|
| Hello. We're in a new construction, and are almost finished. We chose a fabulous #1 common White Oak floor in 4" width, which was site finished with Minwax English Chestnut and Waterlox satin finish.
The stairs were done the same. Originally we thought to do the stairs, rails, and spindles all in a natural white oak to let the wood show through, and have a dark floor. The issue is, that the builder did not order white oak rails & spindles with adequate lead time, so he is offering red oak. If we held fast, this would delay our move date a month. While we're a little sick over his error and poor offering, we feel like we have no choice. So the question is, what to do with these Red Oak rails?
Matching does not seem like a smart idea - although we've found weirdly enough that the Red Mahogany staining pen on sample seems really close to the floor now, if not a little blue-er. Not sure I trust a 4 year old staining pen on an approximate sample of red oak.
Thanks for reading, and would enjoy your comments or response! Thanks...... |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by sombreuil_mongrel (My Page) on Sat, Aug 13, 11 at 16:31
| Bleach it to get the pink tone out, then stain with the same stain you would use on the white oak. White oak will have tan, gray and green undertones. Oh, to clarify: you use a special wood bleach, not clorox. Casey |
|
| I would wait on the white oak, maybe he could do a rush order, and eat that cost. |
|
- Posted by wwwonderwhiskers (My Page) on Sat, Aug 13, 11 at 23:56
| Casey - what a GREAT idea - thank you so much!!! After googling around & reading a couple of articles, it seems like a common solution. Wonder why Builder-guy didn't think of it?? Thank you! |
|
| "Wonder why Builder-guy didn't think of it?? " Wood bleach will require a lot of hand work top apply and then prep the surface again for finishing. They are commonly water based and result in some grain raising, requiring detailed sanding to get back to a surface for a clear finish. |
|
- Posted by bobsmyuncle (My Page) on Sun, Aug 14, 11 at 21:49
| "Wonder why Builder-guy didn't think of it?? " He's probably not an accomplished finisher. Just glopping on the same can of Minwax on both is not going to do it. |
|
- Posted by wwwonderwhiskers (My Page) on Tue, Aug 16, 11 at 22:54
| brickeyee & bobsmyuncle, yes. His background is framing. We've discovered that Framers Do Not Finish Carpenter Artisans Make. We found that - on the sample red oak at least - Minwax's Provincial seems to be a cool coloured, very close compliment to the English Chestnut on White oak. If the spindles don't look great, we'll paint them after closing. Then the Rail & Veloute will be the stained pieces, and for those "close is OK" I think will be the rule. Worst case, we'll just sand & lay down some Jacobean, LOL. Thanks all! |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Woodworking Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.