Before And After Staining Wood Floors

Most of the staining hardwood floors.

Before and after staining wood floors.

Whether you ve just installed a wood floor or added some fresh trim to your windows or doorways or even built a craft or furniture piece from scratch you may find yourself in a situation where the unfinished wood needs cleaning but you want to use something that won t affect the wood stain you plan to use in the near future. Maple and birch are tight grained woods with very small pores and the density of the pore wall fibers varies drastically. This will cause the wood to better accept the stain. For hours 24 48 it s best to wear socks only no shoes no bare feet.

Use a method called water popping in which you run a wet mop or cloth over the newly sanded floor to raise the grain. The veneer can be sanded once or twice after that sanding will expose the plywood core beneath. See also the history of wood flooring restoration design for the vintage. A solid wood floor can be sanded several times before that s a problem.

Check for squeaks and secure loose floorboards with finishing nails. What it does is open the pores of the wood to allow it to take the stain evenly and deeply. After the last you ll need to wait at least 48 hours before walking on the floors in shoes and four days to fill the rooms with furniture once more. When you water pop wood you won t have to do multiple coats of stain either.

At a minimum you should wait at least 24 hrs before walking on the floors. The technique of wetting the wood down before staining is called popping the grain. Allow approximately 30 minutes drying time before staining. The wood grain is so open that in one coat you should be able to get the look you want.

Floor finishes can emit harmful vapors so be sure the area is well ventilated as you work. Select a stain that won t raise the grain of the wood or you ll have to sand the floor after applying the finish. But laminated floors glue down or floating floors have only a thin layer of good looking wood veneer over a plywood like base. Floors made of maple birch and coniferous woods especially pine or fir are all very difficult to stain evenly.

Try to apply as even a coating as possible. After you ve refinished your hardwood floors you need to wait before walking on them and or moving or returning furniture. Before applying stain to your wood floor you need to know what species it is. Hammer down protruding nails.

Allow to dry for one hour. Move the furniture and pull up any carpeting or rugs in the room. Take the following steps before wood floor refinishing.