Still on the hunt for a soft light brown. I'm having the floor guy put more samples on tomorrow. I found this picture and the flooring company said it's red oak with a custom bona stain mix. Anyone have a guess how to get this color?

Here is 50% classic grey 50% special walnut on red oak floors

OK so I’m in the same exact predicament as you and I’ve been without a kitchen sense the end of July I had to fire a guy. I hired a new guy and I found out that using “pink blocker” (by a company name Ciranova) first then just using a natural over it is probably the best bet. unless you bleach the floors and then put weathered Oak over it.

I also was a little worried with it still possibly looking like that 90s looking floor. my flooring guy told me you will not get as many gold tones like 90s floors because that is from the poly that turns an amber color. So we may use a wax finish instead.

This is my sample board against my sanded Red Oak. That sample board was done two years old my flooring guy said. And if you look closely on the left-hand side of the sample board is a line. that line is where the pink blocker ends… it’s about 2 inches of board that has NO pink blocker.

Also the stool next to the sample is that wood that’s everywhere in the stores it’s a magnolia brand and the color is what I’m OK with achieving and it seems to match up pretty well. The more I think about how light I want my floors is where I also worry about losing that BoHo coziness and going to nautical.

jnakos thank you! Is that natural or just a poly? Or natural seal? I would love to see it on your floors. I am so nervous about the pink I would really like to find a way to achieve a light brown. I am about to fire my guy as well, I now know its important to find someone with a lot of experience going lighter with red oak floors.

kasmit, the one pic you asked about looks like this one. It's 3 coats of Nordic and one coat of Traffic HD

Did you see this post?

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6155964/has-anyone-used-bona-natural-seal-with-water-based-top-coat-on-red-oak

and this is a very long post with a lot of pics regarding Bona

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/4766317/bona-nordicseal-on-red-oak

Kasmit00
That sample board next to the stool is “Carinova pink blocker” used then Natural finish.

Still looking for the right stain color for my floors. For the flooring experts on here, what do you think this stain is? Golden Oak? It just doesn't have that super golden and monotone look that I have seen so often with Golden Oak so not sure. I am trying to avoid too pink, too orange or grey and prefer not to bleach or have to use a pink blocker so I am having to embrace the red oak.

Kimberly or jnakos79 what did you decide on? Can you show pictures? Everything on my floors looks orange or pink so I still don't have a path forward. I would die for a neutral light brown!

I’m still with living with unfinished floors. I have yet to find someone that doesn’t blow me off or that works with bona or Ciranova products to get what I’m looking for.

I’m still living without **

That pick is definitely not golden oak.

These are two red oak floors done that look nice. What was used is in the pic

I professionally paint and do home repairs, If you’d like someone to do it for you let me know!

Jnakos79 I'm in the same situation. My flooring guy has no interest in helping. Looking for a new person but it's the same with others. They have too much work in my area so they don't have to try for business. I keep seeing loba invisible, is it really any different than the bona products?

@kasmit00 I have natural red oak floors finished with the water-based bona product and they look so incredibly similar to so many of these lighter stained options - all except the really badly stained ones! I would recommend anyone who wants light wood red oak to just go natural. It's far less risky and likely you will end up with a very similar result as adding stain concoctions, but with less risk that you will amplify a weird undertone. It's also less expensive and has a much faster dry time - no stinky stain to wait on. My floors turned out to be super versatile and I think they are still on trend as long as the decor around them is right for the space and compliments all that warm color. I ended up removing all the other oak - trims, cabinets etc. and going white on those elements and the floor is a lovely warm compliment without looking 80s at all.

@kasmit00 I'm going through this now ! what did you end up w , love yo see thank you

I ended up doing three parts weathered oak and 1 part dark walnut. On red oak. Absolutely love it!!!

Kimberly can you post a picture please? Mine still aren't done.

