Meranti Staircase

[JedH]

Hi,
We have a pine floor in our townhouse which was stained using Mirotone #6 Walnut. We have just ripped off the carpet from the stairs and found that the stairs are Meranti and are wondering if we used the same stain as the floor, would the colouring match?
Otherwise, what finish is best for Meranti? Our floor is gloss PU, so if we were to use this on the stairs, would the Meranti stay a pinky colour or go more golden?
Any suggestions about what to do with stairs welcome!!
JedH

[artme]

Firsly welcome to our retreat Jed.
Why dont you accquire yourself a piece of Meranti similar to the colour of you stairs and experiment? A few dollars and hours doing this might save a lot of heartache.
Good luck.

[HappyHammer]

If you can't do that can you raise one of the boards in the stairs without damaging it and do your tests on the underside?

I'd be really interested in a picture of the stairs as I like the look of Meranti but haven't seen it in that large an application.

HH.

[JedH]

I'll try and get a pic up tomorrow. The stairs have no risers, and there is no backing on them so the underside is fully visible. I had a flooring guy say to me that if you try and stain the Meranti, it has a tendancy to 'puff up'?? Do you know what he is talking about? He also said to finish sanding them with a 400grit sandpaper? This seems excessive to me, but i'm a newbie to woodworking!

[HappyHammer]

I had a flooring guy say to me that if you try and stain the Meranti, it has a tendancy to 'puff up'?? Do you know what he is talking about? He also said to finish sanding them with a 400grit sandpaper? This seems excessive to me, but i'm a newbie to woodworking!

Interesting, I've used some Meranti as part of a workbench I'm making for my son and I was going to finish it with Boiled Linseed Oil wonder if this will cause puffing....

Welcome to the forum btw Jed

HH.

[orraloon]

I have stained and put danish oil on meranti with no sign of puffing up. If it is the more solid heart wood and not the fiberous sapwood then it should be all right. There is a huge difference in texture in meranti. Being stairs the wood should be reasonably solid. The softer stuff can be marked with a fingernail. A light sand after each coat will take care of the grain rising. The pics show 1 coat of stain followed by 2 of danish oil. For stair treads I would use the the same coating as the floor. Pine and meranti have different grain and even if you can match the colour they will not look the same. I would let the woods contrast each other. I am big on the easy options. Hope this is some help to you.

Regards
John

[artme]

I'm a bit sus. about Mearnti puffing up.You can buy finishes with the stain already added.
An oil based stain that you can tin shouldn't cause trouble.