White oak has a brown or tan finished color, while red oak is actually lighter in color and has a pinkish hue. Because they have a different density, they will absorb a stain color differently and won’t match each other when stained.
99% of all staircases are red oak- stair treads, spindles, posts, risers, and stairs. 90% of flooring in homes built after 1950 are made of red oak.
Most floors with accent borders are white oak. White oak has more mineral streaks in its overall appearance.
When a contractor does flooring repair quite often they will put in the wrong oak. Many contractors cannot tell the difference between the two species. Make sure you get the right one, especially if you are trying to match existing wood flooring or details.
repair needed – wrong floor color installed
The photo shows the difference between White Oak & Red Oak.
We are remodeling our kitchen and in the rest of the house there are hardwood floors except in our kitchen. We wanted to continue the hardwood into the kitchen. The hardwoods have been in the house since it was built in the 60’s. We had two floor companies take a look and said that we had red oak floors. We wanted the dining room to be feathered into the kitchen and matched as close as possible. The person doing it installed the kitchen floor then sanded the dining room and kitchen together so they could be stained the same color. After he sanded the dining room he discovered that the original flooring was white oak with a few pieces of red oak mixed in it. My wife and I notice a huge difference in color. The person doing the floors said that once he is finished staining and once the new floors age that we won’t be able to tell the difference. Right now the new floor looks much lighter than the old floor. Will the new floor darken like the old floor and blend so we won’t notice a difference or should we have him rip it up and put in white oak? My wife and I are confused on what to do. He told us it would take about two weeks to get the white oak flooring in, if we had him tear up the red oak and put in white oak. Any suggestions or advice?
Hello Carl,
Regrettably there is no way to match the 2 floors. Most people will not notice.
Also the floors will amber(tellow) over time. Making the difference even less noticeable.
Thanks Ace(Troy)
what should I do if I have one room that’s white oak and the other room is red oak?
Hi Dori,
I would not mix different finishes they will look entirely different.
But after 16 years you probably need to start anew.
Remember oil penetrates into the wood. Will amber 10+ years later if maintained properly.
Waterbase finish sits atop the wood floor. Will ashen very quickly.
Any further questions feel free to reach out.
Thanks Ace Wood Flooring (Troy)
Great video and advice. Thanks for being online. May I please ask you a few questions?
I can’t decide between oil or water finish on my bedroom level white oak floors and red oak 1/2 flight stairs up to dormer level.
Currently in my split level home, I have water base on main level and 1/2 flight stairs up to bedroom level (applied 16 years ago- Street Shoe or Pacific). These floors look natural, nice.
I see and like that oil poly brings out warmth, depth of oak. I am afraid of too much ambering (yellow, orange) and looking old fashioned later on as it darkens, though I am not striving for contemporary, just natural depth of wood with a hint of warmth. Do oil polys today amber as much?
What do you recommend for white and red oak? I am okay mixing finishes on the two levels.
Thanks for your advice.