Does this stain work? Please help!

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

In the middle if a home reno which included new lvp floor. we are now having the wood banister re-stained so it coordinates. (doesn’t have to be an exact match, but we don’t want it to clash).

we had tested stains beforehand in the same type of wood as the railing (maple) for this, but as the actual railing is not ”fresh” wood- had been originally stained a reddish wood color- the appearance of the new stain is affected by the old stain even after stripping / sanding.

the workers did a test today- the top of the bottom pole and a small section of top rail is mow stained with new stain so we could see. they they asked us to confirm the new stain we picked (aged barrel) is ok, or let them know if we want to change it.

i keep going back and forth between keeping it and going with another (darker?) stain… would appreciate your thoughts and could use some help deciding! do you think the new stain coordinates with the floor? if not, what do you suggest?

Featured Answer

Boxerpal

2 years ago

I agree Maple is a difficult wood to stain and even re-stain. Did you take all the prior color off or are you staining on top of it?

You wrote..." the actual railing is not ”fresh” wood- had been originally stained a reddish wood color- the appearance of the new stain is affected by the old stain even after stripping / sanding. "

Maybe the old stain is still deep in the wood which would indeed change the appearance of the color you want. If you want a closer match, I would definitely go as dark as you can with a mix of Ebony and Dark walnut.

BUT... staining maple DARK is difficult. The grain is very tight, stains can not really soak into the wood the way it can with other types of wood. Sometimes gel dyes do better with Maple. If it were me... I might just paint everything black like this below. It would be out of total frustration with the maple.

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Comments (13)

Lisa
Original Author
2 years ago
Adding more pictures here- again the top square part of banister was stained new stain as well as a section of the top rail. reddish stain elsewhere is original. also took pics of the stain sample with a floor sample piece up close. Floor on floors is

new.
millworkman
2 years ago
New maple stains blotchy and inconsistent at best, old maple even more so. Trying to "match" the LVP is a fools errand honestly. I would go darker, almost to an ebony or Jacobean color, if the maple will take it. If it doesn't either paint it or replace it.
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arcy_gw
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Sanding sealer prior to stain may have helped with the blotchy. Asking for color match via screens is an iffy business but ya from my perspective it's a fairly good gray on gray look.
Lisa thanked arcy_gw
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
2 years ago
IMO does not work with what I assume is the LVP on the stairs it needs to be much darker and maple always takes stain weirdly. Maybe just paint it black since fake and real wood never really look good next to eachother
Lisa thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
cat_ky
2 years ago
I would ask them to put a second coat of stain on what they have already stained, and see if it darkens up enough, to match the stair treads. If that doesnt darken it up, then a coat of even darker stain, might just do it.
Lisa thanked cat_ky
PRO
Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
2 years ago
The color looks good, but the blotchy doesn't. I'd paint the railing and newel post black, and the balusters (spindles) white.
PRO
Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
2 years ago
This combination works with any wood stain.
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Lisa thanked Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
Lisa
Original Author
2 years ago
Thank you so much everyone! I talked more with the workers - the orignal stain is indeed very dep into the wood… we are leaning towards shifting to have the banister painted black / white as shown in some of the pics people posted.

question- our current stairs has both metal and wood spindles (see pics). i feel like if we painted the wood spindles white and railing black it might look like a zebra with those metal spindles in there… and i don’t love the all black look. so we are now also thinking about replacing the metal spindles to have it all wood (all white spindles)… thoughts? anything im missing with that?
PRO
Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
2 years ago
Yes I didn’t notice that. You might paint both the wood and metal balusters white. Probably cheaper than replacing them.
I’d probably replace them since I’m not a fan of metal.
Lisa
Original Author
2 years ago

I just wanted to follow up here with a picture. thank you to everyone who commented and helped us decide what to do with the banister stain issue. we listened and took the advice a lot of you suggested- to paint it instead. we also replaced the iron so it now has all wood spindles.

this is the final product. I LOVE it. Our 180 degree quick change of plan that caused a lot of stress (home reno is no joke), turned into one of my favorite parts of the entire house. Thank you!
PRO
Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
2 years ago
Wow, Lisa, it looks GREAT!!! Thanks for posting the photo of the final outcome. Your house is beautiful!
Lisa thanked Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
la_la Girl
2 years ago
Gosh that looks terrific! you must be thrilled - enjoy! ✨