Replies

1. 
   OneofmanyBobs | Nov 21, 2003 12:15pm | #1

   Oil based stain is easier to apply without lap marks.  Not the most pleasant smell, but Watco walnut thinned maybe 50% with odorless spirits or deodorized kerosene ought to work.  A dye-based stain will keep less of the light highlights in the wood, and you really have to work fast with a water-based stain.  I've not tried that on something as large as a floor and can't say offhand what brand.  Just start very light and do several applications to keep the color even.  If you want the best look, you have to do both a dye and a pigment stain.  The dye colors everything.  The pigment preferentially colors whatever it can bite into, grain, cracks, joints, etc.  Experiment on scrap first.  Everything has to be finish sanded before you stain and buffed afterwards.  The waterbased dyes will raise the grain a bit.

2. 
   jjwalters | Nov 21, 2003 01:25pm | #2

   Red oak is a very easy wood to stain all kinds of colors.....don't blotch ......it even looks good natural........go to a good paint store and get a color mix stain you like

   There are fast carpenters who care..... there are slow carpenters who care more.....there are half fast carpenters who could care less......
3. 
   dgarrison409 | Nov 21, 2003 02:47pm | #3

   I'm a diy'er when it comes to finishing hardwood floors but I have learned a few tricks from watching the pros.

   I always use minwax oil based stain. The easiest way to get the color you want is to mix the color stain into their natural. That way you can apply it with a lambswool applicator and not get it too dark.

   The recipe I ussually use is:

   3 qts natural

   8 oz early american

   8 oz red oak

   This gives a nice light brown color which resembled the old floors in my house. You can experiment and probably get a good match.

   Normal application for me is to mop it on with the lambswool (after it is completely sanded of course) and then go back with an old towel wrapped around the applicator to remove any excess about 30 minutes later. Be sure to let it dry at least as long as reccomended (24 hrs ?? ) before using a water based poly. I sand after the first coat of poly with 220 paper on my 6" random orbit sander. This takes a while but I'm too cheap to rent a buffer.

   
   

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   Edited 11/21/2003 6:48:48 AM ET by DougG

4. 
   luvmuskoka | Nov 21, 2003 03:42pm | #4

   Chuck,

   Are the old red oak floors plain or 1/4 sawn? Are you installing new 1/4 sawn? Red or White?

   Staining plain sawn red oak floors will increase the color difference between the spring and summer wood. Conventional staining methods will not "even out" plain sawn r.o.  'Water-Popping' or 'raising the grain' , (wiping the floor with a damp rag), the day before staining, will create a much deeper colored floor. Water-Popping must be done properly. 

   I will post some pics tonight of  stain samples on different cuts of oak.

   Ditch

1. 
   Quickstep | Nov 21, 2003 04:33pm | #5

   Good point on the difference between the quarter sawn and plain sawn. In my case the old floors are plainsawn, the new will be quatersawn. There's no place where they meet however, the plain sawn are all on the second floor, the quatersawn will be installed on the entire first floor, all new. The steps of course appear on both floors. By the way, after some time to think about it, I'm not looking for a radical color shift, I just want to diminish the redness. I was hoping someone had a tried and true recipe........