What's the price difference from the stair guy? What percentage of the total cost does that represent?

Since this is a lifetime commitment, I would be very tempted to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for as long as it takes to make up that price difference. I like to make difficult decision by asking a version of the following question: will I regret this decision in 5 years? It sounds to me like you will be very, very happy with white oak throughout, and not so happy if you compromise now.

Thanks for the response, I was getting sad listening to the crickets! I'm already at the Ramen noodle stage - the house was supposed to be move in condition but I've had to basically strip it down to the studs. I've pushed it when the item was structural, like an improperly vented roof, but can't justify spending any extra on aesthetics.

So, it boils down to having mismatched stairs and flooring (giving me the color floor I prefer) or matching red oak throughout (giving a more harmonious flow and perhaps a more appealing overall look).

How big a deal is it to have light floors and dark stair treads?

On the bright side, I've already sprung for hardwood over carpet, so I try and remind myself not to whine about red vs white and to be grateful instead.

Maybe you can try white poplar risers with white oak treads to match the floors. This will allow you to save some money on the "non essentials". The white really provides a nice contrast and if you get the risers made out of poplar or mdf it is significantly cheaper than hardwood. Since there is typically no traffic on the riser, it will not effect performance.

I like the white risers with white oak steps. Also, maybe if your flooring person

sees you are looking for a compromise to get the price you need he might work

with you to get the white oak lower on the whole job. But I do like the white risers

for country, cottage and rustic styles.

Thanks for the idea. They will be open riser stairs, however (with two steel 1/2" bars breaking up the space where each riser would be to bring it up to code). So - the budget constraint still applies. (The stair guy buys red oak treads in bulk so white oak would be a custom order that he has to pick up, pay more for and put more prep work into, so that's why white is so much more.)

Maybe if I upgrade the banister to white oak? So floor and banister would match and treads would be complimentary color? Any ideas on how to make it work even without upgrading the banister? The square spindles, posts, stringer and walls will be white, banister stained to match treads (or if upgraded, floors). Maybe the stringer should be light gray? Or maybe that just makes it more jumbled.

I love the idea of asking the floor guy to charge less, but he already gave me an amazing deal of white oak and water-based poly for the same price as red oak and oil-based poly and he is giving me contractor pricing since he was a direct referral. Plus the stairs are $2,000 more for the white oak option (the house is a split level so it's four runs of stairs). Um, yeah, I wish it was only one flight, too!

I highly suggest you get more quotes on treads/install labor from other stair guys. something doesnt seem right with 2000 more for the WO option

It's more a reflection of how much below market his standard red oak option is and as stated, that it's actually a whole mess of stairs - four runs. He was my fourth quote.

Anyone out there have an opinion on how important it is to have stairs and floors match and/or how to make non-matching work?

I see non-matching floors and stairs rather often. I usually assume that, the house had a wood stair, an owner wanted a wood floor and wasn't content to have the stair color dictate the color of the entire floor. Most of the time I see a lighter floor with a darker stair. I've also seen stairs where the treads were one color while the newel posts and handrails were a complementary color.

Water-borne urethanes often doesn't bring out a lot of color in the wood, so the color difference, while noticeable, might not be that drastic. Perhaps the sealer cost or first urethane coat on the treads could be tinted slightly to counteract the reddish hue somewhat.

Thank you JFCWood! I'm thinking light with darker treads. Does the mismatch create a subconscious, jarring note? Or do you find the mix pleasing?

I was wondering if the poly or stain could be tinted! Or the boards washed with a 50/50 paint/water. Why wouldn't green or blue balance out the red/yellow? I haven't seen anyone talking about this online or in the forums, though. Do you know if it's actually possible? Info links?

Hi, zellycat2---I'm dealing with this same issue now in the house we are building. Light white oak floors and red oak stairs. Had I known that white oak stairs were an option I would have certainly done that. What did you end up doing in your house?

I ended up getting the red oak stairs and the white oak floor. Did white oak, no stain, water poly. Stained the stairs darker to make it look intentional. I might have been able to get away with keeping the red oak stairs natural, too, if the floor installers had been asked to, and they had looked for boards that were redder and installed them near the stairs. There were some boards that looked like red oak.

Here's the thread and pics ...

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/red-oak-stairs-do-i-install-white-oak-floors-or-red-dsvw-vd~3697644[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/red-oak-stairs-do-i-install-white-oak-floors-or-red-dsvw-vd~3697644)

Make sure you read the part at the end about the nosing strip. That was a real oversight on my part.

(I miss my stairs looking like that - they look cluttered now with the railings.)

Thanks so much for your reply! That post was very helpful!