Have you refinished red oak floors?

[Anonymous]

We have a 90s house with that orangey red oak floors that we'd like to refinish. I'm curious if others have refinished those old red oak floors and what stain+finish you used to make it a little more modern. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Honestly they’re coming back around. Just pick analogous colors for paint and furnishings.

[Anonymous]

Yes we did. At their best, they’re never going to look super up to date. And I doubt the mid 90s orange look with thin strips will ever come back in, despite what the previous poster says.

But water based top coats are much better than the oil ones of thirty years ago, which naturally hued red - and on red oak, really went ugly orange. So with todays water based clear top coats and no stain or I believe a green undertones stain (but double check me on that one - there’s an undertone that helps tone down the red), you can get them into a more neutral brown with slight pink undertones that’s more palatable. They’re never going to look like todays popular wide plant rift sawn white oak, but you can get them to not look so vile and be more neutral - which is a start!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a 90s house with that orangey red oak floors that we'd like to refinish. I'm curious if others have refinished those old red oak floors and what stain+finish you used to make it a little more modern. Thanks!

I absolutely love red Oak

[Anonymous]

My red oak are a nice medium brown. I’m having some other work done that will mess them up so I’ll refinish them. I’m hoping for lighter but not white oak want to be

[Anonymous]

I love red oak. Money well spent. You will choose no stain or a stain.

[Anonymous]

We did ebony on red oak. We like it. Neutralizes the red.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly they’re coming back around. Just pick analogous colors for paint and furnishings.

OP here - we would stick with them except that (1) the original owner of the house had rugs in the exact same places for 30 years and we do not want rugs in those places and (2) the wood in the kitchen is in bad condition. No idea what they did, but there are scratches/it's worn in a few places. So we really do need to refinish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes we did. At their best, they’re never going to look super up to date. And I doubt the mid 90s orange look with thin strips will ever come back in, despite what the previous poster says.

But water based top coats are much better than the oil ones of thirty years ago, which naturally hued red - and on red oak, really went ugly orange. So with todays water based clear top coats and no stain or I believe a green undertones stain (but double check me on that one - there’s an undertone that helps tone down the red), you can get them into a more neutral brown with slight pink undertones that’s more palatable. They’re never going to look like todays popular wide plant rift sawn white oak, but you can get them to not look so vile and be more neutral - which is a start!!

OP here definitely not expecting it to look like what's "in" now, just a little more updated than super glossy orangey-red that is faded in some spots but not others, LOL! Thanks, I'll do a little research into green undertones and water-based coatings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a 90s house with that orangey red oak floors that we'd like to refinish. I'm curious if others have refinished those old red oak floors and what stain+finish you used to make it a little more modern. Thanks!

I absolutely love red Oak

OP here - um, okay? I have no problem with the fact that the floors are red oak, I just need to refinish them at some point and am wondering if folks have refinished them and if so, what stains they have used.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My red oak are a nice medium brown. I’m having some other work done that will mess them up so I’ll refinish them. I’m hoping for lighter but not white oak want to be

That would be totally fine. I don't actually want the very pale floors that are popular now (and it's my understanding that you can't get that color with red oak anyway because they'll look pink). Some of the trim on the floors in my house (like the transition between rooms) is the same or similar color but more of a matte finish and it looks so much better than the glossy orange-y finish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did ebony on red oak. We like it. Neutralizes the red.

Is it really dark? Is what people say about dark floors showing everything true?

[Anonymous]

We refinished them and did a clear, water based finish (no color whatsoever) and they are gorgeous now! Fairly light.

[Anonymous]

We sanded/refinished red oak strip floors which were 30+ years old in a few rooms. I forget the exact color, but the stain was Minwax. Everything was selected to match the stain on the other portions of the existing wood floors. It also has a polyurethane clear coat on top, to make it waterproof.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We refinished them and did a clear, water based finish (no color whatsoever) and they are gorgeous now! Fairly light.

Not OP, but wondering whether anyone has photos of this kind of clear finish on red oak? We have the same floors and want to make them look nicer without going trendy. I was thinking darker but maybe that's not necessary.