Should I paint or stain staircase/fireplace/doors to match hardwood?
Hello. I need opinions please. A couple years ago we ripped out a small area of honey/orange oak in our foyer and put a darker hardwood in with red undertones. I love the hardwood but my staircase, fireplace, railings, and doors into our den match the old orange oak. Does it clash with our new hardwood? I'm wondering if I should try and stain the staircase a couple shades darker to match the floors...
Our house had cheap faux wood trim throughout and we replaced it with white trim but I still have some areas to finished (ex- trim around the doors into our den still have the old trim).. It's like a never ending process.
The pics aren't the greatest but you get the idea. And no matter what you see in the pics, I promise the color differences are very noticeable in person. My camera doesn't exactly catch the true colors, but my hardwood is many shades darker...
Thank you! :)
Bad lighting below.. but you can clearly see the difference...
fireplace and railings are much lighter than our hardwood
Comments (7)
klem1
8 years ago
PROChristopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
8 years agoRelated Discussions
New Hardwood stairs and existing stair stringers
Comments (16)Just checking on the cherry. Can't say I'm too fond of oak myself. There are few instances where balustrade removal and replacement work out too well unless you're disassembling the stair re-milling and reassembling it. Even then unless you are talking about a stair that's made out of a rare or exotic lumber that would exceed the cost of the time and labor of doing so It is not often the best practice. I would still use care taking it apart and use it to make something else. How solid are the newels, are they loose surface mount or do they go into the floor? Iron is nice. You can either use a metal rail or wood on top of it. For a long while iron/steel balusters were a bit less expensive than wood but now they are comparable. The wood rail will usually be less expensive than the metal and easier to install. Newel posts can be either as wood newels match the iron quite well. A few of the things I was mentioning about not being correct in the drawings were the balusters and newels. The newel is an Arcways product whose turning is sized for the 30" rail heights of days long gone by. Note the extremely tall base. The balusters are StaiParts Inc. made for the same. The upper turnings don't even come close to matching the rake of the stair which is common for too many stair part manufacturers. Even with the stair and balcony rail set to the highest height in order to use a closer matching baluster combination to make it less noticeable. Arcways however does have some fabulous rails and fittings, checks their small orders for matching, offers cherry as a stock item and will sell directly to homeowners. They also carry iron and steel balusters. I believe OakPoint sells direct and Crown sells through Brosco/Brockway Smith, 84 Lumber and even a few Lowe's locations as well as numerous stair companies. Use the dealer locator on their website. Both have a good selection, have cherry as stock on some of their profiles, good quality and a product line that looks correct for todays codes. "Solid" or one piece treads sound nice but they are not really what you want unless they have relief milling on the underside and even then it's not much of a guarantee against checking or cupping especially if they are only 3/4 thick". How will the 1 1/4"+ overhang hold up? Construction adhesive and a finish nail through the top of the finish isn't going to last too long and will squeak like crazy after a while. A typical tread is 1 1/16" thick and will be made of three to 5 pieces. Cherry treads are most often made "in house" from random width/length material and a good stair shop will cut out any sap wood, match the grain and the leading piece will be well beyond the riser. Engineered treads are also available but like everything they have their pros and cons and I think the cons still outweigh the pros. The open left end should have a return nosing mitered into the front left corner and extend past the next riser by the same distance as the overhang with a scotia below. That is the dark piece I am showing on the edge of the tread in the image above. If you go through your phone book or search for stair companies or stair manufacturers and not stair part manufacturers you should find a few. If you call a stair parts manufacturer they will direct you to someone in your area that they sell to. I was looking for the dimension of the face of riser to face of riser or the run. I'm assuming 7" is the height? Floor to floor height. From the top of the plywood where the upper stair lands to the top of the vinyl on the landing and from the top of the vinyl on the landing to the top of the vinyl(?) in the basement. If the vinyl is flat I would agree with keeping it in place if the glue has failed and it's lifting remove it and in either scenario use a quality felt paper underlayment. Did you already place the order with the millwork shop? How soon do you need to get this done? I really think it would be in your best interest to explore all avenues and plan out the whole project before you buy anything. As Casey noted above it is often cheaper to remove all and replace. It would take you less time to install the two units than it would to even do one single tread....See MoreHardwood - stair area
Comments (0)I might as well ask about this too. Recap, installing hardwood throughout the house except for laundry room and bathrooms. DH wants to leave the entire stair area alone. I'm sure he'd be fine with it as is forever. I'd like it changed at the same time as the flooring. We're installing oak (probably red) with a medium brown stain. This area is a visual mess. At the very least I'd like to replace the railing and newel and the painted L landing base or whatever it's called to match the new floors. The handrail doesn't need to be there but DH thinks we should leave it because it's already there and 'helpful'. Well I don't want new everything else and a dark painted handrail. I'm not interested in stripping and staining it. I guess the other option could be to actually replace the handrail with a stained one. (Of course, that someone else stains to match the floors.) I just think the handrail adds one extra thing to the visual clutter. The stairs have dark painted treads to match the railing and the risers are white. We'll stay with white painted spindles. Could we replace everything I just talked about and keep the treads painted or is that just weird? Also is it an option to replace just the L landing piece to match the floor and keep the rest as is? And because someone will probably mention it or at the least, wonder... the crazy wall trim was apparently to cover drywall horror. When we had the basement finished we spoke with the drywaller about fixing this stair area and he wouldn't touch it. I'm sure there's a drywaller out there who would but we don't have plans to change it at this time. Honestly, I forgot how stupid looking it is until I take a photo. FWIW, stairs lead to finished basement....See MoreHardwood floor stain-does it all need to match?
