These '90s Red Oak Floors Look Brand New After A Refreshed Transformation

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Red-toned flooring was a popular choice for '90s interiors, but this traditional hardwood look isn't exactly en vogue with current homeowners' preferences. Many folks attempt to dampen the look of bright, red-toned flooring to better appeal to modern aesthetics. And while you may see people choosing to refinish their outdated 1990s red birch or cherry wood floors, you'll also find a few who choose to install brand new red oak floors and refinish them to appear lighter, brighter, and less warm-toned. 

Red oak can be a great choice for flooring due to its unique grain patterns, high durability, and classic appearance. It also takes well to staining, meaning you can modify the color to better suit your needs. Of course, there are plenty of things you should know about red oak flooring before investing, and that includes its warm undertones, which could make finding the perfect shade a bit tricky.

Red oak floors can look a bit too warm in some modern designs. While they aren't like other popular '90s flooring that can make your home look outdated, such as orange-toned wood, red oak floors might still appear a bit out of place in some spaces. Red oak has a red to amber undertone, which in some instances can look more prominent in a space, even after staining. While you can restain, one homeowner chose to use a white cast in a final top coat to help mellow out the red undertones.

On TikTok, homeowner @revaeschneider shared their process with finding the perfect shade for their red oak flooring. After installation and the initial staining, the homeowner noticed the floor was appearing much redder than they preferred. To combat this, they added an additional top coat with whitewash in it to create a white cast. The white cast was able to mellow out the red undertones of the wood and give it a more modern appeal. The white cast can be achieved by adding a white pigment to your stain or topcoat, which is what the homeowner did. Or, opt for a commercial whitewash stain, such as the Minwax water-based transparent color wash. Alternatively, you could bleach your hardwood floors prior to staining and then adding your finishing top coat.

When choosing the perfect stain for natural red oak floors, you might choose to do a swatch test first. If the stains appear with brighter red undertones, consider adding a white cast top layer to your swatch test to see if the color lifts. In the case of the homeowner, two top coats were needed to achieve the desired look. When it comes to cost, the homeowner noted that it was $4 per square foot for them. Depending on your area, you could expect to pay professionals $3 to $8 per square foot when refinishing hardwood floors.