English Chestnut Red Oak, Whole House

An older home where one room needed new wood woven into the existing floor, and then the whole house sanded so it all read as a single floor rather than a patch job.

Sanding started with the Hummel at 60 grit to flatten the field and bring the new wood level with the old. From there it was the Bona PowerDrive planetary through 60, 80, 100 and 120 grit — the planetary scratch pattern is what keeps stain from telegraphing the seams between new and original boards.

Because this floor was getting stain, the field was water popped and carried an extra grit of sanding before color went down. Loba English Chestnut gives red oak a warm brown without the orange cast the old finish had.

Loba Easy Prime went down over the stain, followed by Loba Easy Finish in satin. The result is one continuous floor — you cannot tell where the new wood starts.