Hall floor to be sanded. Colour of stain. Advice please

littlerock

Am planning to have my floorboards sanded in the hall. Think I know what to expect but any advice welcome. In particular I want a lightish golden brown stain and was thinking light oak but looking on line this seems to vary from light brown to quite a dark shade depending on whose product used. Any advice on choosing colour. The boards are pine. Floor gets quite cold. Will sealing them stop draughts ?

Doozergirl

Insulate between the boards. I presume this is ground floor? The best thing is to either get in from underneath or lift the boards and insulate. It will make a massive difference.

You can practise with stains, like you do tester pots. Just put a bit on one sanded board. A solid board can be sanded again if you don't like the colour you put on.

littlerock

Yes it is ground floor. What do they use to insulate it? Do they sand then insulate as otherwise wouldn't the insulation get covered in sawdust? (And There as a large radiator in the hall with pipes to and from it). Apologies if this is a daft question, just trying to get clear picture in my head of the job.

We have a problem with moths round here. Don't want to make a potential home for them in the underfloor insulation. Does this affect what type to use?