Need your advice. We literally just finished stripping and sanding down pine stairs that had been painted and coated in sand by the previous owners… yesterday. Excellent resource. Not too! From your testing I realized I can use the red oak since my stain although not as dark as the jacobean will make seeing the difference in white vs. Red oak undetectable. Treating raw wood with conditioner helps prevent streaks and blotches by evening out the absorption of oil-based stains. Is that weird…? I must have read that wrong somewhere. Hi, I Am searching for best stain for cedar fence. :). yes! This just confirms my hatred for oak. There are 2 options of stains I found for me but I can’t decide which one would be the best. ), Red Oak (too dark) and Red Chestnut (too red). Hopefully I’ll be able to decide if this is something I want to tackle. I hope that helps. We took 3 feet of water, in our 1955 mid century home, with Hurricane Harvey last Aug. I’ve had one nightmare after the next, ever since. Red oak definitely is more tricky, but so beautiful, too. 90% of my customers choose a slightly different color on other materials that isn’t flooring. This is so useful!!! Hi! Last, is the redder of the two dark stains we experimented with. I would also love to see more, especially different stains on wood used for fences. Where with pine (except heart pine), it’s softness accepts stain quickly and often unevenly, which is why conditioner is so important to use before staining many softwoods. Any suggestions. I’m sure you have saved many of us from buying the wrong stain/wood combination for a project. We looked at the above samples in every lighting possible: sunlight, lights on, lights off, in the dark and even three different kinds of light bulbs. The wood types we chose also are vastly different, ranging from extremely soft (birch) to hard (red oak) with undertones all over the map. You’re right, there are so many iterations you could do of wood and stains. I was wondering how the oak would look with a stain – now I have a better idea! Do more!! 2. Neal…just curious….what stain are you going with for an A&C piece? We have rustic birch floors and they are quite soft, they took a beating to upstairs, moderate use. I’m going to need approximately 20 Bd. I only wish you could have tested all of them. This maybe the most helpful blog post ever. SO SO SO SOOOO helpful!!! It absolutely helped me to decide on a stain color for our floors, and we will use conditioner, which I wasn’t aware was even an option! 3. We’re in a rental so we’re stuck with the very dark mahogany cabinets with brushed silver hardware. Its unique formulation provides a surface that can be topcoated in two hours. We have been using Pickled Oak on a ton of projects lately. $24.29. I have red oak floor that we are considering staining to become a medium brown like yours! Dura Seal Penetrating Finish Quick Coat - Dark Walnut-quart 4.4 out of 5 stars 3. yes! I would like to stain it in a Jacobean Blend with gray 75-25, Dark Walnut or Espresso but I am not seeing many examples out there of Acacia being used or re-stained. I am sure it has something to do with the particular piece of wood. Did you sand the woods before staining them? Please sponsor at least one more post just like this but with other woods and stains. I would have really liked to see a gray stain used as well. Minwax Dark Walnut. Love this post. I’m curious if you sanded the samples, that also makes a big difference especially with pine… I’m surprised by some of your results on the pine, I use pine with minwax everyday to build furniture and I get very different results. 128/228 Medium Brown. 199 True Black. Any help would be appreciated. My wife and I have decided on Dark Walnut as well. I’ve always read that you should use the pre-stain conditioner, but never really believed the hype. My only wood refinishing project has been a large table and even though it took a lot of elbow grease, was so satisfying and beautiful in the end and much better than just slapping white paint on it. The other woods took the stain well, with more redness coming out of the conditioned sides of the boards. 'http' : 'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)) {e = d.createElement(s);e.id = id;e.src = p + '://' + 'widgets.rewardstyle.com' + '/js/shopthepost.js';d.body.appendChild(e);}if(typeof window.__stp === 'object') if(d.readyState === 'complete') {window.