New floorboards - wax or varnish?

[biffandchip]

Will be laying new floorboards soon and will need to decide on colour and finish. I had thought about waxing them, dp wants to varnish - can anyone tell me the pros and cons about either?

bump - there must be somebody who has done one and wished they'd done the other

We used Osmo coat on ours. It is a cross - thistle oil but sets like a varnish. It is completely water proof but has no obnoxious chemicals.

Waxing feels nice barefoot & smells lovely but are you prepared to rub on & then polish off the wax at least once a week in high traffic areas? Plus wax gets water stains on it - my mum (who has wax &positively ehjoys the polishing) won't let anyone come in through the front door when it's raining in case of splashes from the mat / wet foot prints.

Varnish is more hard wearing but can ce very shiny looking. Water proof though. Varnish also less good for dusters-on-feet skating.

Another vote for Osmo here - great stuff.

I have asked my husband as he is a proffessional hardwood floor layer so I believe I might be of some help in here
:). Varnish is the hard finish, and if you want to opt for hardest one you should go for TRAFFIC. It comes in matt, satin and gloss. It's apparently as endurable that you can walk with high heels and it won't get scratched:) but 5 years down the line it slightly changes the colour (towards yellowish). Osmo is a soft finish, it's oil wax, it gives the wood a natural look and it hasn't got any obrasive chemicals in it but it needs to be maintained at least ones a year (buffed and re-oiled). Another option is oil- TRITEX. It's symilar to Osmo. Ask your floor people to make samples with various staines and finishes. This should help you decide.

Yes, we used Osmo on Oak. Used Treatex first but there was some mix up with whether or not the builder applied stain before or after Treatex - the stain kept scratching off easily . So we had to sand it down and start again. Second time we didn't both with stain and just went for natural oak with Osmo...i can recommend it.