Painting/staining floorboards black

[Ben C]

Hi all

I'm designing my new living room from scratch. One feature I would like in the room is very dark brown or black wide floorboards. I'm looking at getting unfinished oak boards and painting/staining them black.

Does anyone have any experiences with colouring boards like this? Should I use paint or stain, or is there some kind of colored wax treatment I should try? If I'm painting the boards, do I still need to apply a hardener and sealant, or is this just needed after applying stain? Should I use any particular types of paint/stain?

Thanks for any tips/experiences you can share.

- Ben

[Karen]

I'd try gel stain or wipe-on stain. The finish with floor poly.

Ask the question in woodworking group. There are more wood finish experts there. You'll get better answer if they don't flame you to death for thinking about hiding the "beautiful" wood grain with black paint.