By. Maple is not the best wood to stain because it does tend to be blotchy. While small areas of individual flooring strips may accept stain without difficulty, it has been our experience that much of the maple surface will appear uneven and “blotchy” following the application of most stains or bleaching agents. Save Money, Save Time: 2 Innovative Ways to Use HyperTone™ Stains on Sport Floors, One Simple Secret for Avoiding the Dreaded Picture Frame, A New Way to Think About Staining Maple Floors, More Causes and Cures: Stain on the Brain. This is just another process you might call a stain conditioning. Unfortunately, attempts Should the floor be sealed in some way, before applying the stain? Engineered maple wood planks – See at Wayfair. With stain, I usually finish up with 100 grit. Some woods, such as oak and walnut, absorb liquid stain evenly. I used Minwax Wood Conditioner followed by the Wood Stain. How can I get maple to take stain better? Loose or Creaking Boards & Tight or Popping Boards, recommendation to hire an experienced pro. Maple is not the best wood to stain because it does tend to be blotchy. Customer Service: 1-888-GO-BETCO Equipment Tech Support: 1-877-856-5954 They were originally stained dark then painted. Examples how to fix uneven Stain on hardwood floors skill Floor interior how to stain maple wood floors that are blotchy blotches on flooring common post 14299 0 82188400 1374555863 thumb j how to stain maple wood floors that are blotchy blotches on flooring common here is the after staining … On pine, cherry, maple, poplar, and birch, however, spongy areas soak up more liquid—and more color—than dense areas. To minimize the blotchy effect on maple, try wiping the door down with paint thinner and then staining it. Staining Maple Floors. Many techniques have been tried to correct the issue, including pretreatments, layering stain, and excessive tinting of finish. I’m going to continue the procedure I started in the sanding article. When applying a stain, be sure to use a pre-stain conditioner to try and even out the "blotchy" patches that tend to appear. Y es you can have your maple floors stained a different color. Maple is a difficult wood on which to achieve uniform stain, and the appearance can … But this doesn’t make them easy to use on floors. For the 2nd sanding, the floor guys said they sanded the edges differently, which sounds like what your website advises. If the stain is darker than expected, it is possible you did not use a fine enough abrasive. The video on staining blotchy wood was very helpful but do you have any advice for staining already blotchy wood? Both times the stain looks terrible. Q: We just finished sanding and staining our maple floor for the second time. Also, if you were sanding and stain matching along a board edge, you would have better odds of success. When I went to the local Rockler hardware store, they said I may have a problem with “blotchy” areas in Maple so preparing the wood is recommended. Most hardwood floor companies won't stain maple, the usual reasons being that it will be blotchy and uneven. Maple is a difficult wood on which to achieve uniform stain. I would like to stain it darker, however I've been told that staining this maple floor won't work and won't turn out? I lived for years in a Boston-area apartment with maple floors. What Is Stain Bleed Back and How Is It Affecting Your Floors? Well, it's not unusual to end up with a blotchy finish after staining maple -- even if you first use a stain controller. Blotchy Stain/Colorant Blotchy stain or colorant is when there is the appearance of an inconsistent color from one area of a finished floor to another. You should do the same by looking for alternative products better suited for any given project. All hardwoods and softwoods have some kind of grain pattern and density differences due to its growth. Will Basic Coatings® Stains, Sealers, and Finishes Work on Imported Woods That Contain Oil? While the Gel stain gave me very uniform color, it gave me very little color at all. No guarantees but it is the least intrusive thing to try first. Staining tight-grained woods like Hard Maple is a problem for finishers. Stain can turn out blotchy on maple floors as these are close pored species (this blotchiness occurs with all stain colors). Often this is simply a physical property of the wood species itself (such as maple, black cherry, and pine), whereby it does not evenly accept stain or colorant. When you sand a floor down, you will highlight any imperfections in the floor. I had it professionally sanded and stained to try to match the rest of the house. What is the best product for staining pine and maple floors? Even though it was sanded, every old ding in the floor the stain saturated at. Stain controllers can only minimize blotches, not eliminate them. This time, apply a washcoat of shellac and then the stain. The first thing that you want to do when you are staining maple floors is to sand them. If the surface is very blotchy, you’ll have to remove the stain by stripping, sanding, or both, and start over. Staining maple floors charcoal/grey color (NYC) 21 Oct 2016 21:40 #19262. dropgems; OFFLINE; Posts: 2; Firstly, hello I'm new and these forums are great! For stain we used Minwax the 1st time and Zar the 2nd time, and it was applied with a rag. Continue to stain or sand again and put clear varnish? This will also prevent the end grain from absorbing too much stain. Basically, in easy to understand terms the wood accepts more stain in certain areas. The…. I need the stain to spread evenly and not dry blotchy. Any ideas on how we can blend the wood and