Have you refinished red oak floors?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Our neighbor did it and it is light, not pink at all. Oil based stains will make it orangey.

This is what it will look like:

https://www.facebook.com/MoiHardwoodFloors/videos/2457413607705422/

Maybe, maybe not. I saw ours when they were sanded and they didn’t even look this neutral then so I doubt a clear coat would neutralize them any further. We did walnut stain. In retrospect I’d have gone a little darker maybe 50% walnut and 50% provincial

[Anonymous]

We did a 50/50 mix of Rustic Beige and Classic Gray. It totally took the red out. If I had to do it all over again, I’d probably go with 75% Rustic Beige. But we still really love them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Our neighbor did it and it is light, not pink at all. Oil based stains will make it orangey.

This is what it will look like:

https://www.facebook.com/MoiHardwoodFloors/videos/2457413607705422/

Maybe, maybe not. I saw ours when they were sanded and they didn’t even look this neutral then so I doubt a clear coat would neutralize them any further. We did walnut stain. In retrospect I’d have gone a little darker maybe 50% walnut and 50% provincial

I’ve seen blog posts about using Nordic Seal to get a similar feel to the link above and it looks great.

[Anonymous]

https://aloprofile.com/how-to-stain-red-oak-to-look-like-white-oak/

[Anonymous]

Above link shows various stains to make red oak look more like white oak, ie less pink or orange

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Above link shows various stains to make red oak look more like white oak, ie less pink or orange

Thanks, that's helpful!

[Anonymous]

Is polyurethane water based? Not OP, but that's what's in our proposed reno contract. Wondering if we should change it.

[Anonymous]

Kept them natural with a tung oil finish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is polyurethane water based? Not OP, but that's what's in our proposed reno contract. Wondering if we should change it.

OP here - I've done some additional research and it sounds like the Bona water based sealants are best for this.

[Anonymous]

Look at what she did with hers:

https://chrissymarieblog.com/red-oak-flooring

[Anonymous]

We refinished and used Duraseal dark grey and the floors look amazing. This was part of a big renovation removing the colonial look of our 90s house, now the style is more updated/transitional. It’s key to test multiple different stains and when you narrow it down do 2-3 in another area. Agree- don’t be rushed!

Light stains do not work as well on red oak as it’s impossible to get rid of that pink/red tones. Darker helps a lot to saturate.

I wish red oak was tougher. We get dings and dents so easily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We refinished and used Duraseal dark grey and the floors look amazing. This was part of a big renovation removing the colonial look of our 90s house, now the style is more updated/transitional. It’s key to test multiple different stains and when you narrow it down do 2-3 in another area. Agree- don’t be rushed!

Light stains do not work as well on red oak as it’s impossible to get rid of that pink/red tones. Darker helps a lot to saturate.

I wish red oak was tougher. We get dings and dents so easily.

You can get rid of the red/pink tone. There is a poly that has a bleach in it that removes the red/pink color. We used it and our floors look amazing! If you use an oil-based clear, you will get the red/pink color.