The french doors I need only come in "meranti" hardwood.
Would these stain to a lightish oak effect?
Also I need a fire door to fit right next to these french doors and you can't get a "meranti" hardwood fire door. Also, this would be a toilet door so want as soundproof as poss. Someone suggested ply. Would this stain up well to match whatever finish I get on the meranti hardwood?
Hi. A lot of places call any unnamed mahogany type hardwood "Meranti" - which doesn't help much.
Most "Meranti" is already darker than light oak, so I suspect you are off to a bad start with your French doors - you can't stain or colour something lighter.
Chances are that bog-standard ply is probably "Meranti" (whatever that is!) anyway.
Basically you can colour a lighter wood darker, but not the other way around. So provided the fire-door is lighter you stand a chance. For a DIY-er you'd be better off using a coloured varnish, it's more controllable than a stain. Remember you can always switch to clear varnish for the remaining coats when you get it dark enough.
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