Wide Plank White Oak Kitchen & Dining

A slow supply-line leak under the sink had been running for months before anyone noticed. By the time we saw it, a section of the wide plank floor had cupped and greyed, and the grain had opened up and gone chalky across most of the dining area.

First job was moisture, not wood. We metered the subfloor and the planks and waited until readings came back into normal range before anything else happened. Repairing over active moisture is money thrown away.

The wear layer measured a full 4mm, which meant a proper sanding was on the table. We flattened the cupping with the Bona PowerDrive planetary sander and ceramic solid-backed paper, replaced four planks nearest the sink where the core had delaminated, and refined with ceramic mesh grits — essential here, because a hardwax oil on 7" plank hides nothing.

The owners cook constantly and have two children, so repairability mattered more than absolute stain resistance. ProCoat hardwax oil in a natural matte gave them the look they wanted and, more importantly, a floor they can fix in place. We left them maintenance oil and showed them how to use it.

The wood in the after photograph is the same wood as in the before photograph. Nothing was replaced except those four planks.