Yup, oak has prominent graining. Looks very nice. As @HALLETT & Co. says, move on.

I think it looks great.

Thank you guys for

kind words

how about this wood filler that seem cant

take stain..

should I leave

as is or is there way to improve ?

another question is my basement

stairs should I stain same colour as my post ? or skip stain and just varnish?

basement has concrete floor and there is door from mainfloor to basement

I'd do the basement stairs the same as your other stairs.

They look great, it's beautiful wood. Put a lovely stair runner on the wood stairs and you won't see as much of the wood grain (if it bothers you), plus it helps with safety. Either way, they look very nice...as others have noted.

It's oak it is grainy and if it looks good with the floor move on. What are your floors in the basement IMO the stairs should match the floor they are rising from

You need to use wood filler that matches your stain if it’s not stainable. Many will not take stain.

Oh, don’t try to change the oak. Give it a while and you’ll probably get used to it. It’s natural material and to me, natural is virtually always better than man made fixes.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting basement floor is polished concrete floor

Add a great runner!

The dark grain is essentially like valleys in the surface that will hold more stain and look darker. The ways to avoid that are to pre-seal it so it soaks in less color, or water pop the wood so the lighter portion will absorb more stain. Both of these may require altering the stain color to achieve the same color you have now. Pre-sealing would make it lighter and water popping would make it darker. You could add a lightly tinted finish that would darken the lighter portion, but that could open a can of worms. If your filler isn't absorbing stain you can color it with a Mohawk marker between coats of finish, or even after the final coat.

What stain did you use exactly? I often see people mention water based stains but never see a brand mentioned.

IN that case just match the stairs to ones on the upper floor and I agree a nice runner will tone down the grainy look Maybe something with gray to work with the cincrete .

"the stain we used was water based and transparent"

I'm looking for a water based stain. What did you use?

@Timothy Winzell

its from benjamin moore store cant remember what the name is

i matched weatheree oak oil stain to this water stain

Thanks so much!

This marked area supposed to be caulked in white or wood colour?