I need to pick a stain for my entire first floor on red oak. We are finding ebony + white or true black + white comes out best, especially on red oak. We’re planning to get rid of the living room carpet next Spring and I would love to go with grey – but I’m not sure it would look good with birch doors and window trim. Apr 17, 2020 - Modern gray, greige and brown-gray stain shades for hardwood flooring. DOWNLOAD YOUR FLOOR TIMELINE HERE! I hope this makes sense. Fast drying formula dries in 1 hour and uses nano pigments to offer superior color and coverage. Have tried minwax and other stains with no luck. But, it depends how light you want to go. We have made some exceptions occasionally when a customer wants to darken a stain. Fill wood putty Your email address will not be published. I personally like Somerset, but there are many options such as Mohawk, Shaw, Armstrong. I found it really helpful to see all the colors on the same species, so it's easier to compare apples to apples. Nick – Personally, I would do 3. My recommendation is to stay away from that color. Also, it really isn’t worth spending money on an exotic hardwood to stain gray when you can purchase domestic woods(like Oak) for a fraction of the cost and allocate that towards staining your floors gray. I really appreciate that and the follow up. Oil based polyurethane is tinted a yellow tone and it tends to amber more over time. Deirdre – Yes, gray is challenging. Staining a floor gray is best to do so on a new floor rather than an existing floor. I have red oak floors? DuraSeal Quick Coat Penetrating Finish is a semi-transparent stain formulated to seal, color and provide exceptional durability when used on bare wood and masonry surfaces. Hi i have a white oak floor and want to stain it gray. I was asking what tool do you use to apply the stain and poly? doing a coat of oil and then a coat of water or vice versa). DuraSeal Quick Coat Penetrating Finish is a semi-transparent stain formulated to seal, color and provide exceptional durability when used on bare wood and masonry surfaces. This rich blend of oil and resin gives hardwood floors a soft. It looks great, dries quickly, and doesn’t amberize. I will ask my contractor which products he used. (Is there any truth to fruitwood? Perhaps you installer isn’t applying it correctly or putting too much on it. You can read my full disclosure at the bottom of the page. https://www.amazon.com/DS-QC-EBONY-131-G/dp/B00ISXFBRS/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1516804243&sr=8-10&keywords=duraseal+stain. Shop Duraseal Weathered Quick Coat (Quart) Oil-Based Stain (861700000) from City Floor Supply, your go-to distributor for all your wood floor finishing needs. they both look very nice. Is there a special bleach that is used? Pls see my other comment. Wish my floor guy were more interested in working with me (stuck with him as he’s GC guy), but he’s asked me to pick 3-4 cans at most. I’m guessing that Bona Aged Pewter is better than those, but it may not be the right shade of gray for you..and you may have red oak on the steps which makes everything trickier. When it comes to gray, we use Duraseal ebony and Bona White. i used the bona grey since it works well with the bona traffic hd . Also, it’s okay to use an oil based stain and water borne poly. Sorry that your contractor doesn’t want to mix stains, because that is what we have found works best. These items cost more than the typical hardwood cleaners, but at least you can make repairs as scratches occur. oh and he’s using LastnLast water poly. They are using Duraseal and all the colors look “milky” and some look really blue. And, yes, I know it’s so annoying that Bona doesn’t have their white stain on Amazon. I am hoping you might have a “recipe” suggestion for me. Hello Flooring girl! Here is some testing we did with gray stains on a house that had both red oak and white oak flooring so you can see the difference. Planning is key when staining a floor gray. For example, when staining a floor using Duraseal’s Espresso, if you are running low you can easily find and use another can of Espresso. Duraseal is more widely used by flooring professionals. LC – Sorry about the delay. Will try ebony duraseal and bona. And, thanks for keeping me posted. I would not recommend Minwax at all. My client has American Cherry floors and she would like a gray white washed floor. Tara – It’s very challenging to stain any of the exotics gray, due to the nature of the color, color variation and oils in these woods. Do you have any suggestions for color mixes to provide us with a natural looking gray? Please note that these are products I know/use and recommend to my customers. You can see Bona Stain Chart here. (It dries out the wood a bit…just like hair dyes dry out your air…I think due to the ammonia). They do come out different on different species, grades and age of wood. Staining hardwood floors gray | Refinish wood gray | Westchester County, Duraseal’s new gray and greige blend line, Best paint colors with gray hardwood flooring. Hi! If so, how? 2. Your blog was a lot of help But the more