Hello All;
We've been renovating our home, and have come across an unforseen and
unexpected problem ( for us ) with the wood floors and stairs. Our
stairs, were built new, and out of red oak, our hardwood floor (chosen
after stairs were ordered and installed) is quarter sawn white oak
(unfinished). The problem is with the stain. We took a sample of the
floor to the paint store where they custom blended a stain to our
liking. It looks great on the flooring, however, it looks horrible on
the stairs. The stain has a tinge of red in it and the red oak really
makes the stain come "alive". We take full reponsability for this
error as we did not mention the different woods when getting the
stain, nor did we think much of it until the painter brought it to our
attention, after staining the stairs...
The problem is that the painter has stained the stairs, and they look,
well, red, too red.. Is there any way to make them look not so red.
Would it all have to be sanded off?. I have called in the floor guy
for advice, on this matter, and was just looking for other opininons
to compare notes when we meet
Thanx in advance
Nel wrote:
>Hello All;
>
>We've been renovating our home, and have come across an unforseen and
>unexpected problem ( for us ) with the wood floors and stairs. Our
>stairs, were built new, and out of red oak, our hardwood floor (chosen
>after stairs were ordered and installed) is quarter sawn white oak
>(unfinished). The problem is with the stain. We took a sample of the
>floor to the paint store where they custom blended a stain to our
>liking. It looks great on the flooring, however, it looks horrible on
>the stairs. The stain has a tinge of red in it and the red oak really
>makes the stain come "alive". We take full reponsability for this
>error as we did not mention the different woods when getting the
>stain, nor did we think much of it until the painter brought it to our
>attention, after staining the stairs...
>
>The problem is that the painter has stained the stairs, and they look,
>well, red, too red.. Is there any way to make them look not so red.
>Would it all have to be sanded off?. I have called in the floor guy
>for advice, on this matter, and was just looking for other opininons
>to compare notes when we meet
>
>Thanx in advance
>
>
You could try bleaching the stain out.
http://www.woodzone.com/articles/wood_bleach.htm
--
Bill
A greenish color will move the color away from red toward brown. If the
painter can apply a thin coat of finish tinted with a green dye that would
help.
>>The problem is that the painter has stained the stairs, and they look,
>>well, red, too red.. Is there any way to make them look not so red.
>>Would it all have to be sanded off?. I have called in the floor guy
>>for advice, on this matter, and was just looking for other opininons
>>to compare notes when we meet
>>
>>Thanx in advance
>>
>>
>You could try bleaching the stain out.
>http://www.woodzone.com/articles/wood_bleach.htm
>
>--
>Bill
On 20 May 2004 04:44:08 -0700, [email protected] (Nel) wrote:
>
>The problem is that the painter has stained the stairs, and they look,
>well, red, too red.. Is there any way to make them look not so red.
--- WARNING! Try this on scrap before your floor! --
You've been warned!
You could try a tinted clear coat., say with some green or blue
colorant added to tone down the red.
I've used universal colorants in shellac, lacquer and even
polyurethane to change stained wood after the fact with good success.
Take good notes while you test, add color to the clear SLOWLY, and
you'd be surprised what you can do.
Barry
On 20 May 2004 04:44:08 -0700, [email protected] (Nel)
brought forth from the murky depths:
>The problem is that the painter has stained the stairs, and they look,
>well, red, too red.. Is there any way to make them look not so red.
>Would it all have to be sanded off?. I have called in the floor guy
>for advice, on this matter, and was just looking for other opininons
>to compare notes when we meet
Get some scraps of red oak and try your stain on it. Then try an
overcoat of green dye (oil-based for oil, water/alcohol-based dye
for waterborne finishes) to reduce the red. Good luck. :-0
I prefer wood-colored wood, myself.
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On 20 May 2004 04:44:08 -0700, [email protected] (Nel) wrote:
>Hello All;
>
>We've been renovating our home, and have come across an unforseen and
>unexpected problem ( for us ) with the wood floors and stairs. Our
>stairs, were built new, and out of red oak, our hardwood floor (chosen
>after stairs were ordered and installed) is quarter sawn white oak
>(unfinished). The problem is with the stain. We took a sample of the
>floor to the paint store where they custom blended a stain to our
>liking. It looks great on the flooring, however, it looks horrible on
>the stairs. The stain has a tinge of red in it and the red oak really
>makes the stain come "alive". We take full reponsability for this
>error as we did not mention the different woods when getting the
>stain, nor did we think much of it until the painter brought it to our
>attention, after staining the stairs...
>
>The problem is that the painter has stained the stairs, and they look,
>well, red, too red.. Is there any way to make them look not so red.
>Would it all have to be sanded off?. I have called in the floor guy
>for advice, on this matter, and was just looking for other opininons
>to compare notes when we meet
>
>Thanx in advance
If you have not clear-coated the stairs, then you can stain over them
with a dilute version of the same stain type - but in a greenish hue.
The green will neutralize the red and the result will be more in the
brown range. The danger here is that you may darken the material more
than you wish, so proceed carefully. Do this incrementally, on an
area like the underside of a tread bullnose, or on a scrap piece of
stair wood, treated in the same way as the original, in order to test
the result.
If you have clear-coated the steps, you can buy a dye stain like
TransTint that can be added to your clear-coat, and it will give much
the same result.
As in the above, testing on scrap, or a little viewed area is very
important before doing the whole job.
Regards,
Tom.
Thomas J.Watson - Cabinetmaker (ret.)
tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1