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Pine Flooring refinishing, a Crime in progress

14 years ago

Help Needed ASAP: We have a 1922 bungalow and just got the floors sanded. Against the advice of my spouse! But there were so many gouges and raw chips. Thougt I had got a good contractor, yadda yadda; and now the caramel colored heart pine and yellow pine floors are skinned bald, have one coat of poly and the contractor is on hold until we resolve the issue. Went from caramel and cinnamon color to bright butterscotch like a basketball court. The mixed woods - so nice with patina - look calico and are way too bright. If the contractor had not gone so deep, no problem but there it is. We feel like our puppy has just gotten killed. I need to salvage this mess and want to see if we can add a tint to darken the next coat and try and better match the original color. Or do I hand glaze then then varnish. Or (and I don't want to go any deeper and do more damage then I have) do we have to re-sand and start over with some sort of tint/stain then finish. The contractor refused to stain the pine Â said it would look too blotchy. An arugment which I bought - but his efficient machines took off too much of the old surface. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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Comments (5)

glennsfc
14 years ago
First of all, when you sand a floor you are resurfacing the wood to receive new finishing products. The sanding process removes old finish and minor damage (dents, scratches) and removes some of the wood that has been oxidized (aged). There is no such thing as a 'gentle' or 'light' sanding.

Second, you need to know what you want to finish the floors with to get the look you're after. This can range from a film-forming finishes (waterborne or oilbase) to the tung oil type that supposedly harden (fortify) a very thin layer on the surface and provide a cleanable, repairable result.

Third, each finishing product will impart a 'look' all by itself. A floor finisher will stain the floor and use the finish that will come close to the color and look you want as a final result. Yes, even pine can be stained...although it is very difficult to do and to not have the blotchiness your contractor said would happen. I have had great success staining pine with BonaKemi DryFast Stains. The darker you go the more likely that the floor will blotch. The finer you sand pine or any other wood the less likely blotching will occur, but finer sanding also reduces the amount of pigment that the wood will hold...resulting in possibly a lighter than desired final result.

Fourth, you can add tints to finish to bring down the brightness some, but that can result in a floor that looks like it was finished with Minwax Polyshades (not a good look).

What did the contractor use as a sealer before the coat of 'poly'...or was a sealer skipped?
doug_1920
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks, your information helps me understand the issues. There was no sealer just the first coat of poly. Thought about the minwax polyshadews and am curious; what is the problem with that? Would mixing stain directly in straight poly be the same thing?
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glennsfc
14 years ago
I do not work with oilbase products, so I can't offer you expert advice. However, other professionals who work with oilbase products have techniques that may include adding stain to oilbase to gain a "tinted" finish coat to mask problems or change coloring slightly.

A stain/sealer or a sealer is usually the first coat of anything, but I can't say that eliminating that is incorrect, as I don't work with oilbase.

I suggest you check with the manufacturer of the "poly" used to discover what the manufacturer approved method is regarding the application of their product.
coreymeyer
14 years ago
If I understand you correctly, you have a floor with a finish that is too bright? If so, you should be able to solvent wipe the floor and apply a good stain to bite into the finish/sealer and tone the wood to the color you want or at least closer to the color. Bona FastDry is an excellent stain and finish system.
floorguy
14 years ago
Stain is not applied to a topcoat of finish. That is not how it works. It is not a coating. Bare wood is absorbent. Stain is absorbed into the wood cells. It doesn't coat them.

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