Hopefully one of the flooring pros will be by soon to give you a real estimate. It is going to be high, especially if you need 3 treatments.

Have you priced out the cost of what you are wanting (looks like a European white oak look to me)? That might actually be cheaper than refinishing because your process is going to be so labor intensive.

Please note, too, that your current floor is narrower than your inspiration picture. That will affect the look some. If you have a narrower new floor, that would reduce cost (both of materials and installation). Again, I will defer to the pros to give you numbers.

Feel free to add $1-$2/st for each application of bleach. Your floors might have a tough finish on it which could mean a bit more time and effort and money to do the job.

The average cost of refinishing = $5/sf. Add the $2-$4/st for the bleaching and then the $1-$3/st for th high-end bona treatment and poly.

And then add in the high possibility that you will create a PINK floor!

Takes your breath away doesn't it?

I'm in south Florida and depending on which urethane used, I would charge between $6 and $7 per square foot. Here's a picture of bleached Brazilian Cherry with Bona Classicseal and Mega on the left side, oil poly on right, sitting on a natural finished floor.

Timothy, the sample on the left looks good! Does the color read pinkish in real life?

I'm probably the wrong person to judge considering that I'm consistently working with people who claim they can see red in a cup of black coffee.

I generally describe the color as a driftwood tone. It looks to me like a very light Teak with a golden tone. It definitely has a red component.

Oh no

I know of one company that produces a UV blocker for photosensitive woods (like Maple and possibly Jatoba). Loba has a lovely additive called UVProtect. It can be added to any of their polyurethanes. I always recommend the Loba 2K Supra AT because it is SUPER tough.

This project could be very expensive once you add up all the high-level products and high-level talent needed to do the job. If you are less than $9/sf at the end of the day, you can count yourself lucky.

Would it be generally cheaper to rip out the floors and install new flooring? Or place engineered hardwood over this?

I was going to speak to the flooring guy about the Loba product. Thank you for advising

Would it be generally cheaper to rip out the floors and install new flooring? Or place engineered hardwood over this?

Most likely not. What new flooring can you buy, installed for $6 per foot, including removal of existing?

FYI, the sample in the picture I posted is at least ten years old, so it has changed to what you could expect in the long term. It was lighter when first finished. I'm pretty blunt with customers as to expectations. If you came to me from a perspective of what could be done with an existing floor, I might have some hope that a refinish would meet reasonable expectations. When you bring me a sample of lightly whitewashed White Oak and inquire whether your Brazilian Cherry floor could be made that color, I would be less convinced that the result of refinishing would be satisfactory.

@ Timothy- sounds like you have much experience in bleaching wood floors… so can I ask you the products you would use to bring a red oak floor to the “European white oak neutral” that you had mentioned. If your experienced in this PLEASE tell me what you can! Thanks

jnakos79 There is no way to get Red Oak to achieve the European White Oak neutral look because that color is clear and shows all of the variations inherent in natural White Oak. You can bleach the red out but are left with a somewhat whitish result. A slightly taupe/almond tinted white pickle over that will have some of the same tones as neutral White Oak but it would be more uniformly colored over the entire surface. This looks artificial rather than natural.

Well I don’t necessarily have to have a European white oak look. I just wanna get the pink out of the floor. So if you want to call it Scandinavian or natural oak tone without the red hue or more of just a white oak.. these are some pictures of what I’m trying to somewhat achieve

https://youtu.be/eQkR93ZD7Ok

The NordicSeal is probably the best option. It doesn't accentuate the pink like Bona White or DS Country White, though it's still red. I have never tried it over bleached Red Oak.

This is a great video I have seen about bleaching floors I’m just scared to do it myself. Ive never done a whole floor(samples YES). Also,what products to use after when it comes to the stain and the finishing. I haven’t found any flooring guys that are willing to let me do part of the job ( the bleaching) because every flooring guys will not bleach it for me. So I’m stuck!

FYI : The YouTube link I posted above is how to do a bleach application on wood floors

How did your Brazilian cherry wood floors turn out?
We desperately need to lighten our Brazilian Cherry Floors.

Here's an old Brazilian Cherry longstrip floor we finished recently, with two coat of bleach, one Bona Classicseal and two Mega One.

Timothy, do you have a before pic?

Monica - No, but it was typical of an aged Brazilian Cherry floor with a deep maroon coloration.

HI ALL this is an old thread I see, however I need to add my personal expereince with Brazilian cherry. everywhere I read that they darken when exposed to light. I can 100% tell you this is NOT true in my expereince! EVERYWHERE in my home with direct light the floors are very light and EVERYWHERE that is covered with a rug/furniture or dark room the floors are VERY VERY deep red color. So I dont know why this misinformation is being spread. my floors are 100% real Brazilian cherry..

And here we are, 4 years later, with people moving away from pale bleached tone, and actively returning to deep richer colored floors.

prinesurf This is true for my house as well.

Curious - have you left your floor natural? We are about to refinish our floors and torn on what to do.

Minardi I saw your profile. My dad lives off of McGregor. :)