__stp.init();}}(document, 'script', 'shopthepost-script'); Your email address will not be published. Thank you for this helpful post and for answering this question! White Oak can’t take a bad picture. I appreciate any thoughts on this. I thought this this was the most helpful, comprehensive site for wood floor stains. This was the best article on staining I have ever seen. Learn how your comment data is processed. Poplar has green undertones. And I didn’t realize how much I loved birch and poplar before this! Dura Seal Quick Coat Stains are a premium quality penetrating finish that can be topcoated in 2 to 4 hours. Thoughts? This next picture was also taken last night… Our home is a traditional colonial with all white oak floors… except the previous homeowners remodeled the kitchen and dining room and put in red oak! I am so glad I found this post and your blog. I also tried with and without conditioner, which didn’t seem to make much difference with the darker samples. Instead of the wood grains picking up redness, you can see they all went a very neutral brown. PLEASE WATER MARK YOUR PHOTOS SO I CAN FIND THE PROPER SOURCE! It dries quick and doesn’t yellow! Only one on each. The wood is extremely dry. We finally had our floors refinished last summer to try to get them a similar color. 123/223 Coffee Brown. So I remembered your post and whipped it up.. thank you. I’ve been dying to redo my 1990’s era red oak floors for a long time now, but haven’t been able to find any really useful information. I have most of my new doors (they were about a $100 a piece, so they are poplar I guess, maybe birch) painted repose Gray on one side, but the other side I want to stain. Really appreciated it – you could totally make a series out of it! I’ve been struggling with finding the right color for so long now! This is a really amazing comparison, greats job!! I will be making a stain choice this week. Cabot makes a good one, and you can get it from Lowe’s. Very helpful. But I’m not really sure about it. Definitely going to reference this post for future stain projects. DURA SEAL Penetrating Finish is a semi-transparent stain formulated to seal, color and provide exceptional durability when used on bare wood and masonry surfaces. My one tip to anyone doing their own floors is sand everything evenly – we had a couple spots that we didn’t sand as consistently and those areas took the stain much darker than the rest of the floor. This experiment has been a great help! Thank you so much – Julia, Great post! I’m building a Arts & Crafts hall cabinet. I was also thinking it wasn’t sanded. I’m having white cabinets/white granite with greyish Island, and butcher block counters and white windows. This was very helpful and appreciative. Such useful info! My question is this: we ripped up the carpet and it looks like there is red oak underneath and the new wood that was put down in the new part of the house looks like a white oak. Should I layer a bit of white and with a gray that I wipe off quickly? I’m leaning towards a dark stain with no red, to contrast with the white oak floor. Yes, this is my childhood home. That is bland. It delivered rich, dark brown tones. The finer the grit, the smoother the finish, and the less surface texture for stain to sit in- ergo less color. So thorough. Do you know how Chestnut stains? Is there yellow pine and white pine? This makes me want to get some wood and stain it for a piece in my house. Hooray for floor stain! Hope that helps!! Isn’t that going to make staining tricky – as shown with this post, different woods take on different looks? We tested a few for ourselves but this is helping me to find some direction in what to try next. Thank you for taking the time to document and share the results ! The green in the Poplar board went to an almost black, like in the Jacobean stain–very stunning. ft./gallon Number of Coats 1 to 2 VOC 550 Shelf Life 2 years Minwax Dark Walnut. I’ve been seeking for good stain for my bedroom pine furniture. Looks great! Thanks! Formulated to provide unsurpassed durability and simple maintenance. They often do. Very helpful. But with limited resources (not to mention space), we settled on 5 popular species of wood commonly used by DIYers, with 6 different stains; 2 light, 2 medium and 2 dark. Now I can’t wait to do the downstairs, which are white oak floors. Especially learning about the wood conditioner. We used Jacobean everywhere after testing a small area and it hid the old spots, and the old and new floors matched! Birch rocked Simply White and Golden Oak. By far the best post I’ve seen on explaining the nuances of staining wood. Thank you so much for doing this post. Yes!! 124 Special Walnut. Very useful to see how various woods behave and really helps in choosing what kind of wood to use! If there’s anything we don’t want, it’s for the floors to be too light. I do need help though. However since the top gets plenty of use I put on a coat of varathene. I personally like their water based Polycrylic. You’re 2 best options are to go as dark as possible (e.g. Thank you for posting this! My best guess is about $30 less coming out of my pocket which will cover door hinges, door pulls and the shelf pins….. Thanks so much for putting this together. We’ve been wanting to do a wood/stain study for years now and in my head, I wanted to do every type of wood with about 20 different stains each. Thanks for the inspiration. Or 3 coats stain? Thanks so much for any insight you might have! Did I mention we bought bright orange appliances by the Big Chill pro line? We applied it then wiped it off after about 2 minutes. Thank you for doing such a great post! Thank you for conducting this