Update: Added pics. Quick help please! Hardwood stain color choice
mxk3 z5b_MI
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
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herbflavor
2 years agoHU-187528210
2 years agoRelated Discussions
refinishing hardwood and need opinions on stain color
Comments (10)both, Our floor is QS white oak site finished with a very light brown stain.White Oak tends to look more brown and red oak looks pinkish to me. The doors are red oak because White Oak doors were terribly expensive. That's why I went with English Chestnut it has NO orange in it. Our home was built in the 1980's. It had ugly brown pine trim and doors. We replaced the doors and replaced the trim with white but could not ignore the dark pine windows. So that's why I chose English Chestnut. I think it's not too dark and goes nicely with just about any paint color and also I think blends nicely with my cherry cabinets with brown glaze. This is an old picture taken during construction but it shows more of floor. lpshref="http://s302.photobucket.com/albums/nn109/mbstoffregen/?action=view¤t=DSCN0668.jpg" target="_blank"> before after Can't really see closet doors but they are english chestnut. hope this helps...See MoreAnyone install hardwood to match existing hardwood?
Comments (20)Redroze, I'm just getting back online and seeing your questions, so I'll try to answer what I can. My new floor in the LR/DR was not pre-finished, it was all site-finished. I did put a pre-finished floor down in my office (no pics, sorry) because I work from home and didn't have time to be without my office for the week it would have taken to have floor sanded etc. The pre-finished does have a different feel to it than the site-finished. I wouldn't say it's grooved, just a more defined difference in between the individual planks. The office doesn't adjoin any other room, except the tiled hallway, so I didn't worry so much about the wood being different there. I see from your pictures what you mean about running the planks the same way and wanting to be sure things don't look odd. One idea might be to take up some of your FR planks, like the first 12 or so, and then put them back down interwoven with the new planks. That way there's not a clear line in between the 2 rooms, but rather a more gradual blending. Here's another couple of pictures, this time of my family room. The first one is a before shot of the hardwood floor + a rug-like carpet. The floor created a frame around the carpet. I had the carpet taken up and new hardwood put in where the carpet originally was, then everything sanded and refinished. You absolutely can't tell where the old wood was vs where the new started. In this case, the new is random width because it opens directly to the kitchen (as opposed to the LR/DR which is all the same width). So, one house, all new site-finished floors in the LR & DR, all new pre-finished floor in the office, original/refinished in the kitchen, and half&half refinished + original in the family room. Boy did we have dust! Hope this helps! New:...See MoreDark hardwood vs lighter hardwood floors
Comments (61)When it comes to hardwood, trends are something to ignore! Why? Because hardwood is pretty much a lifetime purchase, and unless yours is damaged in some way, you're probably not going to replace it. So, light wood vs. dark wood, wide planks vs. narrow planks -- that stuff's all going to come and go. With that in mind -- as well as the very real concerns about cleaning dark wood -- I'll vote for a nice, neutral midtone every time. Not too much contrast, not too red, and (unless it's a beach house) not too pale. I think this is the wood that's most likely to give you good service and stand the test of time....See MoreHelp, I hate me new stained hardwoods
Comments (39)Update on our floors: we had them sanded and refinished, went with a custom SW wood classics stain, base was "new ebony" tweaked a bit to lighten up and avoid any reddish undertones. See pics below, water popped, stained and one coat of water base finish-they'll be covered with ram board until end of project and then floor guys come back for second coat of finish and any buffing (I think, if necessary), we might do a third coat for extra durability with the dogs. We'll see how the finish lasts over time, but there was barely ANY smell, that Swedish finish from the previous installer was horrific. In the end, the color still didn't turn out quite as dark as I wanted or how I had envisioned, however I think we ended up with a nice warm, deep tone that will be timeless, but still fits within the realm of what I wanted, within reason given the fact that I had envisioned rift and quarter not plain sawn. Regardless, they are sooo much better than the first go around, in my eyes, and well worth the extra cost. I'm sure this is nothing new to those who have already commented, but for anyone going through something similar, take it from me... nothing will ever look exactly like the pictures you use as examples (no matter how many times people warn you), you can get close, but even our new stain looks totally different when you're standing in the room vs. taking a pic, the pics show much more variation and make the floors look lighter, they're more even toned and charcoal in person, pics make them look more brown. And it changes in various light, you can tell from the pics below that it changes depending on where you're standing. These were all taken at the same time of day. Great learning lessons here for anyone installing new hardwoods, be sure you know the ins and outs of the species you are selecting and know that given the variability in the boards, the floors overall will never look exactly like the sample swatch they do on your floor. No matter how many times they tell you that, it doesn't sink in until you see it all finished. If you have your heart set on a consistent color/tone, I would highly recommend pre-finished wood floors based on my experience. As much as I don't like the engineered look (having had it before), you can rest assured that what you select will look exactly the same once installed. Thanks for all the help from folks who weighed in, and if you have any critical comments on the outcome or process-please just keep it to yourself :) I'm exhausted from this ordeal and am ready to move on and what's done is down at this point, just wanted to update folks and say thanks for the earlier feedback. Can't wait to paint lighter colors and get all of our belongings in there to pull it all together!...See MoreLyn Nielson
2 years agoAnna (6B/7A in MD)
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agojulieste
2 years agomalabacat
2 years agotdemonti
2 years agokculbers
2 years agoG & S Floor Service
2 years agomxk3 z5b_MI
2 years agoAnna (6B/7A in MD)
2 years agomxk3 z5b_MI
2 years agoElle
10 months ago
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Anna (6B/7A in MD)