Water based red oak or stained?

10 years ago

We've got red oak floors (oil based finish) with red oak handrails on the double staircase and balcony. Our stair treads are carpet grade pine which we're planning to replace with oak. We have all walnut furniture from Room & Board. But...we're stuck with the oak here - too much of it to replace.

So should we do a water based finish on the oak floor & treads to make it as light as possible or doing a medium neutral brown stain?

Any thoughts on which would be better with the walnut furniture? Would water based red oak treads look weird?

In either case, we have a pretty dramatic double staircase and were thinking of staining the handrails medium or dark. They're the builder grade light oak now and i loathe it. Would that darker stain on the handrail look better with stained floors or natural?

Posting the realtor photos (not our furniture in these!), and an example picture of our furniture.

I don't have a good overall of the staircase - it goes up to the left, and back down to the right, bordering the family room (2nd pic).

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Comments (4)

PRO
Bluebonnet Builders LLC
10 years ago
It might be too much darker stain if you stain the red oak. It's also likely that the handrail will lighten up if it is sanded down. We just did a project with red oak and a water based polyurethane that turned out really light and classy. I think that look would contrast nicely with your walnut furniture.
dmeyring thanked Bluebonnet Builders LLC
dmeyring
Original Author
10 years ago
Interesting, I hadn't thought of trying to keep the handrail light as well. Do you happen to have any pics of that you could share?
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Missy Bee
10 years ago
I like it as is. If you go dark your furniture will be too close in tone. I know dark wood floors are the in thing but how long will that last before classic is back? Yours is classic.
jhmarie
10 years ago
I see the light to medium tone wood tones frequently in homes that come into my inbox from various decorator blogs - especially in beach homes. Natural to mid-tone wood tones are in homes from a hundred years ago to today - so more timeless, though it goes through times when it is not on trend. It is basically a neutral that will go with any type of furniture. Your furniture does not need to match your woodwork - and in fact would be better not to. I am not seeing the really dark floors as much as I did a few years ago.

Water based finish does not amber over time as much as oil based does, but generally both finishes look very similar when first applied. I use water base because of the low odor, but takes twice as many coats as oil.

You may dislike your staircase because it is not your style, but it is not out of style.

If you can afford a stairway redo, then do it in your preferred style. Donate the very nice pieces you have to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore Store in your area.
dmeyring thanked jhmarie