Of course, this is no help to you...but I installed a red oak floor for a customer and I called it a 'bleeding' red oak floor it was so red.

Matching new oak flooring with that good old aged 'creamy-colored' stuff can be difficult, especially when the new stuff is way off color to start with.

Perhaps bleach the red out of the new stuff and then stain? Just a thought. Wood bleach is unbelievable dangerous stuff, so I don't mess with it much.

Hopefully a homeowner who has had sucess matching new to old with come in here with some good advice for you.

Thanks for the reply all the same. As you can tell I am extremely disappointed as I was only hoping to get the color close between floors (I knew it wouldnÂt be perfect) Â I spent a lot of money on custom cabinets and an issue like this can turn a project sour overnight.

I called Min Wax and the customer service person told me to use a water base "base coat" first, then follow it up with three coats of water based polyurethane. She went on to say that any "oil based" stain is going to bring out the tannins (spell?) of the wood which is why the red is coming through. If I use water based material it will give a soft amber look without the red.

Has anyone had experience with water based polyurethane on red oak?

Desperate in CT!

Jambx22,

Did you ever find a good solution to this? I am running into the same situation. Contractor told me he could match the existing. He put in Select oak(probably should have uses Clear oak), then he just put the poly down. Way to light and too much variation.

I want him to resand and stain the floor to match the rest of the house. I don't think he has a clue how to match it.

You're 1930's home may have an Oak that grows predominately in your area. It may not be just a grade issue - it could be a different subspecies all together. The older the home, the more likely your floors are produced using the trees in your region. Years ago there just wasn't as much movement of materials around as there is today - transportation was an issue. Why bring in Oak from way off when it's growing all around?

Are you 100% sure you have Red Oak to begin with and not a white oak? Red Oak has a reddish hue.....it's what that "red" is referring to in the name.

If you have the same species, in the same grade and manufactured in the same way you should absolutely have no issues matching your existing floors. That is if you are refinishing your existing floors at the same time. You are doing that, right?

We do not advertise it on our website, but we custom mill long length plank floors and architectural moldings to match period homes right here at our mill in Tennessee. We also produce custom reclaimed flooring as well.

Alan Ward

Alan has given you some good advice on the variations of oak.

I have matched old oak with new many times but nobody on the internet can give you a definitive answer.I would have to be on the site and I have 40 years experience.Some times it takes some oxalic acid to bleach first .Sometimes not.I have always had better results layering stains than mixing them.

Read my previous post.you have to see the floor or you can't fix it.Many that will see the floor can't fix it.Tight budget and tight window probably won't happen not seeing it.

Wish I could be of more help but you did not even post a picture which would not help in this situation but would make me a bit more willing to help.

I don't help those that do not try and help theirselves.

A flooring artist can match anything. That's not Cheap Charlie standing in HD parking lot handing out business cards.

Can someone explain why people comment on an 8 year old post that hasn't had a comment in 6 years.

Because not many look at the original posting dates? Or maybe some want to get their names out there?

I've done the same. I think that Houzz takes old posts that may pertain to a key word in a newer post and puts them up on the right side of the page, making them look like new posts. That might help someone researching a topic.

Yeah, the algorithms never rest.

"Can one stain 'New' Red Oak to match 'Old' Red Oak?"

This is tuff to do. When we do a repair in an old Vancouver Home I often use some Shellac first and then top coat with Polyurethane. The shellac gives me the aged look or yellowing and the two seam to work well together.

Some times we tint the top coat a little.

Judgement calls since sunlight and time will yellow the top coat so making it look right now might make it look wrong in a year.....

Generally what happens is a spammer comes along and spams the thread. Another person or admin recognizes the post as spam and deletes the spam post but it has already been moved to the top of the list as there has been "activity" on the thread.

I just had my red oak floors refinished but it is so pink. My contractor put an oil based poly. I'm frustrated because I think I should have had him use water-based. I don't think I'm going to like it if it's going to keep such a strong pink hue. Is there anything I can do to address this? I know red oak is called red oak for a reason but I wasn't expecting it to be so pink. How should I expect it to change over time if I kept it this way. Please help.

BLEACH THE REDDER WOOD. Use hydrogen peroxide and lye (1:1). Wait a day. If you

are off a bit (too white) yu can sand it off. It does not bleach more than the top surface.