I am in the process of refinishing an old oak floor. After sanding off all the old stain/finish, I found that while the bulk of the floor is white oak, a small section had been patched with red oak. I’d like to apply a light stain to the floor. How can I blend in the obvious red oak? I’m thinking of bleaching the red oak with oxcylic (sp?) acid and then staining it to the approximate shade of the white oak and then staining the entire floor. Does this make sense?
Thanks!
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Depending on the size and location of the red oak patch, it may be easier to just replace it with white oak. Color matching may be somewhat problematic and the grain patterns probably won't match very well.
Thanks for the suggestion. I had considered that option but the patch is in the middle of the floor and consists of about 35 boards. I was hoping for a less drastic option, but I may be out of luck!
Wow, that's a big "patch"!!
Do you have a carpet store close by that sells area rugs? - lol.
Lovely oriental rug...
How did the color match before the stain/finish was removed?
I would be hesitaint to replace the oak since it's next to impossible to match even the right species when you include the age of the wood. It probably will not help. Unless you can harvest flooring from closets. Those would have to be big closets though.
Trying to lighten Red oak. Don't attempt that. Most peaple can't tell the difference. Your best bet is to go with a darker stain and possible recoat the white oak to match or you will be lucky and it won't be so noticable.
The area rug is always a solution.
The floor was covered by wall to wall carpeting until recently. The patch was unfinished wood, where someone had taken out a closet (?) and then patched it before putting down the carpet. Just goes to show you that you never know what's lurking underneath!
my first thought was why couldn't you notice it before the oak was stripped?
I have seen "white oak" that had a red or pink appearance... are you sure you have two different species or just variations of the same species?
Here is an interesting page about the differences between the two species....
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Distinguishing_White_Oak_from_Red.html
The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -Albert Einstein
http://www.peteforgovernor.com
Thanks for the web site referral. The original floor seems to be much older than the patch, so perhaps that is why I see such a color difference. I put wood bleach on a scrap piece of new red oak and it did take alot of the red color out of it-leaving it more of a brownish/tan tint. After drying I intend to stain it and a piece of white oak and maybe the color difference will be minimized. If not, I guess the rug idea will start looking good!
You might ask your question at the Knots (woodworking--right after "Other Discussions" at the top of this page) forum, but I would think dye might work better than stain, at least for the initial matching process. Your sure this color difference isn't due to oxidation or sun? (Made me wonder when you mentioned the rug.)
Oxalic acid will lighten the color, but 2-part peroxide bleaches will remove all color. Did you use a peroxide base?.
I used Kleen Strip's two part system, which I've had for several years. Although the company told me the products were probably expired and that I should throw it out it I tried it on a scrap piece and instead of completely stripping the red oak, it just took out the red and left it closer to the brown tone of the white oak. I cut Minwax Fruitwood stain with paint thinner and put that on the red oak to further enhance the brown tones. Then stained the whole floor with Minwax Cherry full strength. It actually came out pretty darn good. Much better than I had anticipated. Since the original white oak floor has variations in color, the patch is not noticable now. I don't know if I would recommend this procedure to anyone else, since it was time consuming and relied on an expired product, but somehow it worked for me. Now for the fun part (?)-three coats of polyurethane.
Sounds like it took some time, but the results were worth it. You should pat yourself on the back for going the extra mile. Unfortunately, there are too many people that wouldn't have made the effort. Congratulations.
I forgot to mention ( afterthough). White Oak is not a good candidate for Wood Bleaching. It has a tendency to turn green or brown. I wonder if your patch was White Oak?.
Try a gel stain, on the whole floor.
Wipe it on a small area at a time, wipe off. Blend in the patch or the main body of the floor with more coats.
After you are happy with the color test a small area with your chosen clear coat. If all looks well finish the floor with the clear. Sanding lightly between coats with 220 grit paper and cleaning off before you recoat.
Good luck
Patch? More like there was accidently a bundle of red oak with all the white during the install.Want to know how I know this? You can find the missing white oak in the middle of the kitchen at my rental - the rest of the house is red oak. Thanks, Home Depot. Especially since you don't even STOCK white oak. How did it get there?