White Hardwood Floors

White stained hardwood flooring was quite popular in the eighties and early nineties. However in recent years demand has fallen considerably. Many prefinished manufacturers offering white appearances have followed suit by discontinuing their lines with the exception of Mirage Hardwood out of Canada.

There are other companies worth noting, however Mirage's flair for top drawer quality and overall standing in the business is almost second to none. The white stained product sold is available in both nail down direct to wood subfloors or glued to concrete.

When it comes to whiter finished hardwoods specifically with prefinished, quality should be exceptional. Without it, the installer is likely to grumble. On an individual note I recall doing many white 2 1/4" solid strip floors for a builder on Sanibel Island, Florida in the early nineties. Folks, any marginal white product will show every flaw imaginable. In this case we practically bought cases and cases of white caulk used as filler for the joints on a "special" builders grade product.

Now we probably have you horrified of going with a white wash stain. Other options would include having the floor installed unfinished, stained, and finished with the desired gloss level. To minimize the expansion and contraction, a good quality unfinished engineered hardwood would be the best choice. Times have changed with high quality unfinished engineered hardwoods available best suited for this application.

Owens Plank is the forerunner in unfinished engineered flooring. Species include red and white oak, more friendlier products that take white stain better on the jobsite. Sizes range from the more common strip flooring all the way up to six inch wide plank. Wider planking can be special milled at substantially higher prices.