We are building a new home. The floor is select red oak. My wife originally planned on a very dark stain which seems to be the current fad. After some research we have decided that a dark stain will not work for us with three kids and a dog.

I would just seal it but because of the cabinet colors the red would be a problem. we decided to try a lighter stain that hopefully will hide some of then red.

We have looked at early American and Provincial and even a mix of Provincial and Dark Walnut. I read here that early American has red pigment so maybe that's not a good choice.

Bottom line is we need help. The goal is a light to medium stain that will be dark enough to lessen the red but light enough to not show every piece of dirt and paw mark. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

Go with white oak?

Without a long story .....it's too late for that.

Mike

One of the finish guys here may have an idea, I don't do that dance.

Try a golden oak stain. It is the lightest of the stains with a primarily brown spectrum. If you want darker, try provincial or special walnut.

So it sounds like the best we can do is not add any more red pigment. I guess the question for us is which stains add red?

I just finished a 800 ft sand job of select red oak for a customer that hates red. Why go red oak? Because that's what her house had when she bought it. Ideally the darker the stain the more it hides the red. Not always the case. With select or #1 you don't get a lot of knot holes or dark boards, you get pink pink pink. Which shows red when stained. This customer went with coffee brown (darkest brown). And she still wasn't happy. 3 coats of oil base polyurethane definitely helped. Water base polyurethane is clear so the color you see is the color you get.
So basically what I am saying is after 11 years of refinishing when I look at a red oak floor and the customer says they don't like red I know it's going to be a stressful job.
Try to keep in mind that your contractor can only do the best with what he has to work with. If you picked red oak than that's your mistake. I always make it clear to my customers that white oak is the way to go. I mean why not? It's a denser wood (harder), takes stain darker, and usually costs the same. If the contractor didn't give you these options than its his fault.
good luck

"it's his fault"...^ why?

red oak always shows red..water pop the floor and you can tint the poly.

you can also consider a hardwax oil finish where you can pre-color the floor,

it maybe be a better option all around..,

look at Rubio Monocoat//

you can smoke or fume the floor to remove pigment, as well pre color stian before applying oil.

you can also bleach to remove red pigment and stain over that

tough to get the red out of red oak, lol. anyway look at the dura seal stains instead of the minwax line, I think they have some better browns but ill tell ya its going to have that underlying tone till you get provincial or darker. ALso second the hardwax oil suggestion , you can get some pretty off the wall stuff with it if you can find a gut who knows what it is and how to use it.