Sand After Staining

I am by no means an expert on this but this might work:

1. Sand back to bare wood
2. Apply a thinned coat of de-waxed white shellac (1 pound cut maybe?)
3. Sand lightly after it dries
4. Apply a thin coat of stain and let it dry
5. Repeat staining until you get the color you want
6. Apply the finish

Also, Red Oak has very open pores that often need to be filled before staining.

My answer would be more like:

1. Stand back 10 feet.
2. Squint.
3. Say out loud, "looks fine to me."

My answer would be more like:

That's what I told the wife, but she didn't buy it.

Never works with my wife either.

You could sand back to bare wood which may be difficult. You can sand back most of the way and blend or dry brush stain for effect. If it is water base stain you can often get most of it gone by using household bleach either straight on 1/2 strength. I often use 1/2# cut shellac and use a test piece. 1 or2# may be the best on really open grain oak. Also, a gel stain is a great may to minimize absorption. The minmax gel stains can givea an amazing result if done tight. You probably already know any end grain exposure is the worst. Hope that helps.

MBR

You could sand back to bare wood which may be difficult. You can sand back most of the way and blend or dry brush stain for effect. If it is water base stain you can often get most of it gone by using household bleach either straight on 1/2 strength. I often use 1/2# cut shellac and use a test piece. 1 or2# may be the best on really open grain oak. Also, a gel stain is a great may to minimize absorption. The minmax gel stains can givea an amazing result if done tight. You probably already know any end grain exposure is the worst. Hope that helps.

MBR

TOO LATE!!!.....

.....No actually, if you are working with porous or open grained wood, it is best to, after "final" sanding go over it with a very moist/almost wet rag or paper towel, let it dry (the common term is "furring" or "fuzzing" and after drying you sand the "furr" or "fuzz" off) then resand then repeat once or twice untill you get the wood stable and THEN apply stain. It may seem like a lot of work, but than again, does it save time to do extra sanding before or after you apply the stain????

IMHO you have to treat wood that you want a nice finish on, whether it is trim moulding or a gun stock, the same principles apply to prep. I must say that if the 'boards and 'caps are rough enough to notice after installation, then they definatly need a little more prep work. Also, using an oil-base stain as opposed to a water base stain certainly helps to keep from popping up the furr (this also applies to the top coat as well, it will need more prep if you use water base).

I hope this helps for next time around.

Buck Turgids> I installed some oak baseboards and basecaps in my Foyer. After staining

I've had very good results staining oak and ash (similar open grain) using a gel stain. The gel stain seems to help get a consistant coloring without building up pigment in the open grain.

As far as sanding and restaing goes - I'd think that you would have to sand all the way down to the "bottom" of the open grain pores to get rid of the current finish. If a darker finish is OK you could lightly sand and apply a darker gel stain to try to darken the rest of the wood to match the open grain that still has a bunch of pigment in it.

I guess I got lucky. I would want to fix it, and it's my wife who would say, "Nobody will notice. Just leave it"

This is common when you do not get enough stain in to all the pores of the wood. In that spot you got enough but sounds like you were too skimpy on the rest. I would simply try to apply more stain before sanding down again.

Keep in mind that sanding will fill these pores in the grain and you need to blow them out with a compressor and air hose to open the grain up after sanding. You should always to this with red oak before staining especially if you do not intentionally fill the pores to start with.

I have to disagree with you here. Wetting the wood down after sanding does raise the grain and is suggested when using a water based stain HOWEVER If you do not thoroughtly clean the surface and pores the water will lock the dust into the pores and the pores will not accept stain as readily. This practice commonly causes splotchy spots much like described by the OP. I use an air hose to blow out all the pores to prevent this.

You can try staining again assumming you have "not" applied a top coat.

To even the stain out look for a gel stain of the same brand. The gel stain will lay up on top and will allow slightly more color control.

The next soluti> I installed some oak baseboards and basecaps in my Foyer. After staining