Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Wood Floor question
Brian Chitwood
Anyone use Boiled Linseed Oil as a finish on a new wood floor? We recently installed a white oak wood floor and we like the "" look instead of the shiny poly look. Have used Waterlox on some furniture and seems people are happy with that, but even that has a pretty good shine to it? Just wondered the pitfalls of just a simple BLO finish.
Re: Wood Floor question
Dick Coers
Pitfalls of just BLO would be oxidation and dramatic darkening of the wood over time, high maintenance, low water resistance, difficult cleaning, and no UV protection in front of patio doors and big windows. I'd guess you would have to add oil every few months at the beginning. But kids/grandkids and pets are the wild card you didn't mention. If your home is rustic, maybe some of the things in my list wouldn't bother you.
Re: Wood Floor question
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
The purpose of the finish is to protect the wood. If you don't like shiny, then apply a thinned coat of gloss, sand, another thinner coat, then followed by a thinned coat of dull. The goal is to have the floor looking good 10 years from now, not just tomorrow.
In our first house we applied polyurethane. After 10 years of dog and 2 kids we scuff sanded and recoated and it looked like new again. All the dog toenail dents and scratches were in the finish and not in the wood.