Can You Stain Oak Wood Floors to a Cherry Finish?

Porosity

• Oak is a type of hard, dense wood that tends to resist picking up stain. Even though you can stain your oak wood floors with a cherry stain, it will result in a lighter shade of cherry than if you used the same stain on a floor made from pine or poplar wood.

Stain

• Staining an oak floor allows the wood grain to remain visible. Unlike paint, which remains on the top of the wood, stain penetrates below the surface of the wood into its underlying fibers. Determine the best stain color for your floor by consulting color charts that use oak wood as samples. Depending on your desired outcome, you may need to have a paint center mix your stain to create a custom color.

Preparation

• Preparing the oak flooring for the stain helps ensure the best possible results when it comes to even coverage. For example, an old varnished floor requires sanding prior to staining. Additionally, cleaning your bare wood floor with denatured alcohol helps remove substances that may result in uneven coverage.

Precautions

• Applying stain over wood filler may make the damaged and repaired areas more obvious. Test a small area of oak flooring, such as an area in a closet or behind a door, with the stain prior to covering the entire floor. Use a scrap piece of oak lumber to test several different stains and staining techniques to help you determine the best product and process for staining your oak flooring. Avoid refinishing wood veneer or laminate flooring as these materials generally contain just a thin surface layer of wood, making them unsuitable for sanding and refinishing.