https://www.woodfloors.org/find-a-professional.aspx

Sand, clean thoroughly*, mix bleach for one coat and apply a thin even coat. Allow to dry, mix and apply a second coat. Then you would apply whatever stain/sealer you desire and three coats of floor finish.

*Dust on the floor will cause the bleach to streak.

You’ll be better off buying new white oak pre finished floors that come in the stain that you want rather than setting up a dangerous junior scientist’s chemistry set in your home. You need a fitted respirator and heavy nitrile gloves for that stuff. If you aren’t careful, the fumes can corrode other things in the room.

This isn’t something to mess around with if you don’tknow what you are doing. And you will still end up with pink wood floors, no matter what you do with red oak. It strikes back and still ages and changes color, with those cinnamon tones coming through.

@ Joseph P- so is there any kind of stain or color out there pink blocker that you guys recommend just putting right over the natural red oak flooring? To help mask the pink ?

I mean I would honestly love to hire somebody to do this for me I don’t want to do it myself but everybody’s super busy and booked and I’m stuck with a guy that’s not really a true flooring guy so my options are limited

Frankly it's not unusual for most flooring contractors to be inexperienced with bleaching. Being in Florida, we have been using it for 50+ years but it's generally only been popular here, in New York and in California. That said, if you came to me asking me to bleach and color your Red Oak to look like White Oak, I'd tell you it wasn't possible and try to mutually come to a color that works for you and can be achieved on your existing wood.

FYI, I don't find the bleach fumes to be an issue in a well ventilated area, haven't had to wear gloves (though technically one should wear them and especially eye protection while mixing) and I've never seen anything corroded by wood bleach. The components are sodium hydroxide (lye) and hydrogen peroxide.

Timothy I agree with everything you’re saying and I’ve been experimenting and definitely doing my research with different wood bleaching products .I definitely have the right products to do the job and if I’m gonna do it it would definitely be well ventilated and I would be cautious and protect myself. I’m only entertaining bleaching the floors because my contractor has not even given me choices of stains down for me to choose from. I am out running around trying to find colors and seeing what works when I was expecting him to do that or to have stands to choose from at least. he told me to just go to the store and pick a Minwax! I would like a nicer product to be used instead of a Home Depot stain. So that’s when I decided to look into the bleaching

In a perfect world I’d like some input from him( my contractor) like hey I can put a pink blocker down or if we use this color stain it’ll minimize that salmon color in the floor so we don’t have to be bleach it so on and so forth. So here I am lol.

Also I would love to know what the Loba, Rubio or dura seal stains and finishes look like or what’s best for my floor but again my contractor has no products to put on the floor unless I get my hands on it so that also poses a problem.. ugh I’m just over it…

Unless you have no option, ditch the flooring guy! THis stuff is hard!

I am a little upset that you are sounding a little condescending towards your contractor. He may not have ever tried to bleach floors and does not want to be held responsible if it does not come out correctly. Maybe you can just embrace the pinkish tone by applying a clear coat and use the lighter tones for the furnishings ti achieve the look you want.

Ciranova Pink blocker

PINK BLOCKER 2C– CiranovaStore.com

Use Bona Mega One..three coats. If this guy is NOT a flooring guy, then using the top level Bona Products will give him a heart attack. They are super tricky to use.

Good luck. Your 'dude' is about to try to do something most FLOORING pros have to attend a 3-day training course to learn.

Thank you everyone for your advice is greatly appreciated! Sorry if I came off sounding rude towards my contractor. It’s just I’ve been without use of the main level of our house for longer than we were intending. my flooring guy did tell me he could get the floor light But didn’t tell me the way he would achieve that was just to put a water bases clear coat over it. I have been reaching out to flooring specialist to see if there’s anyone available to come out and help me and I’ve already paid my contractor for the work that he’s done and thus far they did a beautiful job standing!

Sanding **

@jnakos79, remodeljng always has unforeseen issues, take a deep breath and proceed. Good luck with your floors. Let us know how things turn out.

S J McCarthy…you always provide knowledgeable advice! By any chance are you available for wood floor installations in the Bay Area?

Sorry... I'm a sales person in Canada! Thank you for your kind words. I have been researching flooring since 2011...and Houzz keeps my fingers in the game.

Stephanie

@SJ McCarthy do you know if that pink blocker works well or is compatible with loba 2k invisible ?

Sadly I do not....not because there aren't any, it's that I haven't spoken to a Loba Rep about that type of issue.

Go ahead and reach out to your Loba dealer and see if they have any insight. I know Ciranova works with Bona (I know...don't mix chemical lines...but sometimes you just gotta') so the chances it will WORK with Loba 2K Invisible = 99.8%.

And remember: Loba 2K Invisible AT has had issues with hazing and showing foot prints...like A LOT!

Thanks for letting us know! Keep up the good work!

SJ McCarthy so the loba 2K invisible is different than the Loebel 2K AT ? Yeah I definitely don’t want hazing and foot prints

Loba*

The Loba 2K Supra AT is DIFFERENT than Invisible. The lowest gloss level they make for the 2K Supra AT = satin. I love the satin. It's first few months of life are quite bright (some people panic a little because it starts of shinier than they thought they were getting) only to TURN DOWN the sheen after 6-8 weeks. Once it has dropped down to a lower gloss satin, It is STUNNING.

Remember: for many, many people a SHINY floor means a CLEAN floor. I call these people "Clean-Shiny People". That's fine. Nothing wrong with that. It is just how they are built. That's their outlook on life and clean floors. If it is clean, it should SHINE.

Like a demented Smoky the Bear, "Only YOU can prevent dull floors!" You need to know if you fall inside the 'clean-shiny' category. Much to my chagrin, I have discovered I like a bit of shine right after I clean. That's why a satin is the lowest gloss level I CAN ENJOY. A semi-gloss is nicer for me...but that's me.

So...figure out your PERSONAL enjoyment parameters: Do you LIKE to see a bit of sheen for your cleaning efforts? If so, look at satin or even semi-gloss. You will be FAR happier than MATTE the Invisible offers.

Homeowner, Know Thyself.

SJ McCarthy - I know this is an old post, but you’re the first I’ve found to mention Bona and ciranova… can I put bona HD traffic over Ciranova reactive stain?