Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - finishing stairs

All,

I need some advice.

We will be moving into a new house in a few months. Builder is going to leave our stairs unfinished. We'll need to match color of these oak stairs to the pre-finished oak hardwood that will be installed by the builder on the second floor.
I realize perfect match would be impossible to achieve.. but how should we approach this?

I also have a question on the sequence of finishing job, do I have it right? So far I plan to do the following:

I uderstand I need to do coats of
SEALER-STAIN-TOP COAT, but unclear of how many...

- sand by hand with 120 grit sand paper
- vacuum
- wipe with dry (or wet?) rug

Coat 1 - sanding sealer
- apply sanding sealer with a brush
- wait to dry

- sand with 220 grit paper and wipe with a clean rug

Coat 2 - stain
- apply stain with a cloth
- wait to dry

- sand with 220 grit paper and wipe with a clean rug

Coat 3 - PU top coat
- apply polyurethane with a brush
- wait to dry

sand with 220 grit paper and wipe with a clean rug

Coat 4 - PU top coat
- apply polyurethane with a brush
- wait to dry

DONE



I am also told I'd have to re-paint the walls, because the water based stain is very runny and splashes everywhere...

You don't use sealer, if your going to stain. You want the cells open to accept the stain. The stain is the sealer.