Almost a year later my floors are still unfinished and I finally found a guy that’s going to bleach my floors twice and do exactly like all these wood flooring companies have posted all over Instagram! I’m glad I didn’t settle I’m glad I’m getting exactly what I want and they’re doing the exact process it’ll get me there

There are highly experienced floor people out there and bleaching floors with a A an B wood bleach solution is a possibility. so when flooring people tell you no people don’t do that …it’s simply because they just don’t want to!

@Almostdone21- I agree with the natural choice you’re probably 100% right about that! Cause if you have red oak floors there’s no way you can get away with not having the “red”out of red oak lol! the only way is bleach or just doing a clear.
Do you have a pic of your floors?

@Kimberlystanley I’d also love to see a pic

kasmit00 show us the finished look girl!!!!!

Agreed please show us what happened .

@Kimberly Stanley did you do your floors in the combo above? Jacobean, weathered oak, gray? My floors are being stained tomorrow and I'm doing something similar, but am a little worried they will turn out with red or too light. I'm going with 1/3 espresso, 1/3 weathered oak, 1/3 gray.

@kasmit00 Did you ever find the recipe for your post from last year with the beautiful soft "brown" floors? Looks like it was a screen shot with the flooring compan of Seattle Hardwood out of Mukilteo. Had my red oak floors done in weathered oak and they are still simply too pink. Flooring guys are the best since they are redoing to make me happy.

I followed this post when trying to chose a stain, in the end we went with Loba easy prime and Loba Supra 2k AT on red oak and I love it. They’re light and natural. Maybe a few boards with a tinge pink but I realized pink doesn’t bother me nearly as much as orange.

@Chris S - How did that combo work and come out? Did yours come out dark or were you able to achieve a warm brown?

@kasmit00 did you find resolution? in the same boat?

There's a relatively new product just for this from Bona called Red Out. I don't know why more people (especially flooring contractors) know about it.

I'm in this same predicament, and it will be my THIRD and last time I can try to get that soft brown color on red oak! @kastmit00 what did you end up doing? Please share if you have a chance!

I am about to add new red oak and refinish my existing red oak. (Would have gone white oak if I didn't already have red oak - though both are beautiful floors) My current floors have an oil based natural finish. As a result, they are now very amber colored. Can't wait to get that off! I think the yellow bothers we more than the red tones. Wood is by definition - warm. I am sensing that unless you go quite dark, some red will appear. I think any color anyone chooses is a personal choice and many factors come into play, including and not limited to lighting, furnishings, rugs, fabrics etc. As I have dark wood furniture, and have a NW facing home, I am in search of a light stain that works to neutralize the 'pink' some but I definitely do not want yellow. A stain with green in it - helps to neutralize the red. Duraseal has a color called Fruitwood that has green in it. Other companies of similar stains with green. It helps warm the red to more of a brown tone - but it does make the wood look a bit yellow. In doing a lot of research - and getting some samples, I found that adding some country white to the fruitwood lightens the yellow and keeps the red more brown. I found a 60/40 blend to still have a bit too much white for my liking - so I will try something closer to a 4:1 ratio of fruitwood and country white. I very much like the sample I have so far. The plank is light but not yellow nor white and the red is toned down. If you are looking for a light stain, this may be worth a try. Happy to share photos once the floors are done - in about 2 weeks time.

Since my last writing - my floor guys introduced me to Bona Natural. Bona has 5 sealers. Nordic (quite a bit of white in it), Natural, Classic (a bit golden), Amber and Intense. I am going to go with Natural. The floors look almost raw with it on. While many don’t like red oak - I don’t mind it because it is so varied. There is red and pink - yes, but there is also tan, and light browns and interesting grain. With red oak it seems, one will always see too much red or pink or honey depending on stain mix or one has to go dark to hide it all. Dark stains are beautiful but for us with a dog and kid and dark wood furniture, light floors hold up better and show fewer scratches. In the end - its a personal choice. Almost all natural wood floors are beautiful and everything blends well with furniture and rugs. The floors color changes with the light and furnishings

https://pin.it/1TwZGoAyW

Varathane Sandstone Sunbleached 1:1

Margaret Hartmen did you end up doing the bona natural seal? How many coats of this sealer and what finish did you use with how many coats? Are you happy with it and can you post a photo if it?

