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Building a Home Flooring

Top coat for red oak stair treads

5 years ago

We have red oak stair treads in our new home and I love the color when left just natural, but I know we need to seal them with something and wondering what kind of top coat would leave the most natural look? There will be carpet going up the middle of the stairs so that ends will show plus the posts will show. What would be the best top coat for red oak treads?
Will this water based polycrylic clear matte work? If I could leave them barenaked I would because I love that natural look, but I realize they need protection.

Featured Answer

ksc36

5 years ago

That isn't meant for floors. Try something like this:

https://www.bona.com/en-US/Bona-Professional/Products/Coatings/Waterborne-Finishes-and-Sealers/Bona-Traffic-Naturale/

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Comments (11)

dan1888
5 years ago
You'll have to test different products to see what you are happiest with. I find General Finishes products high quality and easy to use. Minwax not so much. Here's their matte clear.
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I am top coating it with SW satin varnish. Weedy, yes we did paint the stairs!!! It worked out very well. Then, we removed the last of the carpet in the house and got some gorgeous, dark maple to replace it. I found out that there was a stair nose to go with the maple, and asked my husband if we could also do the stairs and landing. He said, let's do the landing and we'll just stain some new treads to match it. I had brought home a tread for him to look at before we took the carpet out, and he elected to sand and paint rather than replace. That's how things work around here sometimes. Sometimes he over-rules me, and then sometime later, he has to do it the way I originally asked . I think painting the treads is still a good option in a lot of circumstances. It also is more suited to a more country styled home than a traditional one.
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Darker is BETTER. Like in sewing seams on a garment, it is better to do DARKER with the tread than it is lighter. Jacobean stain has been used successfully to remove the red from red oak. If don't properly, the Jacobean stain (like water popped treads) will come VERY close to the tone/colour or the DARKER stripe in the feature wall. To keep the country theme, you can have the RISERS painted WHITE. The WHITE will help the Jacobean 'pull off' this change. A small bit of separation from the floor colour, the tread colour and the feature wall colour is all that is needed to FOOL the eye into thinking everything is tone on tone on tone. Water pop + Jacobean stain + ONE COAT of finish. Remember: the FINISH is what will add more yellow/orange (oil based or oil modified poly) or NOT (water based poly....like Bona Mega One or Traffic or Traffic HD). Find out the FINISH for the treads. You will be picking blind if you do not have a coat of finish over the stain.
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Gaby what did you end up going with? Hi a have been through one contractor already because he would only put a clear on the floor as a sample why I ran around picking out stain colors! And now I have hired somebody else but he is an available to start till November. So I would love to know what you ended up doing to get the best possible outcome on your red Oak!
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Thank you! I do have photos, but the floors are covered with ram board to protect them and I have not done the railings yet, so the photos dont really show anything. In hindsight I should have taken more photos prior to starting the work. The stair nosings on the landings have started to sag & slope so initially I only wanted to jack them up a little & install shims, but quickly realized that there were more issues going on here, unrelated to my stain color question. One was that when they set the treads, they were about 1/2” away from the wall, leaving these strange gaps between the end of the tread and the moulding it butted to at the wall. It was very difficult to clean and unattractive. Im also adding a much deeper & thicker moulding up the wall to allow the treads to appear closed ended to the moulding.
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SJ McCarthy
5 years ago
I'm not fond of Minwax (low grade stuff meant for DIYers who are unable/unwilling to pay for higher grade stuff) and I'm even less fond of a polyacrylic (I've yet to find one that is tough wearing). There's a reason very few PROFESSIONAL grade products (the one's that are more than $100/gallon) are polyacrylic.

And as ksc36 points out, if it does not SPECIFICALLY state "flooring" on the can/label, then it is most likely meant for furniture or trim (which Minwax does quite well with...simply because it is cheap, easy to find and does NOT need to be tough).

If you must use "off the shelf" stuff (because you are DIY and don't have access to a professional's tool kit/knowledge base) then work with Varathane Diamond Coat Floor Finish. It is tough and clear (no yellowing) and will do wonders for a stair tread. It should be $80/gallon. Go ahead and find the satin...or if possible a matte (but I don't remember seeing a matte in that line up).

If you are using a professional to do the work, get them to bring in Bona Traffic Naturale or Loba 2K Supra AT Satin. These are the BIG BOYS of the floor finishings world. They are magnificent products with magnificent wear characteristics and are non-yellowing.
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
5 years ago
Based upon another thread, who are you going to have apply the coating?
Teri Ziegler
Original Author
5 years ago
Mark, I am hiring a painter who has experience. I am not having the Builder do this. S he came over today to give me an estimate.
dan1888
5 years ago
There is a trade off here. As you've stated the trafficked area of the tread will be covered with carpet. No one will be walking on the wood side areas. They are entirely decorative. For that reason their visual impact is 100% of the utility you're looking for. The finish I've suggested is aimed squarely at that end goal. By no means is it primarily a floor finish. It's a furniture finish not meant for the hard use of foot traffic. If it preserves the highest amount of the visual characteristics you are looking for it's meeting your primary intent. Try some of the harder General Finishes water based finishes in matte or flat for a harder finish. Enduro Conversion Varnish is one.
PRO
Oak & Broad
5 years ago
As already mentioned Bona Naturale' is a great product. You will need to have an experienced professional to apply but it will be worth it.
nini804
5 years ago
Is there a reason you don’t want it to match your floors?
Teri Ziegler
Original Author
5 years ago
Nini, I don't want the doors to be as dark as the floor. My house turned out way much darker than I expected with the California Blue Pine (a lot of it being dark blue) covering most of my cathedral ceiling. I'm trying to make up for that by having many things in my house light colored or white. It seems to be helping. It made me claustrophobic and overwhelmed before I did some of the white and light things.
PRO
PPF.
5 years ago
Do the treads already have a finish on them? The newel post is raw oak, but the treads look different.
Teri Ziegler
Original Author
5 years ago
PPF, nothing has a finish on it yet. I see what you mean, but I haven't put anything on the stairs or the post yet.

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