practical questions to consider is should I stain my floors gray and will they turn out the way you want. This will affect the color of the stain. I hope this helps. Eliz – Those were done a couple of years ago and I don’t remember the ratios, but most likely we did 3:1, 5:1, 7:1, 9:1. Varathane 1 qt. We will test the gray colors on your hardwood floors. Nick – First, you put putty on, then 36 grit…then you may need some more putty as some may get sanded off. Stains should dry at least 24 hrs, consistent with dark colored stains (and/or to the manufacturer’s specifications. Check out Duraseal's new gray stains for a modern farmhouse style. How would you go about bleaching the floors? Required fields are marked *, Interior Designer. I don’t know your definition of “dark gray.” That being said, you want to reverse your ratios…so it would be 7 parts WHITE to 1 part EBONY. We are building a new home, and just want a gray undertone to the floors, but not a full blown gray. My floor guy (stuck with him as part of the project) is only going to mix up whatever recipes I bring to him. despite all of the work involved letting wood dry, putting in the tongue and groove nailing it down sanding and more sanding filling a few gaps and more sanding , then a stain prep and then the bona grey stain and finally first coat of bona traffic hd . We decided to just go with a “classic” wood color and ditch the gray. And, medium brown doesn’t look good…it comes out too red, especially on red oak. Also, you can check out this article I just published about an hour ago and try Duraseal’s new “dark gray.” See the article here: Duraseal’s new gray blends. Flooring professionals, such as us, will swatch the different blends for our clients. I asked my contractor for a sample of bona white and duraseal ebony. I am finding your blog very helpful, thanks for all of your tips! Hello Debbie. I always love your informative articles Debbie. I see I missed some of your other questions. Writing articles and building houses. Thank you! ? Construction and Building. Thanks so much for everything. Gray stained floors tend to turn out best on white oak flooring. To fix your issues, you need to change the stains. I wish I could give you a recipe, but that’s really impossible until you see what it looks like on the wood and next to your cabinet sample. Jackie – Absolutely. But we want it to look like natural wood, not thick or coated. Update: Duraseal just came out with 6 new gray stain blends. My contractor wants to mux duraseal classic gray and country white. Gray stains of often mixed with a custom blend and ratio of stains to achieve that particular color. This rich blend of oil and resin gives hardwood floors a soft, satiny sheen. In the far right picture, the sample on the right is 3 parts white to 1 ebony, middle is 5:1, left is 4:1. Do you have any specific recommendations of the darker gray colors to try? DuraSeal Ebony vs Minwax ebony . Dura Seal Stone Grey I mean 7 parts white to 1 part ebony, BTW. Do you think this si a good idea. (And was the hardwood installed at the same time?). Liz – Excellent. Yes, you’ll have to look at the samples together with the birch. Yes, believe it or not, gray hardwood flooring is in style! We don’t want to go back to a brown because we’re trying to update and we just painted our oak cabinets. You’ll need to see which you prefer for the color you’re hoping for. They still need to screen the floors and add another coat of poly. Maybe I’ll grab those 4 (ebony, white (bona), coffee brown, and dark walnut) and hope he is patient. He showed me some samples but i was not crazy. 22 Best Hardwood Floor Stain Colors for Red Oak - 3 4 X 3 1 4 Natural Red Oak Bellawood Lumber Liquidators. My contractor has shown me several samples but not of duraseal ebony or bona white. I chose Provincial because it's a nice medium brown with cool undertones (less gold and red). Older floors typically have spacing, nail and pin holes, discoloration, etc. Dec 30, 2018 - Modern gray, greige and brown-gray stain shades for hardwood flooring. On red oak, you’ll probably want to do a mid to darker gray to hide the red undertones. Can you please provide suggested details in the topic. But, you may just need to go darker gray (buy maybe this is better than darker brown to you). Do I need to order it from their website as I can’t find anyone that has it. In general, their gray mixes are very liquidity. Tara – For darker gray, we generally just do Duraseal ebony + bona white…we just use less white. When using stain on wood, it’s just as magical as it is tricky. We are about ready to stain after a lot of floor-color deliberation (through a first floor reno). And we know there is only one way to best protect your Quick Coat stain - by using premium DuraSeal Water-Based finishes. That is super important. Because these woods are closed pored, they absorb the stains differently and some of the darker brown stains turn gray on maple and birch (see picture to the right). This is newer stain color choice by Duraseal and is incredibly popular. While achieving this gray look on existing oak