wood stain
 

I have what is turning into a major problem that i could use some help with. I just installed bruce solid oak floors cherry stained. The stain for the mouldings has to be as close as possibe to the floors. Problem is the mouldings are pine and after trying 2 different cherry stains and a red oak stain the wood always looks too brown and not red enough. I even took a piece to Sherwin Williams for some help and was told thats as red as its gonna get. Only it doesn't look red at all. More like dark brown. Thanks for any input.

Pine and Oak turn out extreamely diferent when stained with the same stain... I'm not sure you are going to be able to get them to look the same with stain. Aside from tinting color matching trial and error or painting them.

While I'd really like to be supportive and encouraging, I have to be straight with you
It's not a good DIY project
I'm sorry
If I could tell you how to make pine look like oak I'd be typing this from my own island


I'm not saying it's not possible, but hear me out
I would have to charge quite a bit for what you are trying to do
I would need a bunch of the pine for samples and some of the floor, or a sample of the floor w/ the stain I'm trying to match
Then I would have to buy dozens of tester stains and such
Make mixes and try them all out
(I would have to charge the customer for all this mind you)
They'd all have to be written down and labeled
It could take days just to get close
I might luck out
Or it could take over a week
Keep in mind that I would have to assume the longer, and charge the customer accordingly
I may get close enough for my customer, or maybe not
If not...
There's only three people I could bring it to
And none of them are cheap either
Come to think of it, two of them are dead now
OK, there's one person I could bring it to
He won't let me see it till he's done
It could take weeks
He's the only guy I know that could match something I couldn't
He has a lab in his basement
He once made lead paint to match something once
He made it...
He might be able to match it right off the bat, but he'd charge me good for it, and I'd have to charge my customer for it

My point is, this is not a good DIY project
My question is
At what point did we go over what the oak trim would cost?

The only thing I can think of, other than the oak trim, is try a few more
I'm not suprised you didn't find it trying only 3 off the shelf stains
You may want to start mixing precise amounts together
Keep precise records of what you did
A background or "knack" in art helps
You'll need a few more cans of different stains
Maybe just maybe something off the shelf will work
But it will be trial and error to find it

Yeah thats pretty much what I was expecting to hear. The trim was just going to be painted which explains the pine. Last minute changes though. Oh well. Looks like a trip for some oak cause I'll be damned if I'm gonna mess around colormatching stain for a wood that will probably blotch and not match anyway. thanks