decrease the look of the line in the floor? Let the coat dry and then gently sand it using a 320 grit sandpaper. Basic Coatings® offers a unique solution that resolves a lot of the challenges to job-site maple staining in HyperTone Stains, a water/oil hybrid. Many consider this a nice, contemporary “Scandinavian” look. You can’t change the nature of the wood itself. Im trying differnet methods conditioners as well as stains and yet, I stiil cant figure out why it comes out the way it does. Dyes work better but limit the colors available. Contractors tend to get comfortable with products or procedures they prefer to use, but advancements in floor product technologies do offer some possible solutions. This is completely natural, but the grain and differences in density are highlighted by the stain. i use a Siphon-Feed paint spray gun … Tweet on Twitter. It is about impossible to not have a line if you are staining across numerous boards. to match have sought out the products they needed to achieve the results their customers have demanded. Leave the pre-stain to soak into the wood for about 10-15 minutes before wiping off any excess with a clean shop cloth. The stain was applied by a professional. A 600 square foot addition was added to the back of a building. Pine, cherry, maple, birch, and alder are the most likely to blotch. Stained/colored floors should be uniform in color. Before applying stain to your wood floor, you need to know what species it is. I love how the stain highlights the different grain patterns in maple giving it an entirely new look. When you ask anyone about staining a maple floor they will immediately tell you the word “blotchy” or “uneven”. However, when he applied the stain, it was uneven and blotchy. Hardwood Floor Care Tips and Recommendations. Floors made of maple, birch, and coniferous woods (especially pine or fir) are all very difficult to stain evenly. The wax/glue came off beautifully. pine and Douglas fir, do not take stain as evenly as species such as red oak and white oak.Blotchy color can result from other factors as well, such as inconsistent sanding procedures, water-popping, or stain application. I normally paint everything I build, but this time I decided to try stain. As with other hardwoods such as cherry, maple can be a bit temperamental to finish, particularly when staining. Maple, like several others species such as walnut, American cherry, You could try wiping the stain down with a cloth dampened with mineral spirits to see if you can lighten it. The reason some stain accepts more in certain areas is because the wood has a more open grain there. Also, if you were sanding and stain matching along a board edge, you would have better odds of success. I will talk about what type of stains to use on particular woods, and the best methods to apply them. The Doc. Step #1: Sand the floor For both applications the best way to start is by sanding the maple floor flawlessly. Homeowners are often suspicious when they hear this, since they’re offered countless options of stained maple cabinetry and prefinished wood flooring, Sep 28, 2017 - Explore ADR Flooring's board "stained maple" on Pinterest. The two options available are staining maple using a dye (water soluble or solvent soluble, or alcohol-soluble) or using a conventional resin-based wiping stain. Q: I have a prefinished maple natural color hardwood floor. I will also talk about the dreaded white pigmented stain, dye stains, and ebonizing wood floors. I like the color of the stain, but I don't know why it is blotchy in places. If you try this on pine, I’d suggest a deep gray to wash out the yellows (and note: these floors will get more yellow over time as the pine ages). Water-popping will also help make sure the color is absorbed more evenly. Use a natural bristle brush to apply a thin layer of pre-stain to your piece. I’ve tried several different colors and had the best results was a Gel stain. It’s blotchy, thick and dark in some areas and lighter in other areas. The first step to ensuring the best possible outcome is to follow NWFA guidelines to sand and prepare the floor properly. Dye stains are very similar to fabric dyes (and yes you can use Rit Dye stains to dye wood) in that they both contain particles that are so small that they enter the wood surface itself. Since maple is a hardwood, the stain could be blotchy or not absorb well unless it’s pretreated. Once you have the initial stain dry, apply a wash coat of shellac. Understand that staining--without blotches--is difficult. Fix a blotchy stain If you use a pigmented stain that didn’t take evenly on the wood, what should you do next? The stain was applied by a professional. This is probably said thousands of times a day across the US during a site evaluation of a wood floor. When I moved in I was sure I wanted them darker, but it was too expensive (maple is expensive to stain because its hardness makes it harder to get the color even, or so I was told). For amateurs the best advice is to avoid staining hard Maple, Birch, and Cherry. Related Q: I work for a company that just expanded their dinner theater room. This will give you a smooth floor but you’ll have to be careful. Originally when I bought the place they looked like yellow gym floors with an oil based poly used. Any blotch-prevention program starts with evenly sanding to 180 grit on face grain, and to 220 grit on end grain. Now I have spots all along edges by the…, We have oak floors and we're having them stained, however, the stain is very uneven in color. However, after just a few years the maple yellows considerably, and loses the nice, bright, new appearance. Inadequate preparatory It is about impossible to not have a line if you are staining across numerous boards. You should know this by now, having stained the floor twice. to force an outcome often ends in a failure. 