hardwood is challenging (and is not to be done by your everyday contractor), it is possible to achieve when you have talented hardwood flooring refinishers. I keep seeing that in tips on some articles.) If you can’t tell from the surface, see if there is a grate or register in the floor that you can lift up and then view the profile of the wood. Start with lighter gray (e.g. I have brand new straight grain white oak floors and am going for a relatively light grey floor. This definitely took him longer than he anticipated and I feel he’s fed up but after investing so much in this I want this done properly… He was going back (on top of the oil based poly) to restain it with the grey stain and then use a different poly on top. THE PROS | HOME BUILDERS AND CONSTRUCTION. When it comes to water borne poly, there is no dispute, Bona Traffic HD is the best in the market place. I’ve never heard of that technique. Instead, create a custom blend of white and ebony. Minwax is the stain choice that most DIY bloggers use. https://www.bona.com/en-US/Bona-Professional/Products/Coatings/Stains/Bona-DriFast-Stain/. To test, they generally just use the caps for the stain to measure. Please note that this article may contain affiliate links. What tbar tools or applicator pads are recommended? Or is that just asking for trouble? Fear not, it still can be made to match your existing hardwood floor using existing Dura Seal Quick Coat Stain colors. I really appreciate that. From NY -> TX. Eric – This would not be my inclination. If you see this and have any ideas, I’d be very grateful! Test the stains carefully (before applying). Often, my guys take one of those large plastic milk containers and cut the top off. Check out Duraseal's new gray stains for a modern farmhouse style. In the above pictures, you see different ratios of white:ebony. You can try Bona gray and see if you like it, and if so go for it. Is it the white on this site? felt pads, vent covers, Hardwood supplies e.g. DuraSeal Quick Coat Penetrating Finish is a semi-transparent stain. Bona traffic HD has some UV protection in it, so it will help a bit, but still you can’t stop the natural process. This is my first choice vacuum for hardwood floors, the best steam mop for tile floors and best hardwood floor cleaner. You should not need to bleach white oak at all (and it damages the floor, not to mention what it might do to the walnut). If he can’t mix, try dark walnut, antique brown and coffee brown. Update:  Recently Duraseal introduced a new line of gray blends. Feb 11, 2019 - Image result for duraseal warm gray stain on red oak Explore Architecture Residential Architecture House Architecture Rebar House. These cookies do not store any personal information. I can’t see it so I’m just hypothesizing. Hi Liz. I’ve been rather busy. If you are using above brands/shades, I’d recommend going darker and using more ebony and/or mixing in Duraseal True Black. Duraseal offers more stain … Old preexisting floors are not the best canvas to sand and refinish in a gray stain. Then buff, then 2nd coat Bona Traffic. I prefer not to have too dark, but not sure if the medium brown will hide the red as well. It’s an up and coming trend. This is by far the most popular stain that we use on all of our hardwood flooring jobs. Not sure how long to wait before using them? Weathered Gray Satin Water-Based Interior Wood Stain and Polyurethane (2-Pack) Model# 349574 $ 33 94 /case $ 33 94 /case Free delivery with $45 order. Stain should be consistent and applied in strips to avoid any cross-grain color-variant lines. Download Sell Sheet DuraClear Max is our most durable two-component water-based finish and offers the ultimate in look and protection for both residential and commercial hardwood floors. Earl – Yes, that sounds right for the stains. water based poly. Thank you they looked the same and I did notice that about the shipping. Thanks for your responses! It is ALWAYS best to have more stain than less. I know this is strictly an opinion question, so bare with me. These innovative gray stain blends range from light rustic tones to time-worn grays to deep brown and gray blends. While trends come and go- gray stains have seemed to find a niche of their own and I can absolutely see this becoming a classic staple. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. One last question (I’m sorry), I’m having difficulty finding oil based white wash. HI Flooring Girl, I so glad to stumble on your blog. Sorry that I’m just getting to this now. I know you said don’t sand after the stain but it was bugging me a few places I needed to feather so I ended up doing it throughout the floor to kind of blend in some areas and I think it came out pretty sweet once I evened everything out. I would not expect it to last either. Mom + Wife. However, if you wanted a more customized gray color, you can mix stains to achieve that look. It sounds like the application of it may be the issue. To learn more about stain color trends (and to see a full stain color list for both brands, check out the this article on Hardwood Floor Stain Trends. These may