There has been discussion towards getting light red oak with less pink.

Bona Red Out + Nordic Seal on Red Oak? (houzz.com)

Bona Red Out anyone? (houzz.com)

These are easy to use with instructional videos available for your contractor from Bona. Or use a finisher with Bona credentials. DuraSeal may have a similar product, but we don't know how it works.

Hello @dan1888, thanks for your post and links. My floor will be stained by a company who uses ONLY DuraSeal. I cannot recommend they use Bona because they ONLY use DuraSeal. While some contractors are flexible in their product, my contractor ONLY uses DuraSeal.

I hope this is clear. I wouldn't be chasing down a stain that is unavailable to consumers if I didn't have to.

Needless to say, my first attempts are moot.

Or should I say “mute” because you can barely see the color. Either I’m not putting enough on, or combinations are decent.

Photo here is left to right all mixed with Country White 50/50.

Fruitwood, Neutral, Weathered Oak

Photos Fruitwood, Neutral, Weathered Oak mixed w/Country White 50/50.

I will post again after using another spot with more stain.

Next area with the three colors. Sorry I forgot what these were and I’m in between meetings so I didn’t label. I saturated the rags, made nice circles. This is how they dried.

Weathered Oak, Neutral, Fruitwood (may not be actual order)

Duraseal is ONLY offered as ambering oil based products. NOTHING is available as a water-based and therefore non-yellowing stain. So, you're limited as to what you'll be able to achieve when compared with the current top water-based water clear finishes used by up-to-date professionals and manufacturers of prefinished flooring. You can make the stain color you like paler, according to Gail at Duraseal by adding their Neutral or Natural oil to the color you choose. Natural will lighten and add yellow when compared to Neutral, which will lighten with less yellowing. You mix even up to 75% Neutral with the stain. Trial and test.

I feel blessed, along with the other members of the forum, to live where there's more than one company who can finish floors. Of couse, I have no trouble in communicating with people about my goals.

This is another try using EVEN MORE stain. Labeled appropriately time. Directly above them are the first attempts using the same combinations but less stain. The small dark spot with the red X is Neutral by itself.

@dan1888, DuraSeal has water based poly which will be used as top coats.

As you can see I am using. Neutral here. If you would like to speak to all the GCs who use DuraSeal, you are welcome.

I am attempting to make due how I can so I can get the renovation I want. It irks me because you sound like every single person I encounter who always says NO for absolutely no reason. You have no dog in this fight. There is zero advice to get accurate samples. Not from floor stores, contractors, or even Duraseal themselves. I’m at least taking initiative and trying.

This is a drying photo of the stain above with the red X. Taken about 24 minutes apart.

L/R Weathered Oak, Neutral, Fruitwood all with Country White 50/50.

Also, to note, Fruitwood has very green undertones. The stain looks green when you open the can. Neutral looks like very light soy sauce. Weathered Oak looks gray.

I will add photos later I’m just trying to give as much info as I can. These were all questions I had while researching.

Had you posted before choosing a company, where would you be now? Following the recommended steps in the posts. Easy as pie. Much further down the path many others who have successfully worked toward the same goal you seem to want. By getting the cart before the horse you are going to have to fill the open grain with something light. Then sand or wipe(unlikely) to get that light stuff off the non grained areas. Then finish. It can look good if the finisher is skilled. Definitely go with the water-based topcoat. Matte if possible. One good thing is those are a lot better than Minwax.

I’ve been renovating my home for almost a year now. A few months ago in passing the GC told me to choose my color using DuraSeal. As a non-expert I didn’t realize I had to learn everyone’s job in order to choose a stain for a floor.

Why would I post the same exact questions of others when others had not even been accurately answered or their answers did not apply? I’m not using Bona, or anything else. I’m adding value by at least answering questions that nobody had the answer to. Thanks for adding to my ‘rithm though.

I don’t know what your problem is but I have all the time today and I’m not w/the sh**s. You have no idea what you’re talking about. Do you even lift bro?

Your posts are valuable. Now, if someone's contractor says they only use Duraseal and nothing else, they can instantly respond by finding another professional to handle that portion of the renovation. Or they can get their home renovated how the contractor sees fit. And you're showing where that goes. When I built my home from scratch, I did the research. I didn't need or use a GC making choices because of that. Keep lifting after the fact, bro.

I'm glad you built your house using your own bare hands and researched down to every nail and screw of what to use and that DuraSeal is the absolute worst company to use for stain.

Some of us aren't so lucky and so we use the internet and alas, despite being so horrible, DuraSeal is still in business.

My life is moving on and I will not lose an ounce of sleep. But please remember that even sitting on your high horse doesn't make you above others. Enjoy.

Weathered Oak, Neutral, Fruitwood.

About an hour after first photo.

Taking G&S’s advice, I water popped an area. I’m running out of areas. This is the result. I’ll post another when it dries completely.

Weathered Oak and Fruitwood both mixed w/Country White 50/50

Forget any of the faddish white based stains. It just results in pink floor. If you want a classic light colored floor, don't do any stain at all. Just clear coat it with waterborne finish.

Same area as above dried.

Color looks good.

You have uneven water popping. There should not be water marks visible.

Thanks. I'm not an expert and this is just a tiny sample on my floor. I'm still bristling that I had to purchase stain and figure out things myself...because I'm not an expert.

What did you end up using? ive been trying to get the floor guy over to test stains but not a great response.

Hi @chrissysue52 I ended up using Country White + Fruitwood, 50/50 mix. Or rather that's the colors I gave to the contractors to do the floors. They definitely look different, although everyone's eye and taste will differ. Photos show the difference between regular red oak nonstained, and the stained.

Left is the start of the stain. The team had to stop this area because they found water damage elsewhere in the house. You can see how it looks when it starts. This is different than my samples looked, but I guess it's right?

The stairs on the left are stained and have two coats of water poly. The floor on the right is still just red oak no stain.

Thank you for sharing.They look fantastic !

Do you have anymore pics of the country white and fruitwood stain in your home?

J. Bijou, Would love to see additiinal photos of the fruitwood/white blend please.