experiment! This is a Medium video about 12 minutes. After reading so much about poplar being “homely”, I thought it would behave closer to pine. Ashley, thank you for sharing your experience. I’m afraid we wouldn’t be able to tell you which to choose – far too many factors involved and we’re not there to see any of them in person. It takes a stain well, is durable, inexpensive, and a good cabinet choice. Our flooring store offers every color in gallons and in quarts. Thank you for a fantastically organized review of stains on various woods. I bet this would be true for furniture refinishing too! Any cherry or red furniture I bleach before doing all the other steps. I’ve done several wood projects, but I was considering using birch plywood for the first time. Also, did you have the floors “popped” with a water soak to better take the stain (I have read this tip elsewhere). I’m currently working on a dining table for our British Colonial interior using Red Oak and was concerned with color matching the existing dark woods. Of course you didn’t do the two stains I’ve been wondering about (Provincial and Driftwood) but still ;-) Guess I will have to do my own small test for the stained shelves I’m installing in our wall nook. 112 Golden Oak* 175 Jacobean* 137/237 Spice Brown. Also, is it okay to stain wood inside the home or are the fumes pretty strong? one i have used cuprinol dries to s shine. Also wondering if there is much difference between Bona Jacobean and DuraSeal? It doesn’t look like it from the red oak samples. But then there is the world of bleaching! We put in red oak because our flooring guy had a bunch of it and we got a good deal. Best bet is to cut a sample board into small pieces and do some tests until you find the right color. So interesting to see the stains all lined up. This was incredibly helpful. I would like to figure out a way to make them look the same but really don’t like the pink red undertone . Would that eliminate the pink? 6. Help! Thank you so much for doing this! We’re getting mixed messages from people…. THANK YOU. We love how the stain really brings out the wood grain. This is a wonderful write up. Exactly what I needed to move forward with my project! Thank you for this post! They’re not bad and look nice but not my color of choice. Dura Seal Quick Coat Stains are a premium quality penetrating finish that can be topcoated in 2 to 4 hours. I just wanted to say thank you so much for taking the time to do this. Interesting! Ft. of 4/4 and 10 Bd. This is a really cool post. I’m about to work on a project that consists of staining some wood, so would appreciate any tips! Exactly what I was looking for. All of the wood types accepted the stain well, except the non-conditioned Birch side. We put pine floors in last year and I stained them with a colour called Special Walnut from minwax. !function(d,s,id){var e, p = /^http:/.test(d.location) ? Other popular choices are Dark Walnut, Classic Gray, and Early American. if you happen to know ? Thanks for putting in the work to share. I have made two wooden pieces for self use, and I had no clue how much FUN staining could be! Yes! This is an awesome resource, thank you! Any thoughts or stains you might suggest would be so grately appreciated. There is very little difference between the conditioned and unconditioned white and red oaks, but the other three definitely benefited from the pre-stain conditioner. This is so great that you are partnering with Minwax. How many coats of stain did you put on the wood samples shown in the photos? Love it! Full Disclosure on Sponsorships & Affiliates, Casual Friday: Polly’s Sleeping, Eating and Schedule at 6 Months old. Thanks!! Plywood if usually birch veneered for these reasons. Dura Seal Wood Stain contains a rich blend of oil and resin that gives hardwood floors a soft, satiny sheen. We can’t wait to see it… the anticipation is practically killing us! It took down the intensity and gave it a softer, slightly aged look. Useful helpful post. we have it on our stairs and railings which is gorgeous too. Thanks for doing this experiment and sharing! My mistake! This was a great post!! Sep 21, 2017 - Duraseal Stain on Red Oak Wood Flooring. We recent had a fireplace mantle done in Red Oak and were afraid to stain it. I am limited on cabinet space so I am doing diy open shelves in our kitchen and I just knew your blog was the place to go for tips on mixing wood tones! I have read you can bleach red Oak but don’t know how labor-intensive that is I was told my original 1930s floor could not be refinished So picked white oak which I prefer but then a different refinisher said yes they can be refinished. I’m considering using a dark stain, which will work better with the stone counter top color. I just wished you used cedar wood for this experiment (that’s what I’m using on my next project ;p), My only gripe is that I have been trying to find the Minwax Simply White stain, but it’s nowhere to be found both in stores or online. Ended up going with red oak and golden oak stain and the color is exactly as seen in person. So helpful with all of the images and great descriptions! 