The best way to answer your question would be for you to prepare some samples. Round up your leftover scraps of pine, red oak and white oak. Then go to your paint store and buy small cans of each of the colors you have listed. Finish them out and take the finished samples from room to room to see how they look. Eliminate the ones that you like the least to narrow down from 6 choices to 2 or 3. If you still can’t decide, solicit the opinions of friends and relatives. When you are down to 2 or 3 and you like them, you have to remember: “It is ALL good”.

The floors you have shown as inspiration are natural. Bona has several products that are ranked as water borne yet STILL offer a bit of "ambering". It is the AMBERING that you are after. No stain needed.

Bona Traffic (no HD) has the tendency to amber (turn a snick yellow). That's the thing you are after. No need to "stain". Simply apply the product that offers some of the strongest yellowing in the Bona line up. Done. Done. And done.

I did not explain myself well. Even though we like that herringbone floor in the picture we don't like yellow that's why we want to go with water based Bona. We want gold, light brown, hint of grey.

The hint of gray is considered "ashy". To get the hint of grey, you can start with European Oak. It will do EVERYTHING you want.

You state you have a mix of white and red oak. Now we get into some TOUGH stuff. The cherry cabs will also add concerns. I'm going to ignore the pine trim.

Red Oak likes to turn SALMON PINK with a water based finish. It can turn a warmer gold/brown with oil based finishes or a finish that has amberizer added to it. White Oak can be a bit green and will yellow a snick with water based finishes (called tannin pull). Which is why white oak requires a sealant (even with a stain) before the finish. And yellow is a form of gold. It is hard to have gold without yellow. Really, really really hard.

With a red/white oak mix, you will need to ask for stain samples. There is no way around it. There is no way to assess your personal taste from photos - the mixed woods inhibit that.

Water popping is dependent on the wood, the colour chosen and personal choice. Again, you will have no way of knowing whether or not water popping is wanted (it is a personal choice because it is a technique that ENHANCES the LOOK of the GRAIN). It is personal....not technical. You won't know until you try (fun isn't it).

How about loading some photos of what you HAVE (kitchen/hardwood/trim). That will be the BEST way for us to help you.

Thank you very much for your input. Our apartment is still in renovation. We have not finished the moulding yet. They are covered with plastic.

Today our floor guy put down a few stains from DuraSeal; Nutmeg, Weathered Oak, Golden Oak, and Bona DriFast Natural. We did not care for any of the colors. I felt that rift and quarter wood does not stain nicely. My husband liked Bona AmberSeal and I slightly preffered Bona IntenseSeal +Bona Traffic HD. We tried both 1 and 2 coats of sealer. 2 coats of sealer made the wood look more yellow/hint of Orange but made the surface smoother. Shall we put 2 coats of sealer or we can do 1 coat of sealer +3 coats of Bona Traffic HD?

Thanks!

Please tell me that I am seeing an optical illusion. Please tell me that your flooring guy is not stupid enough to stain parts of your floor for test samples. There is a reason why I said to round up the leftover scraps of wood.

Very handsome. I love herring bone!

The intensity of the Ambeseal will depend on what type of applicator they use and how fast they apply it. Sampling with a brush or pad will look different compared to applying with a roller or T-bar to an entire floor.

If, you really want to change it and if, it is within your budget. You can tone it down with Nordic Seal and recoat with HD. The Bona system allows you to do this without fully resanding with no adhesion issues. I would start with samples first.

Thanks G & S Floor Service, it could be a possibility but the intensity is not the major problem- the massive tannin pull is the real problem. Our floor looks more green than anything else. When they did the sample for us there was no green at all. We consulted with a specialist and were told that our finisher did not use the sealer properly. The first coat must have been applied very thick and also maybe they wetted the floor before they applied the sealer and did not let it dry fully. We hired people that claim they are professionals but have no understanding of wood-finish chemical interaction. The reason I say this is because when they did the Rubio Monocoat sample for us I told him I don't like that matte look our finisher/installer said they can put Bona Traffic on top of the Monocoat, which to me sounded very wrong.

They did the 1420 sq/feet apartment (2 coats of sealer +2 coats of Bona Traffic HD) in one day. There are nail wholes everywhere pulling our socks as we walk, wholes caused by noughts even though we paid for select grade, human hair trapped under the Traffic HD, fractured board in the herring bone in the middle of the room. I don't know how this people stay in business in the metro area.

