it'll mitigate the change. Mountain Laurel Deep, Butter Toffee or such are all real nice floors. 

The best stain for floors is the Bio Poly Natural. It's a natural, low voc, non toxic stain with good working time and excellent grain illumination. This gets topcoated with NanoTech Clear 00 and for most residential projects that is plenty strong. 

For higher traffic floors we apply the last two clear coats with either Easy Safe or Aqualine Satin. Both of these coatings are very scuff resistant and are used in commercial applications as well as high traffic residences. 

My suggestion would be to get sample pints and give to you floor guy and ask for samples. This way he will know exactly what he's working with and you will know exactly what to expect when done. This is really the ideal system since everyone knows beforehand what to expect. 

Sometimes people just pull the trigger due to time constraints. If that be the case I would suggest Aqualine Satin as the stain and clear coat. The working time when staining is less than Bio Poly but it dries fast and can be recoated by the end of the day. We add a quart of water to Aqualine when staining floors, and we work 2-3 boards across the room at a time to avoid lap marks. This generally works out well for projects that require a fast dry, low odor, super durable coating that can be done in a couple days. 

Hope this helps. 
Best wishes,
Tom
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Sample pints are recommended for creating a finished sample in advance.