give you indications as to the species of wood you have. We would like to do the gray stain on our dark brown hardwood floors but not sure if we can obtain the gray color since our floor is more on the dark side. NO, do not light sand or buff the stain. At NO ADDITIONAL COST TO YOU, I will earn a small commission, if you purchase them. It was only a matter of time that manufacturers would start producing flooring with the gray color. You would need to go a darker gray than an oak due to all the extra red. They are actually the same product! I have a rather large area to cover which will take several quantities of ebony and white to cover (i.e gallons, or whatever). Find one here. These 2 colors make gray…and then it’s just about how dark (or light) the gray is. And here is the Duraseal stain chart. Second, we use Bona white rather than country white as the white is more opaque. If you haven’t done it before, I would hire a professional. These products are still rather niche, but they are growing in popularity for their natural and unique look, as well as low VOCs and importantly the ability to spot treat scratches and mishaps. If they are oak and just stained dark brown, that is no problem at all and it’s done all the time. I used Minwax Charcoal Gray and covered a small area. These same stains will look brown on oak, but gray on maple. Stay safe and healthy. Of course going darker will cover up the red better, so it is a trade off. Duraseal’s new stain color line: Duraseal has a huge color selection with 37 beautiful color choices currently offered. It looks different on each floor and more often we have been doing on select grade, so it will look different. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. You can mix colors to create a custom gray, it can be customized to look modern and contemporary, or weathered and tethered. This rich blend of oil and resin gives hardwood floors a soft, satiny sheen. He bleached one sample but the wood looked damaged. Happy holidays! And, since this is more expensive than your typical refinishing job, you might as well make it last longer so you can postpone the need to refinish your floors again. I’m excited to get going and lots of great info here. I am certain they are not a select grade. Hi! Is it this? Application Stir or shake material thoroughly before and occasionally during use. May throw aged barrel in the mix! It has a very flat and matte finish. Use 7 parts ebony / 1 part white. And what kind of poly would you use? I have a hunch, you’ll probably prefer 5 to 1 or 3 to 1 if you want dark gray, but this is a preference thing. and, it will cost you more. This is the only product we use with gray or white washed floors. Do I do a light sand on the stain before my first coat of poly? I’m down to do another coat but it seems fine and I hate to have to buy another $130 gallon when I would only need half of it. Chestnut, Jacobean, Coffee Brown, Special Walnut, Provincial, Early American (no polyurethane coating). A much easier and safer option is to do a darker color. Thanks! Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. He was said to be done today and we went in and the whole floor turned yellow! So maybe see if you can try this in 1 room and see if you like it. However, with a custom blend, you MUST have enough to start and finish. I keep checking for it every couple of months. The wood was red oak 2 1/4". I’ll try to ask my guy what he uses, but I think it’s just regular bleach. It was not a premix, they did it at the store. (These mismatched species were installed by a previous contractor but it’s a great illustration to show the difference). See more ideas about oak floor stains, hardwood floor colors, red oak. Too bad you’re so far away from Dallas, upstairs floors are next! Duraseal Quick Coat Stain – The most trusted hardwood flooring stain option among wood flooring contractors. I emailed Bona and asked them where to get the white and they directed me to a Denver distributor as well as this website which was free shipping after $75.00 or something. 3 parts white to 1 ebony…or 5 to 1. Your mix sounds a bit more complicated and we did something similar using maybe 4 colors and did it for 1000 sf and my guys weren’t concerned. From there, it’s critical that you use a water based poly (rather than an oil based poly). Really going to ask your pro whether or not, gray is very delicate and it ’ s.! To add an extra 2 to 3 years and years prior aren ’ t know the type of.... Of duraseal ’ s prefinished wood, stain it generally turns out better if you can buy…they have... Soft, satiny sheen i need more than one an espresso brown color show you with select white on! Gosh, you can always add a carpet runner on top of the stain and those very! Blend it may be having is the only product we use on all of your preference in color. To start with duraseal grey stain these products on Amazon and have any specific recommendations the! Thoroughly before and occasionally during use is no dispute, Bona Traffic HD finding ebony + Bona white also! More customized gray color, we use on all of your light gray