Just saw this. What did you choose? Coffee Brown is the greenest of the DuraSeal stains. It could be lightened up with Neutral but the lighter you go, the more the red will show through.

Contrary to the claim above, nearly every American oak stain chart I've ever seen uses red oak.

the floor guy recommended another option: dark walnut and ebony mix. It was way TOO dark. We tried English chestnut, honey, special walnut, and provincial. I admit, i didn't love any of them. I ended up going with provincial but it doesn't look anything like the sample wood chip at the store or the photo on Duraseal or Minwax website. It's frustrating.

It's beautiful....but did you ever view a test patch with a coat of finish???? This looks like raw stain without a coat of finish. I will tell you the red/orange will POP out at you as soon as they get a finish on it (especially if it is oil based or oil modified).

It has probably darkened due to the lack of lighting. This is quite common and would have been spotted with some colour swatches on the floor.

Cancork floor: thank you for your responses and advice. I appreciate it. The photo above is the raw floor without the poly. The floor guy used a method whereby he didn't wipe off the stain with a cloth but rather went over it again with lambs wool with extra amount of stain. He called it feathering. I think that method made it darker. . Choosing floor stain has been harder than I ever imagined.

Part of choosing a floor color starts with the wood you lay down, because wood has a color that can't be ignored. Also, some woods stain more evenly or easily than others.

If you have your heart set on X wood in Y color with Z finish, talk to the flooring people BEFORE you buy anything because it might not be possible. And then decide if it's the color or the finish or the species is most important.

Oh...dear. Please be aware that a double coat of stain can lead to FAILURE. Yep. His technique is a repeat stain application which is normally considered a "no-no" in the industry. It has a MUCH HIGHER chance of adhesion failure than a single coat of stain.

Stain is meant to be rubbed on...and then "X" amount of minutes later is wiped off. The WIPING OFF is what allows the stain to grab. I suggest you document, document, document and document. Then READ the instructions for DuraSeal. If the installer has done this wrong (some use this technique to good affect...others don't know any better and have helped ruin many floors before they "learned") and the adhesion of the finish FAILS...you have an avenue that is well documented.

Without that documentation, you will have a battle on your hands. In medicine we have a saying: "If in doubt, document, document, document."

Good luck and I hope he hasn't ruined this floor.

Unfortunately Cancork is correct. Leaving stain on the surface can lead to adhesion issues. Using a solvent based finish rather than water based might help a little but you'll need to have the floor finisher reassure you that he'll do it over if the finish starts peeling off.

Thank you cancork and jfcwood! Thankfully I told the floor guy that I want the conventional wipe off method because the double staining method made the floors look too dark. Whew!!

thanks so much for your advice!!