The best thing about natural wood is it's durablility. I personally love the look of old oiled floorboards. Yes it's going to scratch and dent and ding. but that is the beauty of it. If you want a hardier surface that you can sweep and mop, then go for Boat varnish or Floor varnish over the top. It will make it slightly slippier and glossier to look at, but depends what you like. Our floor is varnished and we haven't had any accidents with the kids, grand kids or dogs yet!. When it's looking a little tired, then gently sand back and re-varnish. If I had my way again. i'd strip the varnish off and go for Fiddes hard wax oil. gives a great finish, protects the floor and comes in lots of different shades including clear.

Hello dwbekker,

Have you thought about painted flooring? There are so many colours to choose from and having tried many companies my choice for flooring would be Eico - water based, no smell and one of the most environmentally friendly manufacturing processes in the world. :))

yes, it's fine. we sanded and varnished ours 6 years ago. bikes/scooters have been ridden in it, we've had kids birthday parties, they've been smashed with lightsabers, had potty training accidents, sharpie marker pens, red wine spills, sparks jumping out of our log fire etc etc and they're still going strong. at one point we even had an indoor trampoline on them! I'm starting to notice bits that need attention, most notably the area in front of the fridge (we did all the boards downstairs in our Victorian house) but I doubt anyone else would especially notice. I like the look of aged, characterful wood.

I'd avoid painting them - not hard-wearing enough/ needs more maintenance than I'd be prepared to do, but if your kids are less feral than mine you might be ok.

I would agree with championcat. We had ours sanded 8 years ago & we are having them re-done this week.

I had line in Australia with a Labrador running over them and they were great

Love wooden floors. I'd agree not to paint them unless it's a wash of pale for a Scandinavia look. With kids around the house you could also do with a flooring which is protected from spills and stains. Instead of Fiddes hard wax I'd use patina wax - it's more of a gel texture and I find that it goes further and dries quicker. Wax all the way though.