Hi Jon,

Yes, I did end up using the Bona Natural Seal and absolutely love it. It has a very 'natural' almost beachy look to it. Our house is northwest facing - so I was really going for light and bright. We did one coat of the seal and two finish coats of the Bona Commercial HD - which is what is suggested/recommended by Bona. More is not always better and this stuff is supposed to last a good 15 years or so. I did the first coat in matte to see what it looked like but used the satin as the final coat. Matte is not without some sheen and the satin added just a touch more sheen. Bona HD's satin finish has a lower percentage of sheen than some other brands. Here are some photos of the finished floors. There is some red tints and pinkish tints but I don't mind them and they work well with our dark furniture. I am attaching multiple photos with different lighting

Hope this helps a bit.

Margaret, is that bona natural on red oak floors or white oak?

If you read the thread it is ALL about red oak floors

Including Margaret’s posts

I know this is an older post, but I was wondering if the people searching for a light brown stain (@kasmit00, @sprrkls, @Casa Rutherford) found something good - ?? I am struggling with floor stain for my red oak!

does the rustic beige come out as dark as it looks and the planks look so different? I did this to harmonize golden oak and taupe weathere cabinet and did not think it would be ths dark. I have not seen it yet and I am a bit worried.

Did you try a sample diectly on your floor in a large enough area to be able to tell?

yes but apparently the duraseal loba darkens what we saw.

I am having a contractor re-sand my red oak floors. At the moment they are orange from a poorly applied oil-based poly finish years ago. I am trying to come up with a nice ligher warm brown floor stain to pair well with my brown stained alder doors. So what I am running into is that any light -medium brown stain will show some red on darker red oak floor boards. So if you are okay with some red popping through some boards then a light /medium brown stain may be okay for you. Here are some combinations I have tried. Duraseal Golden oak 50 parts /2 parts True black. You can add 2 parts Duraseal Country white to soften it. This will produce a cooler brown. Another to try is Duraseal Weather Oak 4 parts / 1 part Dark Walnut. You can add 1 part Country white to soften. this creates a nice mid-tone brown. Here is a third to try, 40 parts Weathered oak/ 10 parts Classic gray/ 2 parts True black. this is a warmer brown. It's pretty but not sure how it will look on heavily red oak boards ?? I havent tried adding white to this formula. i am planning on adding 2 parts country white. I have a red oak board with a large red knot in it. one half of that board has soft red/pink the other half has pronounced red /pink undertones. This is worst case scenio. I dont have boards with knots but i figured if i can make this board look okay...maybe i will be okay staining over red oak if not I am considering Red Out.

1. Also, sand your samples with the finishing grit. i am using 120 grit. I am not water popping my floors. If I use Red Out , the solution itself will water pop it so i am going to have my floor guy buff it with a Red pad to eliminate the water pop effect. Hope this helps. Please if anyone has different ideas, do share them! I havent tried the Bona stains or fruitwood color. I've just used duraseal. Not sure I would use varathene or miniwax since my contractor recommends aganist them on wood floors.

I have heard not to do the Red Out as it will ruin the wood. We actually went with duraseal rustic beige. Honestly came out beutifully. The contractor did not want to mix. I will say that once they put on the clear coat the floors looked completely different than before they put on the coat so I am not sure if the sample of the stain on the floor really helps that much. A bit more brown than I was thinking from before the clear coat.

But leap of faith and they came out beautifully. Much better than the yellow that preceeded the new floor. Is there a bit of pink? Maybe a bit but not horrible at all. Looks like a new floor.

@cindy - would love to see a pic of your floors!