Anyone who has the luxury of an old 1900s timber floorboards is, in my view a very fortunate Houzzer and would have a very difficult time trying to get anything today that remotely resembled those boards. I have a Queenslander from that era. All Queenslanders has tongue and groove Hoop PIne floors and they were nearly always covered in newspapers with "lino" ( made in England) over the top...so were well preserved. The advice I received about these untouched floorboards that had been seasoned naturally for many years prior to use was to initially "feed them" with a mix of kerosene and pale boiled linseed oil and then stain them if I wanted then give them a couple of sealant coats that would still allow them to breathe. I opted for just a kero and pale boiled linseed oil sprayover whenever they looked "thirsty" and I've used thick rugs to protect them from wear and tear. I've had them like this for 30 yrs or so and am very, very happy with my floors...and they are soft wood. Every couple of years I douse the floors with turpentine as this penetrates the timber and prevents termites, then continue on with the stain, kero and linseed oil mix...then get them buffed. That's just my story that may be or not a little helpful, I was born in Victoria so am familiar with the balck Japan satin that was used down the boards exposed each side of the hall runners....and the boards were the wider ones. Its a pity that multiple sandings compromise the tongue and groove..sometimes such floors need reinforcing from underneath. After acertaining that, maybe a light.soft timber "overfloor"rather than a hardwood would be the go although quite a bit of maintrnance for the first few years. You could stain it any colour you wanted. by getting a light to mid brown or teak stain and give it several coats allowing drying in between until you were satisfied with the colour. Its a good thing to keep in mind that timber flooring from that era was very well and naturally seasoned for years prior to being sold for use...the idea was to seel people timber that would last. I have put on a couple of decks here and am rather disappointed to see that the newer timbers are showing signs of wear and deterioration whilst the original timbers are still as unblemished and solid as the day they were used to build my old home. I think that was a very good lesson for me. All timbers today are kiln dried for expediency so, since they were not permitted to "age gracefully": and gently they are not naturally strong. If ever I do any more timber renos to this place I will be sourcing old timbers form places being demolished. These often cost more...but there's method in that madness! I'd say to anyone wanting their floors to stand the test of time...Buy old timber and treat it as it would have been treated of old. Should have some photos of these floors somewhere. I'll post them if I can

Hi, I had a Spotted Gum Timber Floor ( 10mm Real Solid Timber Single Planks ) in a penthouse apartment for 8 years . It was pre-coated in high gloss clear from the factory . When it was laid it was necessary to have a noise reduction 3mm foam under layer ( apartments underneath building noise requirement) . This method of installation actually made the floor very quiet and it also made it a little softer to walk over . When it got any scuff marks, they just easily wiped off with a damp cloth. When I sold the penthouse, the floor was in exactly the same condition as the day it was first laid - first class. It was only ever cleaned with a steam cleaner , no chemicals whatsoever . I would certainly recommend the pre-coated polyurethane gloss finish on the real timber planks to anyone, it was great ! You can just see a glimpse of the kitchen floor in the attached two images. Good luck with your specifying . High quality surface finishes normally stand the test of time . I have added a couple of extra images of the penthouse for interest. We did the interior design fit out after buying the shell from the developer. It was a stunning sky home . Cheers LAADP

Can you post a close up picture of the wood showing the grain, please?

Look at 'Iron Ash'. Its a treated version of what you're after. Don't know anything about it but seen it recently on the web. Overall avoid Merbau as mentioned above, as well as being an imported 'sustainably' managed timber.... Use local product's when available as they're manufacturered to high standard's, supporting local job's, companies must meet tight regulation's, etc. unlike other countries....