8:00AM - 5:30PM EST, Monday - Friday. With that addition, the dinner theater stage was moved back, exposing wood floors. I followed the directions on both cans and I sanded it prior to putting on the Wood Conditioner. The floors have now been sanded out twice and re-stained twice. See more ideas about maple wood flooring, wood floor finishes, stain. I built myself a new nightstand. Using pre stain conditioners will create other issues. Afterwards, you will want to make sure to clean up carefully. My husband took on the task of refinishing our wood floors. There are dark streak marks, hand prints, spots and splotches over sections of the floor. See more ideas about maple floors, hardwood floors, flooring. Maple, like several others species such as walnut, American cherry, pine and Douglas fir, do not take stain as evenly as species such as red oak and white oak.Blotchy color can result from other factors as well, such as inconsistent sanding procedures, water-popping, or stain application. Overall, you will get a much more consistent color. It is maple. Most hardwood floor companies won’t stain maple, the usual reasons being that it will be blotchy and uneven. How To Stain Wood Floors Without The Blotchy Effect. Not impossible, just difficult. Blotches on maple stain job Our maple floors have been sanded to the bare wood (light). Feb 27, 2014 - Explore Signature Custom Flooring LLC's board "Stained Maple Floors" on Pinterest. Blend the edges of uneven areas into lighter areas. Do you have any suggestions in correcting this problem? This won't completely solve the problem, though. Share on Facebook. Contractors notoriously try to apply products outside of the manufacturer's recommendations. We are using a very dark wiping stain. But by the time I was finally able to have the floors refinished, I had grown to love the lightness. The first is to sand the floors screen and then -pop the grain- with water and allow to dry overnight before staining. I just installed maple floors in my house and I im having a big concern as to how to go about staining the floors. One of the woods that blotches easily is … Wipe harder on darker areas to lighten the stain to match existing lighter areas. and they look quite uniform in color. I am restoring the entry way of our 1914 built house that has Doug Fir wainscoting and mouldings. Focus on blotchy or darker areas. A: In settings like this I would not be surprised to find the wood flooring is maple. I have a hardwood floor that looks like a gym floor. Please click here to learn more. So my place in NYC has 4 1/4in hard maple floors. Always remember to sand lightly. Staining maple is generally not recommended by finish manufacturers since the dense grain does not allow the penetration of most pigments. The appearance can look as if the stain was not applied evenly. Staining Maple Floors Yes you can have your maple floors stained a different color. It's almost like you can see areas where the sander stopped and started. I used pine and plywood to make it. So I had to live with it plain. There are dark streak marks, hand prints, spots and splotches over sections of the floor. Gray does not come out very well with pine floors which have underlying yellow as well as red tones. The manufacturers of prefinished products that you’re frustrated with having Contractor: No, maple doesn’t take stain well. Hard maple floors offer a nice, light, bright look to a room, and are often paired with matching cabinetry when the home is built. it will likely turn out blotchy because of the density of the boards. And now that we have this mess, should we sand again? If you have a maple, birch, or beech floor for example you will find the pigment stain tends to make the wood blotchy. procedures can result in previous coatings being left in the wood, also preventing uniform color. Discovering the secret to successfully staining maple floors. However, after sanding it (with a palm sander on the affected area), and applying Howard’s natural stain to the area, it took on a blotchy darker appearance (primarily on the area that was just exposed). Contractors are at a disadvantage when refinishing wood floors on site, because they cannot replicate the unique processes used in factory finishing in the field. Im well aware of the density of wood and blochiness it could create. A: This is exactly why the National Maple Flooring Association does not think staining maple is a good idea. But the stain is almost worse this time. Translated this means that either they don’t know how to do it, it takes extra work to do or they think that it is supposed to look like a stained oak floor and since it doesn’t it must be wrong. Our maple floors have been sanded to the bare wood (light). Maple and birch are tight-grained woods with very small pores, and the density of the pore wall fibers varies drastically. After the stage was moved there was a line of glue or possibly old wax buildup between the wood that has been exposed and the rest of the floor that has been refinished over the years. The problem, though 's board `` stained maple '' on Pinterest pro..., hardwood floors, Flooring density differences due to its growth had it professionally sanded and stained try! Numerous boards change the nature of the line in the floor overall, you would have better of. Of most pigments this doesn ’ t take stain better let the coat dry then! 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