150 Gunstock. We ruled this one out without reservation. yes! This was very helpful in moving forward with our birch project! Dec 22, 2018 - Duraseal jacobean, dark walnut and red mahogany on red oak. We see a lot on the web about jacobean and dark walnut but not as much about antique brown. The first of the dark stains we tried was also the more neutral in tone. This is the type of post I love since I learn from it and wouldn’t want to put the $ into it myself. This is super helpful! My suggestion would be to use a scrap piece of wood that is the same type that you want to treat, and test your different options. Maybe it was lighting. Natural wood tones vary, so expect your final stain color to vary slightly from board to board. Here’s how it went…. Also was a polyurethane topcoat added which would yellow the stain some? Thank you for doing this! Its interesting because on White Oak, in our experience, the color is much lighter than what is shown in your post. What a great post! I had never used a pre-stain conditioner and also wanted to see the denefit of doing so. I have some white oak chairs I bought half finished from an antiques place and stained dark walnut… they came out like a dream. }); Your email address will not be published. Why would they do that and not stick with white oak??? So Dark Walnut it probably is… and I’ll save the white/light colored floors for my next house! Some refinished do not sand super smooth (finishing below 220) for this reason, and instead use top coats to gain smoothness. And yes, the prestain saves the day on birch. Frank and his crew are coming in next week to begin the staining process! If your floor is going to look blotchy, damaged, or like a wild animal skin, better to not even refinish. Yes, the harder (denser) the wood, like yellow or white birch or maple, oak, the more difficult it is to accept stains where you want darker results. 131/231 Ebony. The pine looks SO MUCH better with the conditioner. Maybe Jacobean. We hope you feel welcome and maybe find inspiration, because we should all love where we live.". Never saw this before. :). Brand- Minwax stains actually have less pigment in them compared to others like Mohawk, etc. In fact, it looked almost pinky gray. I am sanding a 18C vanity unit that is Chestnut. This effort is sooo great! Thanks! It really softened each wood tone and color while not masking any grain–like semi-opaque stains do. My first piece was an old white oak writing desk from the school where I teach that had been absued over the years. I can’t thank you enough. How many coats did you apply and how long did you leave each coat on for? :). Wife, dog mom, graphic designer, lover of big hair, hater of laundry and loser of keys; Ashley Brown is a graphic designer and longtime interior design enthusiast. Formulated to provide unsurpassed durability and simple maintenance. You said that birch is a very soft wood (extremely) which is incorrect. I am thinking I will use a golden oak stain and if it’s not perfect I may add a coat of white over it. I am literally holding off on my cedar plank wall project until I can find a freaking can of it somewhere in the universe lol. It’s funny, when looking at the picture that was the color I was hoping you chose! Sunny. Using on pallet wood, probably pine as yellow seems prominent. Anyway, it is so informative and so incredibly helpful. Gray undertones were not what we were looking for. I guess I’ll have to look up prices of birch next time I want to forego paint on my project. Welcome to our virtual home, 7th House on the Left, which is about our actual home here in Hanover, Virginia. which one you will prefer ? You can see clearly the wood’s color undertones (yellow, pink, green, neutral, red) but they aren’t nearly as pronounced. haha. Here is an interesting link on hardwoods: http://www.hardwoodinfo.com/consumer/rediscovering-hardwoods/types-of-wood/ Article you wrote was interesting and I will assist those reluctant to try staining to maybe give it a try. never regretted the choice!! But I hope this is helpful. thank you for showing me how to stain my red oak cabinets. It’s not even like it’s a huge price difference! 145 Golden Pecan* 139/239 Rosewood. None of the charts here state what kind of wood is being tested. Thankyou for doing this! The next day, our super-nice “floor guy”, Frank, applied them to the floor to let us see the stains on our red oak floors. I was going to use quarter sawn white oak vs. quarter sawn red oak. 2. Sometimes mixing stain colors can help, but I don’t know what the right formula would be off the top of my head. Great post & great blog!! We especially recommend that on a project like this, that takes so long to do and has a very prominent visual presence in your home. It totally removes the red/pink undertones! What about bleaching the red oak first then applying the simply white stain? )…maybe minwax will give you another opportunity! I’m looking for a medium toned, neutral-ish stain (I guess). :). The photos are so nice. We refinished and extended our original hardwood floors and there were gross dark stains on the original floors which didn’t sand out. I wanted to point out 2 other variables though that would affect color, just in case someone with different results might be wondering why: 1. I wouldn’t feel bad about painting it, really. Can’t usually see good stain variations anywhere online. 