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Flooring Design Dilemma

Help! Stairs between two different wood floor species

5 years ago

We have a quad. Top floor has original natural oak floors. Lower levels have natural bamboo. Both sets of stairs (full set between top level and main level and half-set between main and lower level) are natural oak.

i feel the stairs don’t “match” well with bamboo floors. What are thoughts on staining stair treads a darker stain so they look very different from bamboo floors vs having them just look like we’ve attempted to make them match not looks off?

Three pics: first two are our house (one from main level looking at stairs going up, on at maiN Level looking at stairs going down) and third is a sample of dark stained stairs next to natural stain floors. Thoughts? Other ideas/suggestions?

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Comments (2)

SJ McCarthy
5 years ago
Your stair treads appear to be stained. Simply sand them and then refinish them in a natural finish. Be aware that the stair treads MAY BE red oak (which is CHEAPER than white oak).

If they are white oak, a natural clear coat (water based polyurethane) will NOT amber or turn a deep orange. I think this has happened to the stairs...or they have a medium stain added. It is hard to tell from your photos.

Please add a close up of a stair tread. Please try to photograph a step with the bamboo showing as well as a tread with the upstairs oak showing. That way we can see what is happening.

Normally you try to match the stair tread with the PUBLIC area flooring - which I'm assuming is the bamboo. The private areas (normally the upstairs where the bedrooms exist) are stand-alone areas and do not need a match to the stairs.
acm
5 years ago
I think that they are comfortably darker than the LR floor, and nobody will be confused. Use your energies for other projects...
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Thanks all... really helps me to visualize. Part of my dilemma is that our BC are, though beautiful, pretty standard 3-inch, glossy strips. The floors I am considering for the kitchen are hand-rubbed or hand-scraped looking. Not only do I like the look but they are a more forgiving floor in turns of what shows. It's difficult to find a 3-inch hand-scraped floor, though I think at least matching plank size wouuld be a good idea. Would love to see more...
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Stairs should match the floors. Period. You need new bamboo treads.
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Red oak and white oak are both "oak" . Which is the same as saying they are both TREES. But so too are cherry, maple , walnut. fir, African Mahogany and lowly pine! in NO WAY do they take stain color the same way. A factory finish won't get the red out of a red oak, and nor will an on site finisher unless it is water popped to go quite dark. Grain can appear nearly same or quite different, depending how it was cut. "Despite their similar names, these two woods are very different. there is only one true species of red oak (Quercas rubra) and of white oak (Quercas alba), but there are 20 other varieties commonly grouped under the “red oak” or “white oak” heading based on their characteristics, so the possible color variations can be significant." You missed Oak and Broads, point. PICK ONE floor and match the treads.. Rather than make brain surgery of a relatively simple decision? : )
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