Gorgeous - they will be stunning in a natural finish and show the natural variations in the planks. Hard to tell if they've previously been stained or if that's natural oxidation that darkened them. What a fun project to peel away the layers in your new home!!! Please share more as you do things.

I just sanded down my quartersawn red oak hardwood in preparation for some work and the natural color was in no way "light"- there was still plenty of color. That color will only be enhanced by your topcoat.
It may look wrong with radiators and old wood paneling but once you bring that place into the 21st century it will look amazeballs.

We also just redid our red oak floors in natural, and we have dark woodwork. I love the contrast.

I think you're eight that your current floors are just amber from age.

Your floors will be gorgeous!

Dee

I wish we could refinish our red oak floors! Just so much going on including senior kitty who would need to be displaced.

Good luck, and I can't wait to see the refinished results!

It looks like there are some pale spots on the floor from wear or whatever near the doorway. That should give you a hint of what the color will be when sanded completely down. I suspect it will be too light and you may want to go with a stain to bring it back to this rich tone. If there are areas that you know will be covered where you could do a small test of natural vs stain, that would be great....

We recently had our WHITE oak floors refinished, as well as added more hardwood on the first floor. We chose to have them natural, although at first we were afraid it would be too pale. The floor guys applied the oil-based finish to a large area to show us how it would look and we love it! The finish definitely adds depth, warmth, and color to the floors and really brings out the grain. I love the way the natural finisih makes each board stand out, yet come together for a beautiful, cohesive look. There are a few very pale (almost white) boards, but not many---if they all had looked like that, I would not have been pleased; but mixed in with the majority much warmer boards they look fine and don't bother me at all--it looks lovely, and the variance in how each board took the stain is part of the beauty. To me, it really emphasizes the beauty of the hardwood floor.

Have them "screened" (scuff-sanded to take just the varnish off) and then clear-coated. It will retain most of the color.

Drum sanding removed the top 1/16 or more of the surface and you lose the patina and old color.

I had my white oak floors sanded and just had a clear finish put on them. They look great. My house is c. 1875, but I don't know when these floors were put in over the original pine boards.

Here is a link that might be useful: refinished white oak floors

Thank you so very much for your replies, everyone. I am meeting with the floor refinisher again tomorrow, so I made notes based on the thoughts you guys expressed here and I will get a chance to address them tomorrow. I am very appreciative :)

chardie, your floors_are_gorgeous. Mercy!