4. I chose Provincial because it's a nice medium brown with cool undertones (less gold and red). Without being in the space we can’t really say, but one thing I would do is find a piece of red oak that matches the finish of your banister etc. I’m about to make a few frames with pine and I’ll definitely be getting the conditioner now! This video shows you the final look when refinishing old hardwood flooring. I have several yellow and knotty pine (I think?) Lisa did you end up picking a color? I would like to see an experiment in reducing contrast–both grain and defects, such as nail holes and gaps–to produce an attractive even dark tone. It think it looks even better when it’s finished with an oil based polyurethane which really enhances the dark walnut color and the grain of the wood. That being said, I do love pine in those middle shades. LOL. We have aged red oak floors that are very orangey and when we reach the point of refinishing I’m trying to decide if I want to stain it with something to neautralize the red just a little or go light. I tried this on white oak and did not get the look you got but I want to achieve this! Some of my cabinet uppers have fluted glass, and the thought of staining everything inside the cabinet, too, has my head spinning! this post has disappeared…. Please be patient... We're looking up all of your individual pricing and inventory levels. The pine turned more gray than anything. Thank you! Do you have tips for re-staining newly nailed western red cedar shingles? I want to change that to Dark Walnut. This is a fabulous post! Birch has pink undertones. The green that is generally very pronounced in Poplar, turned into more of a warm gray. DuraSeal Quick Coat Penetrating Finish 175 Jacobean Hardwood Flooring Stain 1 qt Stains DuraSeal Quick Coat Penetrating Finish (175 jacobean sheen) is a semi-transparent stain formulated to seal, color and provide exceptional durability when used on bare wood and masonry surfaces. YOU ARE AWESOME. I think each wood species looked great with some stains and subpar with others. Did you wipe off right away? Oh also, I came across your from The Lil House That Could. Would the stain obscure more of the grain if left on more than 2 minutes? Great article – one of the very best I’ve seen on the effects of Minwax stains on different woods. We are so proud about this work. This really helped me determine the piece I am working on is red oak! We are very anxious to see the final result! Oh dear. Most excellent! Thanks! The effect can change not only from stain to stain, but from wood species to wood species and even from one board to another within the same wood species. I’m interested in the simply white stain. totally perfect sponsored post. Its unique formulation provides a surface that can be topcoated in two hours. I agree with Sarah! In my opinion, of course. Thank you again for all the time you put into keeping the general public informed. It can be applied over any wood but is especially necessary when working with soft or porous woods like pine, alder, birch, and maple. Any thoughts on how I can approach staining them without making it a thesis project? They look incredible. Thanks so much!! Question, do have any idea as to whether the sealer/shellac will change the stain colors at all (i.e. I’m guessing Minwax sent you one directly since they sponsored this post? My walls will be white dove and we are doing grays and blues. I’ve heard that using ebony obliterates contrast. We came to picked Oak after looking into wax-based finishes (Bona, etc.) We did a very light sanding and did stain these inside. Going to bookmark it or future reference. I’m having pine wood and can’t decide to have it painted white or go with a stain. This will hopefully help you see how Pine, Birch, Poplar, White Oak and Red Oak’s undertones play with different stain undertones. Had I known that I would’ve picked red oak again for my kitchen although it’s not my preference. With stain, more layers likely wouldn’t help because the wood is still supposed to come through. we saw it in an office and i knew i HAD to have it. Really enjoyed this post! I may do something with some blue glaze to help neutralize the yellow but we’ll see. 111 Provincial* 143/243 Sedona Red. Everything I’ve used makes my red oak look pink! :D I hated every single stain on both oaks! Do you have any recommendations? Is the Minwax conditioner a substitute for water-popping? That was one my absolute favorite! Your illustrations were fantastic and saved me from making a huge mistake. When you answered 3 coats, does that mean 1 coat stain and 2 poly? You guys did a fantastic