Possible to get a blonde look with red oak hardwood flooring?

last year

Attached are some inspiration photos that I found when we first decided to refinish our hardwood floors.

Once the floors were sanded we realized that they are red oak. We then learned that it can be a challenge to achieve a light shade with red oak without the floors going too pink or salmon.

Any suggestions of products that would achieve a look similar to the inspiration photos would be appreciated. Of course these photos may not be red oak and therefore not be attainable. Any advice specifically on working with red oak is appreciated.

Included is a photo of the swatches we are currently considering. We are interested in a hardwax oil finish and leaning toward 1. Ciranova Hardwaz Oil Titan Matt - Pure or 2. Ciranova Hardwaz Oil Titan Matt - Pure with Ciranova Pink Blocker

Featured Answer

Kris... Mason
Original Author

last year

OP here. We decided to go the the Rubio Monocoat Pure on our red oak hardwood floors. We love the result. The wood looks very natural and alive. It has a good feel to it.

Now that we have the final product, I'm glad we didn't try to cover the pink/salmon with the green-tinted pink blocker and I'm glad we didn't use the white/smoke treatments that are so trendy right now.

We are happy we decided to go with an attractive version or red oak rather than attempt to make red oak look like white oak or maple, etc. This look wasn't our goal before we started this project because we didn't even know what type of wood we had, nor did we know about this issue light stains+red oak=pink.

The reason I came back to post is because it was pretty stressful for us to discover this red oak issue and try to make a decision in a really short amount of time. It is a huge decision involving a big investment. I hope that this information helps someone else who is in the same situation.

PS CMC Hardwood Floors in the Los Angeles area did our floor refinishing work and I'd highly reccomend them.

Comments (22)

PRO
G & S Floor Service
last year
If, using Ciranova hard wax oil system, using pink blocker along with any colors will help with reducing the pink and red.

Have you tried Natural white? That would be more inline with your inspo pictures.
PRO
JAN MOYER
last year
last modified: last year
I'd water pop the floor, perhaps bleach.....or try a white wash. But......

There is really nothing wrong with select red oak, sanded and a clear water base coat atop. Matte finish.

It's been around forever, and the obsession with nearly white floors is overblown. You'll never get this.......

If it's what you MUST have? You know the answer. Rip/KACHING$$$$
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PRO
Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
last year
Something with green in it could neutralize the red. Is that what “pink blocker” is G&S?
PRO
G & S Floor Service
last year
Yes, pink blocker contains a light mint green in it.
Kris... Mason
Original Author
last year
Thank you for the responses so far.

I wanted to clarify a few things. The wood floors are original to the 1954 house. Most recently, they had been a shiny dark brown/ebony. We have had the floors sanded and are now trying to decide on the finish.

We are loving how light the freshly sanded floors are. What I mean by that is we love the lightness in the rooms due to the light shade of floors.

Our inspiration photos are of rooms with wood floors that have a honey, blonde, champagne look. Our question is, can we get this look with red oak floors? If so, how?

We are NOT interested in a whitewashed, bleached, or Scandinavian look.

We prefer a more natural look vs. some of the finishes that could almost be mistaken for engineered wood.

Here are all the swatches we are considering (photo attached):

Row 1 (L to R): Invisible / Natural – System #3 / Smoke 5%

Row 2: System #3 – Ciranova Natural White + Titan White / Pure / White 5%

Row 3 (excluding the medium brown swatch) are all Pink Blocker: PB only / PB with Natural White – System #3 / PB with Pure / PB with Natural

Row 4: All the same as Row 3 but bleached instead of PB

Here are our TOP FOUR swatches under consideration and our concerns about that swatch:

Invisible (upper Left): It feels too unfinished and deconstructed, and perhaps the condition of the wood is not ideal for this option

System #3 – Ciranova Natural White + Titan White (Row 2 on far Left): Too salmon?

Pure (Row 2, second from the Left): Is the shade too dark and/or too amber/red?

Pink Blocker with Pure (Row 3, second from the Right): Visible green tint?

