Timber Floor - Timber Doors

Jildy

Hi,

I am putting down a timber floor - solid - walnut.
I have solid pine doors at the moment.

My question is - How do I stain my Pine doors to suit the floor and what colour stain would work best with Pine Door/Walnut Floor.

Thanks,

J.

Wertz

Kind of a tricky question...are you asking what to do to get the pine to match the walnut as closely as possible? Or asking for a suggestion on what to do with the doors to make them compliment/contrast the floors.

Trouble with those two woods ias difference in the density and grain pattern...any stain/dye you use on the pine whilst getting it the same shade or close to the walnut, isn't going to hide the grain...and in some cases very dark stains can look cheap and tacky on light woods.

If you want to match them then I recommend using dye (possibly multiple coats) then varnish/lacquer. Getting a match is trial and error...simply getting walnut dye mightn't necessarily get you an exact match...perhaps dark oak or a thinned down walnut might get you better results. Use an offcut of solid pine for a sample piece (not your nice new doors). Get a floorboard and trun it round; apply a coat of your floor varnish to bring up the grain/clour.

Apply the dye sparingly with a rag, in the direction of the grain and try to avoid over runs on adjoing edges and build up in the mitred corners and in the moulding. Like I say, start light; you can always apply an extra coat....once you have it dyed too dark, it's irreversible.
I'm not going to recommend brands, but rustins and colron are what I'd use...or granyte ground dye, although this is more for trade use.

No matter what you do, I'd stick to leaving the walnut flooring it's natual colour.
Satin/gloss/matt finishes are up to you.

Jildy

Wertz, thanks for the detailed post.

corco2000

Hi Jildy,
If you don't mind me asking where did you buy your Walnut floors as this is what I plan on buying soon. What is a reasonable price to pay for solid walnut floors do you think?
Are yours extremly dark?As I see there are different types of walnut-personally I like the darker colour.
Thank you in advance.

Lex Luthor

I would think twice about trying to match your doors with floors.

My advice would be to put the floor down first and see if the pine door looks well with them. I stained my doors mahogany a few years back and skirtings & architraves and ripped them all out 2yrs ago because they were too dark.

Walnut floors are very dark anyway and will take a lot of the light, if you do the same with the doors, you might regret it.

Good luck with the walnut floors. Possibly the nicest floor you can buy but extremely soft wood and marks & dents very easily. Hope you don't plan on having kids or they will wreck them in the space of a year.

kadman

Wertz wrote:

.
I'm not going to recommend brands, but rustins and colron are what I'd use...or granyte ground dye, although this is more for trade use.

QUOTE]


Granyte ground stain is not really suited for application by cloth. As it is tuolene / xylene based , it dries extremely quick. This would not be helpful you in wiping on an even colour. Normally this is applied with a heavy spray coat, and wiped off immediately by one or two persons. So beware.

kadman:)

Wertz

kadman wrote:

Granyte ground stain is not really suited for application by cloth. As it is tuolene / xylene based , it dries extremely quick. This would not be helpful you in wiping on an even colour. Normally this is applied with a heavy spray coat, and wiped off immediately by one or two persons. So beware.

kadman:)

Yeah I'd usually apply it by brush on a certain amount of area and then quickly remove it with a rag. It's only rarely I even use it, usually as a base for AC lacquer. Very unlikely a DIYer is going to be using it anyways, so I prolly shouldn't have mentioned it.
Add to that, that any rags used for dying should be lint free.
Also, avoid water based dye/stain for the same reasons as solvents; oil is the most workable, but it needs good drying time...

Jildy

I am going for a South American Walnut.

I saw it in Irwins in Castleblayney. It is a 7 1/2" Plank and it is €80 sqm.
It sounds like a lot but it has an extra coating to help prevent scratching and it is a particularly hard walnut as well.

The cheaper ones looked cheaper and were a lot softer.

I went to Irwins and they have about 100 different types of solid wood floors and about 10 versions of Walnut. They are all layed on the floor so it is easy to see what you like.

BTW - Have decided to go with white solid internal doors. This will help with the potential lighting issue with dark floors and also deal with the issue of matching timber colours....

J

Lex Luthor

Jildy wrote:

BTW - Have decided to go with white solid internal doors. This will help with the potential lighting issue with dark floors and also deal with the issue of matching timber colours....

J

Good choice