What does the installer say about the color difference between the sample and the finished floor?

You might try changing your light bulbs to something to cooler to see if it tones down the yellow.

We wrote him an email yesterday he has not replied yet. Everything was done in the day light and all the evaluation of the sample and the floor was done the same time of the day. We can try to put cooler lights but what about during the day light? We did not have easy time with him in this entire project. I doubt he would be accommodating now. We are going to contact Bona on Monday and ask why their sealer and their finish did not perform as they advertise. Our finisher is certified by Bona.

Here are some of the problems I have mentioned earlier. I never imagined that someone could spend almost 35K to have green floors.

Another job where the contractor rushed the chemicals. 4 coats on 1400 sq. ft. in 1 day. 3 to 4 hours drying, that's 12 hours in between coat. Bona does not allow you to apply more than 2 coats a day. This job would take 2 to 3 days of coating at the very least, under good conditions.

The other defects are common, except for the dark round spot. All can be addressed easily.

The first coat needs enough time to dry properly. Applying more than two coats per day, will trap the gases in place, preventing it to do so. Finishes dry from the top down. When the finish doesn't dry properly. It also, does not harden enough for proper abrasion. You can easily remove too much finish during abrasion, because the finish is still soft. Now, you do not achieve the proper film build - 1mm per coat. This results in an under performing finish.

Because they did not follow the manufacturer's instructions and guidelines. I would have these floors redone.

I'm very sorry this happened to you. How much does the look differ from your original plan of using IntenseSeal + TrafficHD? Would that have avoided this coloration?

Yep. That is someone who does NOT know how to work with Bona! The 4 coats in ONE DAY is an absolute NO-NO! I don't care if they are "certified". If you certify yourself and then only work with the product 2-3 times per year, you will lose the "feel" of the product.

Bona is very difficult to deal with. It is HELL if you don't have a level of comfort with it.

And btw: the Amber seal = yellow. The more you use, the yellower your floor becomes. And White Oak can be greenish in tone. Water borne products can enhance the green. I'm going to guess the way the floor was finished has attributed to the greenish tinge.

And you are welcome to reach out to an NWFA Certified Flooring Inspector in your area. You spent plenty of money to get a beautiful floor. You cannot afford to PAY for them to be redone....but you might be able to afford the cost of the Inspector who will provide a document that will stand up in court.

I would push HARD to have the original company fix the issues. If they balk - at all - I suggest you go ahead and pay for the inspection and then use THE REPORT as leverage to get the floor dealt with properly.

www.nwfa.org

Please use the link to find local Certified Professional Inspectors. They are the "big boys" of the wood flooring industry. If they come back with a NASTY report...the biggest of companies tremble. I assure you many Houzzers have used the services of the NWFA professionals to get an excellent result.

Good luck. Keep us updated.

Thanks SJ McCarthy. We are fine with the yellow it's the massive green that we are not happy with. But after seeing all the dull uneven smears all over the floor, sanding marks and indentation, the dirt trapped under the finish the, color became a secondary issue. Our floor finisher has not replied yet. I just checked and he is a certified installer, sander and finisher by the NWFA. However he supervised the work through pictures and phone calls. He was never present when the install, sanding and finishing was happening. We will contact a NWFA instructor and get the inspection done ASAP.

So who was your floor finisher if it wasn't the floor finisher you hired? Because s/he is NWFA Certified, I HIGHLY recommend you wait a snick longer for him/her to reply. We've seen things happen like this. A "newbie" is allowed to do the work under supervision by a pro. The newbie messes up and the pro comes in and saves the day....by offering a full refinish.

When trying to communicate over a weekend, things get wonky. Continue to PHONE the person (texting is fine if they respond....but a phone call is worth the time and effort to REALLY get your point across).

I would continue to PHONE him/her (several times per day) for the next few days. Give them a chance to respond properly. While you wait, you are welcome to FIND the local INSPECTOR (different from NWFA Sand/Refinisher).

In building law it is customary to allow the ORIGINAL contractor ONE chance to fix the issue. If they mess up the "fix" then you have every right to move on to another professional who can do the job - on the dime of the original professional.

