Natural red oak floors no stain

Hi Maria,

Table of Contents Show

What Is The Best Stain For Red Oak Floors? Can We Stain or Seal Red Oak And Remove The Pink?
Protecting Your Floors
Red Oak Flooring Vs White Oak
Pros and Cons
How do you make red oak floors look natural?
What is the natural color of red oak flooring?
How do you keep red oak floors from yellowing?
How do you make red oak not pink?

We are embarking on a similar situation - we decided to go forward with installing red oak flooring in our family room since we have existing red oak floors in our kitchen and dining room. The current red oak floors we have are in great shape, so the question becomes fully sand them all down and start fresh with a different stain or keep what we have, do a buff and add another water poly coat and then hope the newly installed family room floors will "catch up" and age to match a few years down the road.

To my surprise I learned that our current floors have no stain color in them at all, just the protective sealing coats (water based). They are about 10 years old and tone a warmer orange, not the nasty orange (you know the ones I mean) and not yellow. Actually, quite similar to the finished edges that show in your picture just maybe a little deeper/darker. Did you have a stain/do you know what color stain you had on them before sanding? Maybe they were already "natural" and that is how they aged? Our floor guy says they grow darker with age. Which makes me wonder if you have to do something "more" to them to prevent this color change that happens with age? No matter what color (or not) you choose, keep the shine down with no more than a satin finish. I think they look more natural that way too?

To address your question (and also my concern) on natural red oak floors looking dated...I am not a fan of all our oak - however, I am finding that it is more of the trim, doors and floor moldings in oak that bother me more than the floors. We have begun a transformation to a painted (antique white) on trim, doors, windows and moldings in the kitchen and couldn't be happier. The floors look great with it. I love the softer gray wood floors we all see out there, but hear they can be tricky and quite a lot of work to achieve due to the pink/red tones in the red oak.

Sometimes you have to embrace, love what you have and not try to make them into something they are not. Dated? Maybe. We live in the Upper Midwest and both red and white oak are very common but that doesn't mean it has to be north woods. I still have long hair but no longer wear it like my big hair 80's days. You update, change, refresh it a bit. The goal for us is an updated traditional/transitional vibe that still has stylish touches but remains warm, homey and timeless. I think we can get there and am sticking with the natural red oak :)

Good luck!

we are having our floors redone soon. I had the first flooring guy over last night to give me a quote. He said the current finish on our floors was a cheap Minwax finish. the floors right now are a golden oak color. very yellow! I mentioned that I think we want to stain them to obtain a more light brown color. He said "you don't want them stained" he kept saying that we wouldn't want that. He uses an oil based polyurethane. He said that alone would darken the floors and bring out the color in the wood. The guys seemed knowledgable and he comes highly recommended from a coworker who also used him.

Then I found this picture on houzz. I like the color of this floor and in the comments section they said it was natural red oak with just an oil based poly finish. So, I am asking is it what I should expect if I just had the guy sand my floors and coat them with 3 coats of oil based poly??

I will show it to him as well but I probably won't see him again unless we decide to go with him for the floors. I think I should talk to a couple of more flooring people before deciding.

Here is the Houzz pic

Red oak flooring is one of the most commonly used hardwood floors, mostly because it’s (relatively) affordable, and durable. We chose white oak floors for our previous new build. We are currently renovating a home that already has white oak floors so we are matching those. I get questions all the time about red oak and my thoughts on making the flooring look up to date.

source

Using Red Oak In 2022
- What Is The Best Stain For Red Oak Floors? Can We Stain or Seal Red Oak And Remove The Pink?
  - Staining Tips and Ideas
- Protecting Your Floors
- Red Oak Flooring Vs White Oak
  - The Color of Red Oak
  - The Graining
  - White and Red Oak Flooring Cost
  - Hardness
Pros and Cons

Red oak was very popular during times when certain stains and finishes were trendy (hi orange floors of the ’90s!). That being said, red oak isn’t out of style and orange floors aren’t your destiny if you have red oak floors. There are ways to stain the oak to minimize or even hide the orange undertones. Keep reading for trendy stain finishes and ways to make red oak look great!

source

Red oak floors refinished with a light stain

What Is The Best Stain For Red Oak Floors? Can We Stain or Seal Red Oak And Remove The Pink?

You can stain red oak floors to get a beautiful light and beige color that’s all the rage right now (white oak is the new popular kid on the block)… but not without going through some headache! Red oak just doesn’t take as well to lighter colors as white oak does. There are strong pink or yellow undertones that will pull if you simply whitewash or give it a light white stain.

We tried a few samples on red oak:

The herringbone floors with the blue tape around it is red oak. The straight narrow floors in the back are white oak. In the photo above the red oak has two coats of the sealer on them.

