Are These Red oak or white oak floors? Stain Ideas
Hi There!
I am ridden with anxiety over our hardwood floors.
I know this is nearly impossible via pictures but are out there any pros that can tell me if these are red or white oak floors. Initially, we loved the samples the designer showed us see pictures 5,6,7 below, but they are in white oak (bona white and bona birch). We did not think much on it, but now that the floors are in and we are getting ready to test stain colors on our floors, I learned that red oak doesn't stain well in a light colors and could end up looking pink. The contractor agreed that the floors could end up with a light pink color, so I am assuming they are indeed red oak. When I asked if they were red oak he completely ignored the question. I absolutely do not want a pink undertone floor. The designer never mentioned any concerns about our floors turning pinkish, so maybe she knows something I don't. When I said that we may like to sample some medium colors I receive a reply telling me that at this stage they would only sample the two colors (bona white and bona birch).
He literally wrote "For the wood floors; the technicians will be sampling Bona White and Bona Birch. The samples will be available for you viewing Monday afternoon with the intent of staining Tuesday. Our typical process at this phase in the project is to apply one or two samples recommended by your designer, to the floor and you would approve one to proceed with. Deviating from this process can cause costly delays, especially with a project of your size".
Are these red oak (pictures 1 &2)? Can red oak look good in light stains? Should I push for a few other stains, is it too much to ask them to test a few additional color samples? There is nothing in the contract saying that we can only test two. I personally think that it would be much more costly to have to re-sand and re-stain, but maybe is normal to only allow two samples.
Thank you all for your help!
First two photos are of new hardwoods on our home ( are the red or white oak) they were supposed to match the wood we had originally in our entry and kitchen ( third and four photos). Pictures 5,6, 7 are the samples the designer showed us in white oak.
1) New recently installed hardwoods
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3) Hardwoods in the home (they will be sanded and refinished)
Pictures 5,6, 7 are the samples the designer showed us in white oak.
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Comments (26)
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Can you match white oak s floors with red oak floors?
Comments (6)Same here. I extended my carpeted area to hardwood flooring. My contractor put new red oak in place of white oak and the stain stick out like a soar thumb. I don't know what to do. We haven't poly'ed yet. Any suggestions please?...See MoreStaining red oak cabinet trim to match white oak.
Comments (2)yeah, i don't think you can make red oak look like white oak. i have several french antique pieces in european red oak. it is very dark, and i love it. i bought some antique chairs recently to go with a red oak table. i thought they were dark too, but they are in white oak. i believe that i can make the white oak chairs darker, but vise versa is another story. i would definitely make him redo those cabs in the wood that you chose. he should not have changed that without your permission. i hate it when i pay someone for a product/service and they just take it upon themselves to do what they want to do. my poolbuilder moved my pool about a foot and a half without telling me. i noticed it was not lined up with a planter after it was built and he admitted that he had done this. i guess its too late to make him fill that pool in and re-dig another one a foot and a half over. but, i would consider cabinets a different story. make him do it over....See MoreRed Oak vs White oak - natural or stained
Comments (7)I like White Oak better than Red. It works better with a certain color pallette and is less grainy when stained. I have natural color White Oak in my master bedroom. Traditionally flooring here was White Oak when stained, Red Oak when natural, but that's going quite a long way back. Two things to consider. 1) The floor in the pictures looks almost certain to be #1 Common grade. White Oak will have some substantial color variations, especially in a grade lower than Select. 2) $1.00 per square foot additional for staining sounds like a lot. We charge $0.30 per square foot to go from natural to a standard stain. It takes a bit more time to make sure you've sanded out the small scratches that typically wouldn't show up on a natural floor, but you're not adding an extra coat. You're simply applying stain instead of clear for the first coat. I could see if it was a small area and might require lots of samples but not 2000'. Maybe he's charging for the stain as a separate added operation and still applying the same number of surface coats. Or possibly he uses a better (ie more costly) crew to do the stain jobs. Or maybe I'm not charging enough!...See MoreRed Oak Stairs with White Oak Floors
Comments (17)To be safe go with the same in both areas, but for a specific answer.... It depends. There really is no single thing that is Red Oak or White Oak. There are at least ten different types of trees that produce White Oak and ten different trees that produce Red Oak. Many White Oaks are "redder" than Red Oaks. So in the end, you have to just look at the two woods side by side. In Red Oak the pores are open, while in White Oak the pores are plugged (this, rather than the color tendancies, is the absolute difference). White Oak is for boats because it is resistant to water damage, Red Oak isn't. With some effort they can be stained to look virtually identical and neither deepen as they age, so that color will remain consistent, however, they take stain very differently. Red Oak soaks up stain while White Oak leaves most of the stain on the surface of the wood. I prefer White Oak everywhere, I love White Oak for kitchens because of its resistance to damage, in the end though, I wouldn't make a decision based on the Oak species of my floor although I would try to be consistent... Good Luck...See MoreMari Rojas
3 years agoMari Rojas
3 years ago
PROBeth H. :
3 years agolast modified: 2 years agoSJ is the pro on the wood finishes, so take her advice.
have you seen this discussion?
https://www.houzz.com/discussions/4766317/bona-nordicseal-on-red-oak
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white Oak w/the Bona Natural
white oak
Staining red oak w/the bona to get it to look like white oak. you could try this
https://aloprofile.com/how-to-stain-red-oak-to-look-like-white-oak/Mari Rojas thanked Beth H. :Mari Rojas
3 years agoMari Rojas
3 years agoMari Rojas
2 years ago
jjam
2 years agoIt’s very hard to judge colors accurately with photos but here are some pics of our floor. They are red oak with duraseal weathered oak and two coats of bona traffic water based sealer.
The kitchen photo shows an area that needed repair after finishing (on the left) that is new unstained wood.
They can look different based on the time of day, lighting, and what other shades the furnishings have. But overall the look is light, and not yellow. Can’t say there is no red at all since they are red oak but it’s very neutralized by the grey in the stain.
Good luck!Mari Rojas thanked jjam
PROMDLN
2 years agoLook at the lines "rays," are they short/red or long/white? (Your photos are not close or sharp enough.)
- PRO
- PRO
MDLN
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoYes, can do sodium nitrite test.
ITEL gives you more information about the wood than just red or white.
PROG & S Floor Service
2 years ago
Nafiseh Masoumi
2 years agoMari Rojas
2 years agoLaura Shoulders
2 years agoMari Rojas
2 years agolast modified: 2 years ago@Laura Shoulders - Floors are still covered😞. This is the renovation that keeps on going. But below are some pictures of the floor cover pull back in two spots. The white cast in the perimeter is dust.
Mari RojasOriginal Author