You are welcome to withhold final payment - please TELL your refinisher you are withholding the payment and why - until the issues have been resolved. You have every right to withhold. But you must tell your professional WHY you are withholding final payment and what needs to happen for that payment to be released.

We hired Palermo Flooring INC based in Long Island Oakdale NY to install 3/4" plywood sub-floor, install the floor and sand, finish it. The owner of the company is Matt Bruno. Matt Bruno and his brother are certified by Bona as well as NWFA. Two of employees did the sub-floor and floor install. Multiple mistakes, fractured broad being installed, boards with chips and holes installed throughout the apartment, horrible squeaks in the living room that we brought to his attention. They ripped off that part of living room and fixed the squeaks. Minor squeaks in many rooms even now but he blames it on the old flooring under his sub-floor. We were assured that those chips would be filled and we should not worry about them. Anyway lots of drama. Two of his other employees did the sanding and finishing in three days- 2 days went on finishing the install and sanding and 1 day to apply 2 coats of Bona AmberSeal +2 coats of Bona Traffic HD. Majority of chipped ends, gaps and holes were not filled. Matt was never around during the sub-floor and floor install, sanding or finishing. In fact he came only twice but never supervised any work. His supervision was done through phone and pictures.

Just to give an update. Palermo Flooring (PF) said that the reason there is a problem with the finish is because we do not have required humidity conditions and the floor flashed whatever that means. BTW, we confirmed with the PF employee that the first coat of Bona AmberSeal was put at 12:30pm. They put another coat of sealer and 2 coats of Bona Traffic HD the same day and were done at 7 pm. So 4 coats in the span of 6.5 hours for 1420 sq/ft apartment. He claims that he followed Bona's guidelines. We contacted a NFWA certified inspector and were told that from our description it seem that the floor installer/ finisher is in the wrong. Anyway long story short, we have 3 options.

1. Let PF come and do the finish again ( PF cannot guaranty that second time the floor would not flash).

2. Hire an inspector and go through the litigation route.

3. Settle with PF and hire someone else to do the finish however if we go this route we have to sign NDA.

Hire the Inspector. Get the report and then use the report to get PF to do the sand/refinish. Make it perfectly clear you WANT the Bona certified professional to MAKE the corrections.

The company has ONE chance to make this right. If PF cannot fix the floor, then you have every LEGAL right to move onto another company who can fix the finish at the expense of PF.

No need to "go legal". No need for the NDA. The inspector's report is used as leverage to get PF to step up their game. Only as a last resort (after all of the above have been worked through) do you need to go the legal route.

You can also see if NWFA has a procedure to report concerns regarding Certified professionals' behaviour/actions/work. Again, no need to go NDA. Only with a MASSIVE payout (a couple times the value of the work) is an NDA a "good option".

PF offered to come buff and put another coat, but we objected it since all 4 coats were put within 6.5 hours and we are not sure that previous coats are good. PF also offered to do full refinish but we don't have confidence that PF can do a good job this time. PF himself does not guarantee that second time the finish will work because as he says we do not have perfect humidity conditions. PF says all his employees are certified and did everything within the Bona's guideline. I don't know how 4 coats in 6.5 hours is within Bona's guideline but he is a type of a person that can claim that yogurt is black. The inspector made a mistake and told us that only one person was certified from PF. After we told PF that we talked to female inspector and she said that from our description it looks like PF was at fault, PF tracked down the inspector (we did not disclose inspector's name to PF), called her to correct her that all his employees are certified. In addition PF threatened the inspector to take her to NFWA ethics boards and told her how much money he makes a year and that she should be careful. PF told the inspector that she cannot work for us since he hired her once and that would be a conflict of interest since the inspector has a dislike for him. He is willing to pay $1400 for the damages and walk away if we sign NDA. I told him $1400 would not even cover our accommodation and moving and storage fees of our belongings that we are incurring because of him plus we have to sign a NDA that will free him from any future responsibly of his subfloor and floor install work. We contacted PF and told that it was wrong to track down the inspector and threaten her. PF denied that he threatened the inspector and only called her to correct that all his employees are certified. Also PF tried multiple times to convince us to hire an inspector of his choice for $500. We said we want an independent inspector. He says the inspector we found is a rip off as their fee is $2800.