Bumping.

Thanks so much John, very helpful!

The pictures look fabulous. All jarrah? Our rimu is quite red also. Have you ever tried any of the Livos tinted oils? With our new colour scheme (it's very blue/grey), I'm looking to potentially cool the floors down a little.

No I haven't used them but I would recommend that you call david from planet ark in Fremantle and ask him.Get ready for a chat though but in 15 years of buying products from him every sales pitch he has used has been replicated exactly as he has said in every project. I get all my timber sealing products as well as all my interior and exterior paints from him.

I might get some sample pots and see what they do.

I checked out Organoil. They won't sell to anyone not accredited to use their product, no doubt for good reason. Only 1 applicator in Sydney. Can Livos be tricky as well? My regular floor guy is great with poly product, I'll need to talk to him abou the oil I think.

We had Whittle Wax applied to our Tassie Oak floors when we ripped up the old carpets 10 years ago. We knew then of the toxicity of polyurethane floors and the fact they scratch so easily and are not fixable. They are not super shiny, but it is great being able to go over small worn areas when necessary ourselved just with a rag. :)

I've spoken to our floor polisher. He has done other work for us and he is great with water-based poly. He warned me that oil really needs to be re-applied at 3mth intervals for the 1st 12mth to get full penetration of the oil and full benefit to the timber. Is this right John Henson?

I'm not sure after 12mth of building....I can face 4 times moving furniture around and leaving house for the night to enable this to happen. The oil brand he quoted I can't recall, something starting with Syn....

No that is not correct. It will be Synteco oil that he will be talking about I assume. I have only used it once because we could not get enough of the livos oil in wa for one job. That was in a yoga school about 10 years ago. Still going strong. I am selling my house in about a year and after 6 years of renovations, three dogs and kids that are now 12 and 13, I will only consider polishing our floor with a white pad. Show me a poly floor that can hold up to that. Actually our floor looks better now than it did when it was first done. Sanders don't like using oil for two reasons, it does them out of a job or they aren't confident enough to use it. Bottom line is there is no better solution unless you like plastic looking,feeling floors and some people do. Each to their own.

It is what is recommended by the timber industry as well. Polyeurothene can cause 2 or 3 boards to really stick together. With seasonal changes a wider gap my appear on the third or fourth board. The timber can't breath and change with seasons unlike if it is oiled.

Thanks for all your help John. I spoke to Livos today and they've given me a name/number of a guy in Sydney. He is coming Wednesday to have a look.

LesleyH- absolutely no fear of our boards sticking together! They were laid green wood 130yr ago. They've dried now and gappy as my 9yr without his 2 front teeth! I spoke to Livos about how we manage that. Filling isn't ideal as that will eventually crack and fall out anyway.

Having had poly prior to our build, I know how easy it scratches. I love the idea of being about to buff out scratches myself. Seriously, why don't more people do this?? My 130yr our boards won't last forever if we keep sanding them.

I think the photo of our boards doesn't really show how bigger gaps we also have in every board, as it would have been laid green. There is no need to worry about that but be prepared it will cost you a little more in oil as it seeps down and gets lost due to being squeegeed over the boards.
Try your best to keep it dry for over a month. Wipe up any spills as quickly as you can but don't stress.
As for not being used, multi national companies keep telling everyone, including the tradesmen that their products are the best... only problem is they are inferior in every way. For example according to their msds, natural outdoor decking oil from Cabots(dulux) is 60% kerosine, a cheap mineral oil.
The plastic and toxic nature of how we live has taken over.

Hi Mel,

If you are after a completely raw natural looking floor, there is a environmentally friendly German water based product called Invisible Protect that may interest you. Oil products such as Whittle wax will give you a lovely patina but are not as durable as the water based polyurethane products such as Intergrains Enviro Pro or the Invisible Protect product. There is a image of the Invisible Protect at this link

http://budgetfloorsanding.com.au/brisbane-floor-sanding/floor-sanding-with-invisible-protect-timber-floor-finish/

These water based environmentally friendly timber floor products are both worth considering.

Regards Glenn

The finished producted. 130yr old Rimu boards finished with Synteko Hard Wax Oil, no colour added. We are very happy. There is a slight satin sheen, and they smell absolutely beautiful (as opposed to poly). This was 2 coats. They do need a 3rd, very dry thirsty wood. Will get our floor guy back after all other trades are finished.

Thanks to LesleyH, Whittle and John for your advice. I had Mark from Glenmore Park Flooring do the job, despite his reservations. I made very clear to him that we were not seeking perfection- they are 130yr old boards, laid green and now gappy, sign of borer....never going to be perfect, but they are to us ;-)

Beautiful!