I guess it depends on your budget. If you are changing the color, I would want to redo the stairs and handrail too, which will add $$$. However, if you can swing it, changing the stain to a neutral, medium brown would be my preference. It will update the current "orange" hue but still look good with your traditional home.

Your floors are beautiful and classic. That color works with anything and it easy to maintain. I would remove the carpet and extend the hardwood.

You have red oak throughout.

Looks like there might have been an amber poly used as a sealer on your white oak floors that turned them orange. If you have the $$$ have them sanded and resealed. A medium stain is going to be classic and hide any discoloration.

There are some flooring guys on this forum that can provide you with names of products that should be used for this.

Sand nothing, until you are ready to take hardwood, INTO the carpet area we see.......and how much more of that is on this living floor?

Then you sand new and old together and select a stain you like by testing in your own home.

Until ready to do that? I'd leave it alone, because flooring unity in a home is your best investment. Area rugs atop.

I can’t speak to what stain color might look best, but I will add this…does a desire for a new color outweigh the disruption that sanding and and staining will cause in a house with a dog and 6 year old and have you taken into account the mess it brings to all the adjoining spaces as well as the length of time (and not the “it typically takes” time but the real world time) you’ll be living in this process. Plus, because these brand newly done floors will be touching at multiple points carpets that aren’t brand new, are you ready for those carpets to look worse in comparison? Not saying it’s impossible or can’t be done, people do it everyday. Just gently reminding you that picking the color is by far the easiest part.

IMO remove the carpet find flooring that can be stained and finished to match what you have and it will be a much better choice than wall to wall carpet anytime. I do not know if you have white oak or red but all the same flooring IMO is still the best choice.

I havent read a single patty colwell post that I disagree with! Quite frankly i wouldnt touch the flooring at all. Either redo the entire flooring (completely new look) or keep the current aesthetic. Staining sanding etc old floors…the juice is hardly ever worth the squeeze.

Worth the squeeze?

You take the kid, the dog, and you get out for a week. To a friend.... to somewhere. You use the garage, the driveway and you get a pod and empty the living floor.

Is it easy? No Is it cheap? No......

and sometimes it isn't fast either.

Depends what you want and can pay for.

Everyone except G&S seems to have missed that you almost certainly have Red Oak. This makes a huge difference in color recommendations because lighter colors will look pink, natural tones can look orange, and darker stains can have prominent grain. If you like the current natural feeling, I'd recommend using a sealer that doesn't amber immediately, like Bona ClassicSeal or NaturalSeal, covered by a non-yellowing urethane like Bona Traffic HD.

You did write "I would love to hear all suggestions", so my suggestion would be to live with what you have until your kid grows up enough to be less hard on the floor. I assume that when you said you have an opportunity to sand your floor, it means you'll have period while you're away from home that presents an ideal opportunity. I see where people are coming from in recommending you add wood in the carpeted areas, but I can also see the value in an area with a softer covering that muffles sound. If you have the intention of adding either carpeted area, the time to do it is when you're refinishing.

Were this mine, I'd likely budget to add wood in the carpeted areas and do the whole thing in about 5 years.

I was just going to post exactly what has been said by G&S and Timothy above - certainly appears to be red oak - not white oak.

Personally, I’d be concerned about hiring the contractor who told you that you have white oak.

Thanks Timothy! Unfortunately the “opportunity” comes from water damage from a malfunctioning clothes washer :(. They have had to rip up all the tile in my laundry room and parts of this wood floor that you see. So they will be feathering in new pieces, sanding, and staining the floor. My dog needs to have surgery so I’m trying to coordinate the floor refinishing with his surgery so he can stay with the vet. The rest of us to a hotel I guess…never a dull moment! I do love all the suggestions from everyone!!

Hi Dani! I was thinking the same thing! I may have been confused though because he did mention red oak as well. With all the water damage and remediation I am a bit overwhelmed. We do have another contractor coming in as well for another estimate…I’ll see what he says!

Noelle - if they are red oak (which I assume they are - especially based upon G&S’ expert opinion that they are red oak - after all the comments/advice I’ve read from G&S - definitely = trusted expert) - there are steps you can take to help reduce the red in red oak (Ciranova Pink Blocker/Bona Red Out/adding some mint green to reduce the red) if you are looking for more of a natural white oak looking floor.

I think that there are very pretty medium brown stains that work well on red oak - some type of medium brown is a nice neutral color that will work with many styles.

I’m sure that dealing with the water damage and required remediation hasn’t been fun - however, having the insurance company refinish all of your wood floors will be nice once you’re finished!

I have saved a lot of stain options for red oak - many are a mixed combination of stain colors. Happy to share with you if you’d like.

Ohhh yes! Thank you!

My favorite stain color is DuraSeal Chestnut over water popped wood. It's a nice nutty brown and the water popping makes the harder portion of the wood darker so it contrasts less with the softer wood that already soaks up lots of stain. Another nice color is Jacobean (also over water pop) but it might be too dark for you.

A good wood floor guy should have a small chemical kit with an easy and quick test they can do to differentiate between red and white oak. They take a few shavings from a board, put a few drops of the testing chemical and in less than a minute the color change of the chemical will indicate red or white oak. There should be no guessing!

Hi everyone! The floors are red oak and we are going to remove the carpeted sections and do hardwood throughout 😊

That will be beautiful. I think that when you’re not putting your hardwood against a gray carpet, you will love the tones much better. We just stained our mantle and our bench for our new fireplace Jacobean. I may post pictures on the forums when it’s time. However, I don’t know that I want to hear the comments about my cool yet funky tile.

Noelle - so happy that you are removing the carpet and adding red oak everywhere.

I will dig put my red stains for red oak and post them tomorrow!