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February 3, 2009
Old Pine vs. New Oak
One way our GC goofed back before he abandoned the job (over two years ago) is that he let the stair guys put in a new white oak edge against old wide plank pine, then he let the floor guys finish the new oak natural, with a poly coat, the same finish as the pine, but with predictably incongruous results. We didn't have the stomach for the fight over this one, partly because we didn't know what we would do instead. Anyone have an idea as to a simple solution that would look reasonably nice or at least less obviously like a mistake? We aren't going to rip out the oak. Should we paint it? Any ideas for matching stain? Minwax colonial maple didn't work; too light and peachy on the oak.
Comments
paint it white up to the baluster, and replace the stair section with a yellow pine detail...that way it will look intentional, and the stair detail will match by a few shades out
Posted by: eman1234 at February 2, 2009 9:33 PM
scuff sand the oak, use an appropriate color gel stain to overglaze the wood to match the pine color, and then topcoat.
Posted by: ParkSlopePS at February 3, 2009 7:49 AM
ParkSlopePS is right...keep going darker until it starts to match. Use the gel stain. buy it online if you can't find it.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at February 3, 2009 8:12 AM
Thanks everyone. I was looking for a paint vs. stain debate, and welcome any other insights. Eman implicitl;y points out that paint (particularly white) won't work well on the stair section because it will get stepped on too much.
Dave (and anyone else),
Why does the gel stain work better? Can you mix gel stains at all -- my sense is colonial maple is too light orange, cherry is too red? Also, if staining, would you try to match teh lighter or darker tones of the pine floor. The oak will have much less variation in it than the pine does. Part of the problem is finding the appropriate color in teh first place.
Anyone else want to weigh in in favor of paint? It seems like a longshot from an aesthetic standpoint.
Posted by: slopefarm at February 3, 2009 9:40 AM
If its just an edge and it doesn't get walked on (as opposed to say the edge of a tread) then the paint option might look OK. Gel stains can be mixed. You can get that oak to match the color of the pine with a bit of trial and error.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at February 3, 2009 10:32 AM
frankly, i think paint will look awful. like dave and PSPS, i would recommend trying to match with the gel, and opt for the dark tones if the cherry or colonial maple aren't working. the other option is that if you plan to finish your newel post, you could try to match the floor's edge to the darker mahogany tone. this latter suggestion probably only makes sense if you also plan one day to strip and finish the balusters as well.
Posted by: i disagree at February 3, 2009 10:37 AM
Just a thought, maybe the contractor used oak b/c it's a harder wood than pine and better for the construction of the stairs? We have a pine staircase and all the edges are worn down, the treads are splitting and pulling out of the riser. We've been told by several contractors that pine is simply too soft a wood to be used on stairs. I'm not defending the contractor and not helping to solve your problem but since we're now looking at having to completely replace our staircase it's been a topic of discussion in our home.
Posted by: TownhouseLady at February 3, 2009 11:05 AM
THL,
I think what happened was that the stair subcontractor used new oak on the stairs, which we signed off on, and just went ahead and put the oak everywhere without checking with us. They removed and replaced the railings, spindles etc, and replaced the mildly damaged old pine section for floor in which the spindles had been attached with new oak. The sub did a great job on the stairs and the spindles, but these little odds and ends are just the kind of thing that happens when the owner (me) and GC don't watch and consult carefully enough. Subs don't always know which choices need to be real decisions before making them. But I'm mostly over that. I just want to finish it up as nicely as I can.
Posted by: slopefarm at February 3, 2009 11:18 AM
gotcha :)
Posted by: TownhouseLady at February 3, 2009 11:31 AM
I'm sure you can test different colours and mixes...use test wood and have fun. I'm sorry to hear you had the old "abandoned job" happen to you too. I can't tell you, though, how heart-warming it is to hear that we are not the only ones who have had problems in the past. These contractors are quite a breed.
Posted by: BrooklynGreene at February 3, 2009 3:23 PM
BG,
Read the archives here. You are far from alone. Ours made it pretty close to the end, but the enthusiasm for the first 70% of the job was not there for the last 25% (yes, it adds up to 95). Fortuantely, he tackled the job with vigor when the issues were structural. Unfortuantely, his attention wandered when it got to some of the stuff you can actually see. And we lost him when we/he realized he'd made a billing error and the balance on the job was substantially less than he previously thought.
Sounds like there is a clear verdict for experimenting with stain. Most agree the aesthetics are better in this situation. Can always paint later, but much harder to go the other way.
Posted by: slopefarm at February 3, 2009 3:38 PM
I'm sure it can be matched!
Sounds like you had a better go at it with your contractor than we did years ago. We were "plain" ripped off when it comes right down to it. Our contractor was siphoning off money from us basically to pay off his debts on other jobs. Then, he used our house as a staging area for a ton of waste from other jobs where he may not have had permits...so, huge contractor bags, pierced and spilling out sawdust, all manner of junk and dangerous, sharp things would sit around clogging halls and, at one time seemingly the entire ground floor, for weeks until he had it hauled off in bins he was essentially trying to bill us for! Oooo...I'm getting mad just reliving it mentally for a brief moment...
Well, at least you got through it with your skins it appears...even though there are the odd wood tones abutting each other here and there.
Best of luck...and send us a photo of the finished result!
Posted by: BrooklynGreene at February 3, 2009 7:38 PM
I'm sure it can be matched!
Sounds like you had a better go at it with your contractor than we did years ago. We were "plain" ripped off when it comes right down to it. Our contractor was siphoning off money from us basically to pay off his debts on other jobs. Then, he used our house as a staging area for a ton of waste from other jobs where he may not have had permits...so, huge contractor bags, pierced and spilling out sawdust, all manner of junk and dangerous, sharp things would sit around clogging halls and, at one time seemingly the entire ground floor, for weeks until he had it hauled off in bins he was essentially trying to bill us for! Oooo...I'm getting mad just reliving it mentally for a brief moment...
Well, at least you got through it with your skins it appears...even though there are the odd wood tones abutting each other here and there.
Best of luck...and send us a photo of the finished result!
Posted by: BrooklynGreene at February 3, 2009 7:38 PM
The guys who did a lot of stripping for me a while back recommended Minwax Ipswich Pine stain to match new wood to my floors which are the same as yours. I never used it so I can't personally vouch for it but I agree that you should stain it.
Posted by: jfss at February 3, 2009 9:21 PM
There are people (artists) who faux finish wood to match existing. Its a paint/glaze process done by hand. Not cheap but definitely less than ripping out the oak. A friend did this in their living room and I can barely tell where. This ain't gonna work with stain.
Posted by: HDL at February 5, 2009 3:40 PM
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