Stairs don’t match herringbone floor

last year

Hi there!
We got beautiful solid hardwood white oak floors in herringbone done, and bought what we were told was the stair treads and risers from the same company/color.
We were very much prepared for the variation given this is real wood, shower r these stairs seem to be an entirely different color altogether.
Are there any suggestions other than covering up the stairs with a stair runner?
Hoping for some ideas to minimize how much I hate this :(

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HALLETT & Co.

last year

Why wasn’t the return replaced at the same time? Painting the risers would help it blend, but you really need to replace that whole bottom step with one board.

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Comments (6)

wdccruise
last year
I have white oak floors and stair treads with a natural stain (Bona Natural on the floor) that look similar to one another. I'm no expert but it certainly appears that the stair treads were stained differently than the floor. Sadly, whatever stain was used on the stairs appears quite opaque and hides the beauty of the wood.
kempek01
last year
The flooring has a lot of variation in color, and some of the darker boards actually are close in color to the stairs.

Because of that, I think a runner that covers most of the stair (but not all) would work.

I am not sure that I would want stairs with the variation of the floor, but the stairs would look better stained to match the lighter parts of the flooring.

Were the stairs stained in place, or are these new treads and risers that were installed recently?
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cat_ky
last year
I would put a runner on them and leave it. There isnt much you can do now, other than strip all the stain off, and thats a huge job. Why wasnt this noticed before the stairs were refinished? A runner makes the stairway safer anyway, and after a while you wont notice the color on the steps as much, as you do right now, when its all new to you.
dani_m08
last year
The first thing I noticed was that the return on the bottom step is painted white instead being a part of the bottom step = white oak. That doesn't make any sense to me.

There are parts of the flooring that appear to match the stain on the steps. There just is A LOT of variation in the white oak wood used to make your herringbone floor.

I know that there are different grades of red/white oak - from select to character grade (select = most consistent color - character grade = lots of variation/mineral streaks/knots/etc).

The below photo was posted by someone on Reddit who was very unhappy with the way his/her white oak herringbone floor turned out (used Bona finishing products):

2200 sf of floor was installed - and the owner(s) are really upset. However, I don't know what grade of white oak the owner(s) purchased.

This next photo shows a white oak herringbone floor that I believe is select grade white oak = much more consistent color and just a few tiny knots:

Do you know what grade of white oak you purchased?

I agree with Hallett & Co - if you painted the risers white, it would break up the consistent color of the treads = less noticeable compared to the floor. Also, adding a runner would help disguise the difference in coloring between the floors and the stairs.
AnnKH
last year
It's a shame you weren't able to see the stairs before they were installed.

I love hardwood stairs, but in your case, I would hold my nose and add a runner. The dark stain (hiding the grain) on your stairs makes me sad.