Any additional suggestions greatly appreciated!
PRO
JAN MOYER
last year
last modified: last year
I'd do this:

"Invisible (upper Left): It feels too unfinished and deconstructed, and perhaps the condition of the wood is not ideal for this option". ( first of your top four )

Stain, any shade isn't going to alter the wear teat condition, beyond the sanding. Any oak floor will amber over time. How long? Who knows? Depends light and lack.

At some point as with any.......it's a floor.

I just went through this with a client and after ten stains on the floor trying to determine the best with his cherry kitchen? We went natural, clear coat and it's great. So are the rugs, art, furnishings , lamps shades at the windows and on and on.

Floors are but one aspect. Important? Yes......but you can make yourself crazy. You don't go in someones home......and stare at the floor: )
HU-187528210
last year
I like the natural one as well
However,
In your inspiration, it seems like you like a little darker…? The photos you posted are probably closer to your 3rd and fourth contenders
PRO
G & S Floor Service
last year
Loba Invisible looks good on red oak. It will color change at some point.

Here is recent photo of a project we did last August with invisible.

Reclaimed red oak, lighting is a little poor.
PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
last year
G&S that's a really unique and lovely finish on the reclaimed oak floor.
RedRyder
last year
Natural red oak is pretty. Less stain, or no stain, will give you a lighter floor that doesn’t have that “bleached” look. We had red oak in our previous house. I left the kitchen (which required new wood) unstained and it looked great. The rest of the house was a light medium brown, but I loved the unstained kitchen floor the best.

Second row, all the way left looks the most natural to me.
PRO
Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
last year
That is a gorgeous floor, G&S. Reclaimed wood is awesome-I have a whole room full of antique heart pine--floors, trim, beams and mantel. Pricey but you can't get that look from new wood.
Kris... Mason
Original Author
last year
Thank you for the reminder :) I'm not a designer so I don't have much of a clue to what is or is not attainable. I'm in the thick of the decision making process. It will pass within a day or two and I'll go on living life on whatever floors I have.

We are planning for a hardwax oil or other type of finish, rather than the polyurethane. We like the low/no VOC's, more natural look, and better durability in terms of ease in making repairs.
PRO
G & S Floor Service
last year
Have you tried just Titan? Titan is clear.
Kris... Mason
Original Author
last year
I'm not sure. I don't believe we have sampled just that. Would it be similar to "Invisible"?
PRO
JAN MOYER
last year
Second that one!!!!
Kris... Mason
Original Author
last year
Thank you for all the suggestions.

We are in the final stage of making our decision for our flooring finish and leaning heavily toward Rubio Monocoat "Pure."

Pure would be less honey/blonde/champagne than our original inspiration and more on the amber/red side (We tried a sample of the Pure with Pink Blocker pre-treatment but the swatch unfortunately has a visible green tint.).

One thing that we appreciate about the Pure finish is that, barring any "design related preferences," the red oak wood really looks beautiful with this finish on it. It brings out a depth and spark of light to the wood.

There are some photos of Pure on red oak online that we like, and others we don't like so much. It is difficult to predict whether our finished floor will look more like one vs. the other.

For example, we like this example of Pure on red oak from the Rubio Monocoat website:

And we like this example of Pure on red oak from this website https://theflooringartists.com/projects/rubio-monocoat-pure-red-oak/

We don't like these examples of Pure on red oak as much (see below). Maybe it is the characteristics of the specific grade of wood itself, or some aspect of the application:
dani_m08
last year
last modified: last year
@Kris... Mason - floors look beautiful! I was wondering if you would tell me what the darker sample was: third row - first sample (the one that you didn’t list when explaining what was used for each sample). Thanks!
Kris... Mason
Original Author
last year
I don't know actually. It was a finish that our refinisher tried. I think that he just wanted us to see another possible direction, even though it wasn't what we were asking about. If you are in the LA area, the refinisher is CMC Hardwood Floors. Good luck.
PRO
Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
last year
Your floors came out great, @Kris... Mason!
Kris... Mason thanked Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
PRO
Kingsflooring
last year
If you want a blonde color you need to go water-based not oil let me no if you need my help 603 275 3220 kingsflooring my name is Elvis
RedRyder
last year
They look beautiful!