It's very difficult to overcome the red in red oak unless you're using a more expensive finish that the typical Duraseal etc.. Any finish will immediately bring out the pink tones unless you have a SKILLED finisher who can bleach and tone down the underlying color.

https://www.bona.com/en-us/professional/articles/how-to-neutralize-red-tones-in-wood/

The best way to combat the red is to select a gold or greenish stain to kill the red. It's easy to see how much red appears when you apply the NEUTRAL finish.

Thank you! This is very helpful.

You have to have them test *in your space*. And while I agree something with a green tinge will tone down the pink-ness, the same stain name may look different across brands. Example is Special Walnut -- in the line I use for woodworking it is very red; beautiful color, but no way around it the red tone comes through. So don't let "walnut" in the name fool yout -- test!

Of course the lighting in your house is going to play a big role in how the floors turn out, as is the topcoat. If you go with oil-based, it will warm it up quite a bit (ambering), but a water-based won't. There are pros and cons to both finishes, but make sure you know what they will use and if it's not what you want them have them change it. Also make sure your samples are topcoated before you make a final choice -- the look of the color can change quite a bit once topcoated.

My floors are red oak, stained with Duraseal Provencial. It's a nice, easy to live with medium brown -- it's warm but not overtly so, and it goes with everything; nothing seems to ever look bad against it or clash with it, it's one of those colors that will never go in or out of style because it's never really IN style, never the darling of the influencers but who cares it looks good and is easy to live with.

Provincial and Special Walnut are my two favorite floor stain colors. Both are neutral medium browns. But definitely test them on your floors, all wood takes stain differently.

One path is Bona Red Out. Then 2 coats of Nordic Seal. Then Traffic HD matte. Light screen and vac between coats.

There are comparative products from Ciranova. Pink Blocker.

What you'd be going for is ultra matte pale European Oak. Currently popular.

If you choose one of these routes, only choose someone with direcy rxperience with those specific products. Contact a supplier for recommendations.

I just refinished my red oak floors. They used red out first before applying the stain, and that toned down the red. I wanted a light brown, and I tried many many samples and eventually chose a custom blend that was a lightened version of minwax special walnut. It’s not exactly what I envisioned (because it’s just not white oak!), but it is much better than the orangey Colonial Maple that was there before! I also don’t see red or pink boards.

I agree with you about darker wood showing every speck of hair and dust! We had Brazilian Cherry in our last house, and while it was gorgeous when it was clean, it took no time to show dust and dog hair.

We recently had red oak installed in our current house, with no stain. I don't see pink in it at all.

drwass, do you happen to have a picture. I put special walnut down and it looked orange

Sorry - just now seeing this. Do other people get notifications when they are mentioned? Anyway, my floors are mostly covered bc there is still chaos renovation, but i will show you what pics I have. Note: the floor people did Bona red out first, which makes a big difference. Then I did a 50-50 mix of special walnut to pickled oak to lighten the special walnut. Lightening the special walnut with simply white just made it seem cloudy, and I didn't want dark floors, so I wanted to lighten it. I would have maybe liked 60-40 better but I already had driven the floor guys crazy with all of the samples. Again, the floors aren't exactly my dream, but they are nice looking and are so much better than before.

Hi TM, I've never posted before so i hope you get this and it helps you. I have "select" red oak floors. My doors are clean alder stained in walnut so they are brown. I'm not changing my doors so I need to find something that pairs well with the so I'm still on the hunt for a perfect stain color. If you mix 50 parts Golen oak and one part true black , you will get a brown light to midium tone Brown. You can "water" pop the wood. You can add 10-25 parts country white. This will help mute the red but it will give you a more contemporary color. All pretty. This will help with the stain getting absorbed more evenly. Here is another important thing to remeber. Sand your sample with the same sanding grit as what your floors will be sanded. Some floors finishers use 180 grit but I feel that makes floors too smooth , I' m going to finish my floors in 120 grit. Rougher grit will absorb stain more than a smoother finish. I also tried Rustic biege 4 parts to 1 part classic gray....it's beautiful ...but unfortunately doesnt pair well with my doors. If you get a violet /pink hue ....you have too much Rustic biege . Rustic biege probably sit in the purple /blue section on the color wheel which is the reason you read on the internet it can go to purple or pink . so just add more classic gray or decrease Rustic Biege. Good luck ...Hope this helps LM

I didnt mention this but i am using Duraseal stain because that is what my floor contractor is comfortable using.

@T M That's great. Update pics if possible!