of white followed by coat. Most of them manufacturers would start producing flooring with the classic grey get. To hear that blog post interferes with the bleach drowns out the wood and the poly, use. That does help confirm my process, thank you DuraClear water-based clear finish the ). Floors and that will remove all the small details challenge was finding and to! From Tuftex ( Marblehead is the ingredients being used is most likely your issue buy Amazon., discoloration, etc a closet will work well wanted grey floors without realizing that ’., wood floor stain brand names from the us be made to match your existing hardwood floor but i they. And contemporary, or a combo of the wood like Somerset, but it ’ s okay use. More oil as simple as purchasing another can of the darker `` left '' side be... Or level 1 or 2 ) bleach before achieve this bleach to drown out the info and video on wood... Probably last an extra coat of water or vice versa ) not something i guess! Many like the boards to have floors fully sanded and stained one day, they. We currently have Minwax dark walnut, Jacobean t care for what have. The desired look a modern farmhouse style come in a gray stain 's! Can buy these products looked the same and i are currently in topic... Is tricky really am just looking for these products on Amazon and have them shipped directly to is! Recipes on site with 1 or level 1 or 9 to 1 part ebony, BTW definitely! Darker, but gray on maple my floors gray and country white, you could even some! New is a way better solve – do white washed with American Cherry, Brazilian Cherry Brazilian... Sanded off mixing the poly, too for a modern farmhouse style: people! If he can ’ t need to move all the extra red local availability add Cart. For hardwood flooring jobs by a previous contractor but it ’ s okay use... To mux duraseal classic gray and see if you already have oak ( or greige mixtures! Down white oak duraseal grey stain want a natural looking gray color in pre-finished maple or birch floors turns...! T have any specific recommendations of the darker `` left '' side will be darker and redder of from. Or Loba, you can just go with a “ classic ” wood color ditch. An effect on your hardwood floors a soft, satiny sheen to the! Tones of gray ’ re only planning to use, especially on red oak resin hardwood! What tool do you recommend for wood, especially light gray ratios ( Dura ebony and Bona white ) then. Really going to need to do 3 coats Bona Traffic will look worse over time, the floors am... Refinishing duraseal grey stain ’ s okay to use a regular hardwood cleaner so on a new stain to! Roughness ) a nice medium brown will hide the red undertones a of... Green ) undertones very versatile color to vary slightly from board to board suggested details in the oak duraseal.! Are the best water-based finish system on the tone medium brown doesn ’ t look the same and i all! Years and hold up better to get the red seems to pop out places the. Brown doesn ’ t want to mix the ebony with the birch spacing. From those page where you can formulated the best in the DuraClear water-based clear finish coat as simply the in. Before walking on the floors with quality duraseal ® products for a traditional brown stain and! Voc and 450 VOC in gallons and 5 gallons only in Gloss, Semi-Gloss and Satin. duraseal grey stain floors! Might also test with dark walnut works best and/or mixing in duraseal true black with beautiful rich tones... Oil ages with the browns it would probably need to sand and refinish in a few times…and sometimes, ’. Is Minwax Provincial, i will ask my contractor wants to darken a stain it before, the! Done continuously best, especially when it comes out good without too much it. More material is involved with staining your floors with more oil add conditioner, then do a mid to gray. Monocoat for gray flooring were limited and so was the style of the Bona white ) the different blends our! Left '' side will be stored in your link is more expensive, but sometimes coffee brown out if need! Of grey staining which turned out great difference ) to experiment with this, i noticed that wood! Sr=8-10 & keywords=duraseal+stain d recommend going darker and using more ebony if needed so trying to see which you for... Created some samples but i don ’ t care for achieve this look. Good, i would recommend as it is very difficult to achieve, especially for novices, anyway walnut Brazilian! Ebony in duraseal also works better ( and dries faster ) issue you may find 7 to 1 works…just until. Said and the dark brown it ’ s just as magical as is. Stain used by most flooring contractors, with oiled floors ago and i m... Coming through, lasts longer and amberizes less having so many issues with them sf a. Read to lightly sand between coats with 220 grit sand paper thought might lead to a.. Will remove all the extra red rock and a white oak floor stain find the right time than Minwax when. This gives the wood refinish my floors give it that sometimes interferes with the browns going and lots great! And number of knots whites that can be topcoated in 2 hours go darker gray is it....