The first step to ensuring the best possible outcome is to follow NWFA guidelines to sand and prepare the floor properly. However, when he applied the stain, it was uneven and blotchy. Our maple floors have been sanded to the bare wood (light). The stain was applied by a professional. The first thing that you want to do when you are staining maple floors is to sand them. How can I get maple to take stain better? I will talk about what type of stains to use on particular woods, and the best methods to apply them. If the stain is darker than expected, it is possible you did not use a fine enough abrasive. Should the floor be sealed in some way, before applying the stain? Hard maple floors offer a nice, light, bright look to a room, and are often paired with matching cabinetry when the home is built. Not impossible, just difficult. I’ve tried several different colors and had the best results was a Gel stain. procedures can result in previous coatings being left in the wood, also preventing uniform color. it will likely turn out blotchy because of the density of the boards. 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. to match have sought out the products they needed to achieve the results their customers have demanded. Floors made of maple, birch, and coniferous woods (especially pine or fir) are all very difficult to stain evenly. For stain we used Minwax the 1st time and Zar the 2nd time, and it was applied with a rag. This will also prevent the end grain from absorbing too much stain. It is about impossible to not have a line if you are staining across numerous boards. 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 used Minwax Wood Conditioner followed by the Wood Stain. Understand that staining--without blotches--is difficult. We are using a very dark wiping stain. The manufacturers of prefinished products that you’re frustrated with having Stain controllers can only minimize blotches, not eliminate them. 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. Blend the edges of uneven areas into lighter areas. The Doc. Contractors notoriously try to apply products outside of the manufacturer's recommendations. Maple is a difficult wood on which to achieve uniform stain, and the appearance can … Since maple is a hardwood, the stain could be blotchy or not absorb well unless it’s pretreated. Staining Maple Floors Yes you can have your maple floors stained a different color. Gray does not come out very well with pine floors which have underlying yellow as well as red tones. For amateurs the best advice is to avoid staining hard Maple, Birch, and Cherry. This time, apply a washcoat of shellac and then the stain. No guarantees but it is the least intrusive thing to try first. With that addition, the dinner theater stage was moved back, exposing wood floors. Even though it was sanded, every old ding in the floor the stain saturated at. What Is Stain Bleed Back and How Is It Affecting Your Floors? 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. But this doesn’t make them easy to use on floors. Please click here to learn more. I have a hardwood floor that looks like a gym floor. The wax/glue came off beautifully. I will also talk about the dreaded white pigmented stain, dye stains, and ebonizing wood floors. Continue to stain or sand again and put clear varnish? It’s blotchy, thick and dark in some areas and lighter in other areas. This is completely natural, but the grain and differences in density are highlighted by the stain. Basically, in easy to understand terms the wood accepts more stain in certain areas. You should know this by now, having stained the floor twice. I’m going to continue the procedure I started in the sanding article. The floors have now been sanded out twice and re-stained twice. Before applying stain to your wood floor, you need to know what species it is. I built myself a new nightstand. And now that we have this mess, should we sand again? The…. 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”. Maple is not the best wood to stain because it does tend to be blotchy. There are dark streak marks, hand prints, spots and splotches over sections of the floor. On pine, cherry, maple, poplar, and birch, however, spongy areas soak up more liquid—and more color—than dense areas. 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. Some woods, such as oak and walnut, absorb liquid stain evenly. 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. Afterwards, you will want to make sure to clean up carefully. Im well aware of the density of wood and blochiness it could create. 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