I just completed installing Hardwood Planks on a staircase (3/4" x 2 1/4" T&G White Oak). I applied 2 coats of Minwax Oil-Based Stain (Natural #209). When I tested this stain tint on a scrap it seemed to match the existing adjacent hardwood floors (original with the house) best (I tested several tints). Now that I've stained the entire staircase the match doesn't seem to be as good as I would like. I understand that the stain will never be perfect, but I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to enhance the match at this point. The surrounding original floors appear to have a bit of an "orangish" tint. This may be because I used White Oak on the Stairs, and the surrounding original floors might be Red Oak (I couldn't tell what the original floors were, and a salesman where I bought the stair wood thought they were White Oak based on a picture I showed him.) Can I try to enhance the stain on the stairs by:

1) Putting additional coats of the Natural #209 Stain on? (I usually find that after 2 coats, the stain is not going to get any darker.)

2) Can I try to add a 3rd coat of Stain using a different Tint, or am I just asking for trouble by doing so?

3) Is there anything else I could do to slightly darken and add a mild orange tint?

4) Maybe the 3 coats of Poly (Oil based) I plan to put on will enhance the match a bit?

Thanks,
Scott

i would only use double staining as a last resort. try using bullseye sealcoat its a dewaxed shellac, it will slightly darken the stain and give a little orange color. to get your poly to age (yellowish orange) put your poly in a glass jar put a cover on it and set it in the sun , it will age more the longer its in the sun. do test areas or samples if possible hope this helps. justin

Thanks Justin - I may not need to do anything else. The poly added an amber hue (since it's oil-based), so the match is very close - the only real differences are on individual boards that took the stain differently. Also, since it's a stair case, the slight difference isn't as noticeable as if it had been adjoining floor areas. For once I'm going to leave well enough alone and not get in trouble being a perfectionist....

Thanks again for your help. Scott

That's some cool sounding "old school" stuff there Justin. Welcome to the boards. Hope you're as obsessive as the rest of us

I'm not sure I would've ever heard of that glass jar trick. If you got other stuff like that I can't wait toread some more of your stuff in the future ... that was deffinitely unique and worth the price of admission

Again ... WELCOME and we'll See you around,