Don’t stain for. It’s too pretty natural. That’s the whole point of using it. You might as well use something else if you’re going to stain it.

How about just a clear coat?

We have Doug fir posts on our 3 porches and like you I started experimenting with stains (some brown, some gray based) to minimize the natural color. Same exact scenario, running out of time, had to make a decision. Decided to use clear Penafin thinking if I really hate it we could add color via their stain finishes at a later date. In all honesty I had a hard moment of decision doubt when I saw that orange pop out on the first post and wondered if I'd messed up but stuck with it and finished the rest of them. A year + down the road now, I love it and am SO glad we embraced the wood we chose. The color mellows - you'll never mistake it for gray or brown but that's part of the beauty of that wood.

I’d love to hear how your stain turned out. I’m facing the same issue now.

@cheryl - I think it turned out great. I ended up spending a lot of time at the paint place having them try to come up with custom stain colors and then I ended up going to the wood shop of the guy building the timbers and he was working on another clients project and I liked the stain he was using on theirs and it was just a stain you can buy right off the shelf. It was a semi-transparent oxford brown. Slightly darker than my original plan, but no orange and the semi-transparent still allows for the wood grains to show through. If I remember correctly it was a Benjamin Moore exterior stain product. Here are some pics of the finished product inside and outside.

And another one

Hi Jeff , I am in the mist of picking stain for my raw sawn Douglas fir post and truss.
Would you have the name / brand /colour of the stain used? I think you nailed hiding the orange tone.

ive been testing out stain colors and i found the perfect brown. To cancel out the pink you need a green base so i used drift wood from minwax, let it dry and then put the dark walnut over it.

Just want to thank Jeff Olsen. I was facing the same dilemma and followed his suggestion with the Oxford Brown from Benjamin Moore. We are just getting moved in but I'm quite happy that the beams turned out exactly as I had hoped, without all the red tones.

Where did you purchase Benjamin Moore stain? I can only find Benjamin Moore paint. Thank you!

It’s called arborcoat exterior stain. It’s a Benjamin Moore product.

Hey Jeff - Was it the Semi-Transparent Classic Oil Finish Flat (328) or the Semi-Transparent Flat (N638). Thanks!

328!

@Jeff Olsen do you have any issues with peeling or mold growth? Where did you buy the stain?

@Zoey, I found the Oxford Brown Arborcoat stain at a local Ace Hardware store. Hope this helps.

Anyone having trouble with sap seating from their exterior Doug Fir beams?

I might try this three step process using Minwax Simply White 275, Fruitwood and Early American. Wiping off between appliances. See blog post:

https://www.lilyardor.com/how-to-stain-wood/#:~:text=For%20my%20stain%20I%20went,are%20by%20far%20my%20favorite.

I might try this three step process using Minwax Simply White 275, Fruitwood, and Early American. Wiping off between applications. See blog post:

https://www.lilyardor.com/how-to-stain-wood/#:~:text=For%20my%20stain%20I%20went,are%20by%20far%20my%20favorite.

Jeff Olson, how many coats of the stain?

How many costs of the Oxford Brown please?

I also battled this for a month, trying to find a stain that would cancel out the red in Doug Fir Timbers, but wanted them pretty dark. I also went to Benjamin Moore and used their Woodlux stain and probably did 10 samples until I had the local BM retailer do a custom mixture that is a mix between Cordovan Brown and Oxford Brown, and shot at 2X the colorant. The formula is below along with a sample of some beams done in the stain. I found Cordovan Brown 2X colorant (which are the timbers on the left in the pic below) is also very nice and what I did the outside of the home's timbers in (or will do in a month). Oxford Brown is on the right hand side and the custom mix (formula below) is in the center.

IMO… the answer is, and always has been, the color wheel. The guy who taught me to finish would have kicked me in my rear if I ever picked stain without a plan and understanding color theory was required to plan the finish.

Green tones down reds and moves orange to brown. Spend a few minutes on YouTube learning color theory for coatings. This will get you started but there are certainly better videos...

I’m also deciding on stain color for my doug fir exterior beams. I love the Oxford Brown Jeff used but Benjamin Moore has actually discontinued their oil base stain and only offer water base now. Has anyone else been able to use a different oil based brand that is a similar color? I would prefer oil based since it typically lasts longer on exterior wood.