You can stop oak from "yellowing" by using a 100% water based polyurethane finish. Solvents/oil or oil modified products "amber" = yellow. Once you strip off the finish of the oak, you will find you have a very light (almost white) wood underneath. This is normal for oak. Find a flooring refinisher who works with the water based products (and the stains that go with them) to make sure you do not end up with "yellow" in your space again.

It isn't the oak that yellowed...it is the oil/solvent based product they finished the floors with. This ambering will continue to haunt you until you move away from the oil based products. Even oil modified polyurethanes amber...which is something you don't like.

The trick here is finding a flooring professional who works with the water based products all the time. The professionals who work with oil based stuff have a VERY HARD TIME (read: ruined floors) working with the water based products. Staining and finishing techniques vary wildly between oil and water based finishes - so much so the biggest problems we face are "professionals" working with our water based products.

Thank you for the info! The floor was prefinished when we got it. We will definitely look into this!

Always giving great input, Cancork!!!

Flour is nice and would not touch it. I would have just painted the upper part of the kitchen in white or another color.

We bought the flooring from Augusta Flooring and installed it ourselves. My husband was a builder so naturally he built our house. I 'll have to ask him about the aluminum oxide, he'll know about that. I was just trying to get ideas of color that would look good. That will stink if it can't be refinished!

Thanks bubbagma! Greatly appreciated. Sigh. Prefinished Aluminum Oxide strikes again. You would do better to refinish the cabs to suit the floor. It is POSSIBLE to refinish these floors. It will take 3-5 days of sanding, 5-6 sanding belts (all of different grit levels) and a heck of a lot of patience...and it still might not work. Basically you start with the FINEST grit level (I know...sounds bass akwards...but it is what is recommended) to give the surface some "tooth". Then you move to your next belt and give a bit more tooth. Then the next belt and then the next belt. By the time you reach the nastiest belt...you will have worn away most of the finish. The belt needed is the high end belts that are 50% more expensive (ceramic based belts). Like I said...it is expensive, time consuming and it may not work.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news. This is the problem of prefinished hardwood flooring. The AO makes it darn near impossible to refinish...and the sales people don't tell you about this...'cause they either don't know or they've been told to "get the sale". Either way, the client is the one who gets stiffed in the end.

Can you tell this is a bone of contention with me? Sorry to rant on your thread. It just upsets me to see homeowners being taken advantage of. Ok, I'm done.

I just contacted the company so we'll see what they say.

If it's possible to refinish, then how 'bout painting the floor? I've got a couple of great shots saved in my Ideabooks under "painted wood floors." If not then might I suggest a couple of great rugs scattered around so that you notice them & not your floors…good luck!