Comments (11)You are welcome to have two different wood colours on two different levels. You can get them to "work together" by changing the stain on the BANISTER and the edges of the treads. Yah. I know. You don't want to touch them....but the problem is the the banister/treads BELONG to the MAIN LEVEL flooring. Remember: anything that a "visitor" can see from the "public" level of the home (bedroom levels are normally private areas = often the upstairs areas) SHOULD BE coordinated. If you want a darker floor but do NOT want to change the banister/stair treads, then it is logical to change the UPSTAIRS floors and not the main level floors. Why? Because the banister/treads belong to the main level = public areas = needs to match. The choice is yours....but please be aware that the two colours you have are showing above, do NOT blend well together. That means the main level wood is going to CLASH with the banister/tread colour. And that is normally a "no-no". If you want darker, then I suggest getting a darker version of the UPSTAIRS colour. The gray/black is going to cause a BIG clash with the warm brown. And that clash will force you to change the stairs....See MoreStair riser painted or install hardwood?
Comments (10)Shoes are not allowed in my house. I love white painted risers and if there are no shoes involved, then it isn't a problem. I don't like carpet on stairs because I would rather poke my eyes out than vacuum carpeted stairs. As for iron or wood spindles, it's just another fad thing. In the 60's and early 70's everyone wanted wrought iron. Then it wasn't "in" so everyone went the wood and turned spindle route. Then it's back to wrought iron once again. And don't forget the polished brass nightmare that made everyone go to nickel, then oil rubbed finish, then to black and now brushed brass. I always just stick to polished chrome as that never goes out of style and is timeless. Painted risers have withstood the test of time. I also like painted spindles. Do what you like and try not to be too influenced by flighty trends....See MoreUser
8 years agoklem1 - thanks for the feedback. You wrote- "If the floors actually have areas showing gold,it might be possible to keep some of the oak by painting some of it blue,green or blue green shades"
My floors do have different shades, some look orange/lighter/goldish... Are you suggesting I paint the fireplace mantel, staircase, etc a totally different color like blue or green? (If I'm correct in understanding what you're saying then... ) It's funny you mention that, because 5 years ago I painted my orange oak cabinets with a soft gray, but lately I've been wanting to replace the uppers and paint everything a darker blue gray. If I did that then I could match other areas of the house. thoughts (?)
before-
after-
I'm no pro by any means but I do have the time to DIY should that be an option.
My walls are a soft yellow, so painting them could help too, but I do like the current wall color. I like your suggestion of starting with the mantel first... If that goes well then I could try the staircase... Which I know will be a pain.
klem1
8 years agoUser
8 years agoklem1 - thanks so much for the reply back and info. I realize my taste isn't going to fit every ones but I have picked all my choices thus far and probably will continue to.
It comes down to me truly hating that orangy oak. I despise it. I have seen it in different settings and it looked fine, but in my house - I hate it. Think 90s builder grade with orange oak and brass everywhere - -that's my house in a nut shell. Yuck. I'm starting to like brass again but the orange oak is still repulsive to me.
I'm starting to ramble sorry.. Anyway, since I can't stand the orange oak that's why I started wondering if I should change the stairs, fireplace, etc... It's because I see hints of that orangy color.....
I'm slowly making the house my own. Last year we updated our master bath - tore out the builder grade orange sink, carpet, old shower and replaced with a new vanity that is similar in color to my new hardwood, and we love it...
Changing all the trim to white, painting the doors, etc - it's a lot of work.
The sage continues...
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
klem1