This photo is from a flooring mistake – my installer put in the wrong type of floors, so I had red oak sitting next to my white oak. Impossible to match! This is had to be corrected. But I wanted to post the above photos because they could be helpful.

Here the coats are again, this time with 3 dried coats of the sealer. The Bona Natural Seal looked the best in my opinion and would have been my choice! Natural had more warmth and less pink.

The Nordic seal showed some salmon pink, and it was a touch Scandinavian, but it’s worth considering because it looks nice! Classic was beautiful but slightly red.

Staining Tips and Ideas

Using no stain and just a clear sealer (like we did) is an idea to keep the wood light, but be aware it’s not going mask the natural pink tones in the wood. Adding a clear top coat (I prefer water based!) will give you a light look but at the same time deepen the natural undertones in red oak.

If you are wanting that perfect “natural” wood look that’s everywhere in new construction right now and you want a stain, I would mix a few together. Below are a few different stains I suggest for trying. These are light and should cover up the pink enough and bring out the warmth of the wood:

Duraseal stain mix of 60% Fruitwood and 40% Country white – the fruitwood is warm and the country white should mask the pink
Duraseal Silvered Gray is also light, and the green undertones in the color reduce pink/yellow tones
I would not try pickled oak stains alone, they won’t mask the wood’s natural red and yellow undertones. But pickled oak could be nice mixed with another stain.
Bleaching the red oak, followed by staining it is a more involved process. However, the bleaching process will take some of that red out, and staining it after bleaching would bring the warmth back.

source: Pinteresting Plans

Above: red oak flooring stained Duraseal 60% Fruitwood and 40% Country white

If you are choosing a medium to darker stain, you have no worries. Those darker stains get soaked right up and hide the salmon color, leaving you with the same end result as a dark white oak.

source

Protecting Your Floors

Lastly, I recommend sealing your floors with a high traffic water based finish, as opposed to oil polyurethane. Oil will amber over time more aggressively than a water based finish. With a wood floor that already has strong orange undertones to start, better to play it safe! Matte is preferred in the trend world right now, but it can be hard to make it look clean. I used satin and I’m so happy with it!

Red Oak Flooring Vs White Oak

White oak flooring is similar in many ways to red oak floors; both are similarly priced, durable and have similar graining. To the untrained eye, you can’t usually tell the difference depending on the stains used.

Related: Read about our white oak flooring and our experience finishing it and buying new here.

The Color of Red Oak

The most significant difference between the two floors is in the color of the wood. Red oak has strong pink and yellow undertones that certain stains can bring out and darken more than others. White oak naturally has more beige and brown undertones, but red oak doesn’t take as well to beige stains.

The Graining

Red oak floors have a heavier and more dramatic grain and pattern. The advantage to this is that red oak floors can hide scratches and dents more than white oak, within the grain.

White and Red Oak Flooring Cost

Overall red oak is just about as costly as white oak floors overall, but price fluctuations are common. Currently in my local NC area, red oak is just slightly more affordable.

Hardness

Although there is a slight difference in the hardness level, with white oak being of harder density, my flooring installer told me it was so slight that it’s inconsequential. He told me better to choose the flooring that appeals to you more for personal reason, but don’t base it on density.

source: Houzz

Above: 5” plank #1 red oak with minwax weathered oak stain with water based sealer

source

Above: Red oak flooring with a Duraseal Country White

Pros and Cons

Red oak is stain friendly and will soak up stains easily due to the porous nature, but the yellow undertones are not currently in vogue and what a lot of people try to mask. However, red oak takes stain better than alternatives like pine.
Red oak is durable, which is why it is a favorite in the industry. If the floor is damaged, sanding it down and refinishing is an option.

Above: a medium stain on older red oak floors, made of a custom mix

white oak floors in our previous bedroom

Shop: Rug | Bench | Bed (similar)

How do you make red oak floors look natural?

Using no stain and just a clear sealer (like we did) is an idea to keep the wood light, but be aware it's not going mask the natural pink tones in the wood. Adding a clear top coat (I prefer water based!) will give you a light look but at the same time deepen the natural undertones in red oak.

What is the natural color of red oak flooring?

It is hard and durable, and it takes a wide range of colored stains quite easily. Red Oak undergoes a medium degree of color change over time, with a slight ambering of the pink/tan brown color you get when freshly milled.

How do you keep red oak floors from yellowing?

Use a water-based stain to avoid any yellowing in future years. Avoid high-gloss finishes – they were common in the 1990's and 2000's, but are now out of fashion. Before applying your sealer, combine and mix all containers into one large container/barrel before applying.

How do you make red oak not pink?

Notice how green is opposite of red on the color wheel. This means that adding some green to a stain will help neutralize or hide the red in red oak. Plus anytime you mix a primary color with its opposite on the color wheel, you get brown. And that's what we're trying to achieve.