There is no such thing as a light stain that will obscure several dark boards. A mid ton will mask them, ebony will bring everything to black.

@HALLETT & Co. I don’t know if you’d consider this a mid- or dark-toned stain, but do you think that Minwax Weathered Oak, which I understand has gray and beige undertones, might subdue or camoflauge the greenish-gray planks?

You are supposed to apply the nordicseal over the red out. Red out is a pretreatment, not a actual finish/stain. The dark boards will go away after two coats of nordicseal.

@G & S Floor Service We’ve considered 1- 2 coats of NordicSeal on the Bona Red Out prep, but there won’t be enough contrast between the kitchen cabinet stain and the flooring. Sorry that I didn’t post a pic of the kitchen cabinet stain sample before.

You will have to decide which is more important - pink or contrast. That sample looks like there is pink in it.

Forget trying to make red oak look like white oak. Just apply a light fruitwood stain straight to the red oak and be good with it. That will give you a little color, and a contrast with the cabinets. Warm floors and warm colors of all types are back in style. The pale death overbleached pink floor look has just about run it's course. Fashion is turning to the classic deep colors of the Brazillian Cherry and darker stained oaks. Which never really went away in the high end homes.

@Minardi We’re going with what we like rather than what’s in style 😊

Sure. When people say that, they are always talking about the latest style that infiltrated their brains without them having loved it for 20 years. Try loving warm golden oak, and I might believe that you aren't a marketing victim.

Just do a waterborne clear coat over the natural oak. That will far outlast the whitewash look, and is easier to work with for other design components.

@Zuma Would you suggest Bona NaturallSeal? I really am trying to mask or mute the green gray boards, because they really stand out too much for my taste, and I don’t know if one or two coats of the NaturalSeal will do that. Plan to use Bona Traffic HD as the top coat.

You had a flooring pro answer you. Be careful taking advice from others.

@millworkman You make a good point, but all the respondents listed as pros are giving me different advice!

Like I said, list to the guy who has "floors" in his screen name.

@millworkman Ohhhh…that makes sense! @G & S Floor Service wrote that I have to decide whether pink or contrast is more important to me. He or she is correct in stating that my samples without Bona Red Out prep appear pink. I decided that contrast is more important, and the painter will do

1) sample of Bona Red Out prep with 50% Weathered Oak/50% Fruitwood

2) sample of Bona Red Out prep with 50% Rustic Beige/50% Fruitwood.

I want to avoid red-orange undertones, and hope this works. Any input is appreciated.

Linda, can you please post photos of your 2 new samples? I’m in the same predicament.

@ecgb Glad to:

#1 – 50% Rustic Beige, 50% Fruitwood

#2 – 50% Fruitwood, 50% Weathered Oak

#3 – Weathered Oak

#4 – Special Walnut

We love #1. That’s our choice.

All stains are DuraSeal Oil Based. All samples have 1 coat Bona NaturalSeal, which contains a small amount of white pigment.

Hope that helps!

@LindaFreeman thank you.

@LindaFreeman, my wife and I are remodeling and are at the point of trying to find stain for our red oak floors. Your samples #1 and #2 are similar to what we’re envisioning. Do you have photos of your finished floors? Also, did you also apply Bona NaturalSeal? I was under the impression that it wasn’t supposed to be used with stain.

@Jason McComb The floors won’t be finished until late this Fall.

Yes, Bona NaturalSeal was applied on top of the DuraSeal oil-based stains. Thhe painter is an experienced professional. The top coat will be Bona Traffic HD. Hope that helps!

@LindaFreeman that helps, thanks!!