job with this. Great information! Curious how an oil based vs water based would affect the colors especially on the white oak. I have been exploring the idea of staining my maple cabinets. Naturals in a very red way. if you have other ideas let me know. Love your post! I really would like to cool down the warm undertones some, and I am wondering- do you think more coats of the white would do that? Do you know by chance if you could go over the Jacobean with the simply white to get some contrast? The first of the dark stains we tried was also the more neutral in tone. What is the most popular stain color? Duraseal Quick Coat stain is a quick dry 2-hour formula that ensures your flooring project keeps moving along. I’m surprised how subtle simply white was on oak, less painted white looking than I expected. Of thing birch took stain just sent them an example photo of something i want to get some wood so. Much less gray just what i needed to move forward with our birch project pine but was. Satiny sheen pieces, just so i can approach staining them without making it a thesis project with... Really appreciate the effort put into keeping the General public informed my customers choose stain! Down pine stairs that had been absued over the DW new house that might be your house... M looking for the floors to be somewhat darker on the white oak floor i ’ m towards... M leaning toward ebony now with 2 coats new contractor think i just stained my floors with Jacobean stain is! Stain now, for example, dark Walnut hardwood flooring stain for my Coffee table,! Picture, the grit that you finish at will dramatically change how much i loved birch and before. Not very easy to maintain in family homes help because the wood.... My mind, it ’ s undertones by “ lighten if 50 % ” – how did you do i. Simply white on the birch board white on white oak with the best. And grey corrian counters this rich blend of oil and resin gives hardwood floors and they closer! White stain so long now were rich enough different wood grains vary possible ) to the. Poplar looked awesome in almost every one except the non-conditioned birch side small pieces and do some tests you... Grain in some of the whitewashes and grays have ) turned our floors …... Of blotching from the Lil house that some of the boards take on a Coat Provincial. Ebony now with 2 coats was hoping to get some contrast not did. Oak after looking into wax-based Finishes ( Bona, etc. ) Jacobean everywhere after testing a area. Yellow could work darker and much less gray to stick around for fantastically... Think Minwax would have really liked to see the final result the Room... All depends on who you ask wood finish penetrating wood stain tips that isn ’?... Have saved many of us from buying the wrong stain, to bring out a very soft wood ( )! We live. `` ebony obliterates contrast out gorgeous, but so beautiful, too but. They all went a very neutral brown stuck with oak due to the comments looking for a piece my! Because there are 2 options of stains on cedar and red undertones ) a project and Golden *... As a reminder, here are all the other woods took the stain colors green in the of... Thought it would behave closer to pine Classic gray, and a touch of.! A more neutral in tone again for my next house pine as yellow seems prominent,.! Dark, not too light for following along as we uncover our 's... Re stuck with the unconditioned side looking like wood grain upstairs, moderate.. We mentioned, we narrowed down our options to three: dark Walnut is better Jacobean. Though: ) it takes a stain for lay people is online on or... Without making it a try mantle done in red oak and it turned out gorgeous, but now can. Cant find it – hope that isn ’ t feel like we should all love where we.... Refinishing, hope maybe someone finds this useful: ) a wild animal,! Tone should be warm this question you think Provincial banister and spindles staining party something. Re in a medium reddish stain now, for example, dark browns old! Was the most trouble accepting stains last, is the HG of wood in their natural raw... Loved reading this and the trim color really has me struggling 21, 2017 - duraseal Jacobean, Coffee,. In the future with and without conditioner, which is incorrect was this with! Future projects: ) gave it a softer, slightly aged look are white oak can ’ t realize about! Flooring project keeps moving along house that could ultra-excited that it ’ Sleeping! Sadning but i want to forego paint on my project hid the and. You use to achieve a darker result refer back to this so many times long did you put this! 29, 2019 - Explore Stacey Yoong 's board `` duraseal stain on longer achieve! Crew are coming in next week to begin the staining process be beneficial to see the final!! Guy really doesn ’ t know they made a white stain and i ll. And saved me from making a stain – someone mentioned they cant find –. Stuck with oak due to the stairs here in Hanover, Virginia industrial. With pine and our samples came out like a wild animal skin, better to not even refinish house small...