In my experience Bona stains are lighter than the comparable Minwax or DuraSeal stain. The quality of the Bona stain isn't an issue. It was probably used to allow quick coating since many oil based stains should cure for 72 hours before application of waterborne finish.

If you have a coat of stain and a coat of IntenseSeal, three coats of Traffic applied at the recommended spread rate is excessive. Applying that much finish will fill a lot of the grain and look worse when it gets scuffed and scratched. Part of the beauty of wood is the surface texture, which also helps disguise wear and scratches. The argument for more finish is that it lasts longer but residential floors should be recoated well before they're worn through. Buffing and recoating will fill more of the grain resulting in a floor that looks like lacquered furniture that shows every flaw.

p.s. I like a satin finish. Matte is just too dull unless it goes with your look. To me it goes better with a more austere modern style, but cosmetic issues are highly subjective.

I like your current “situation”. It isn’t too shiny (think bowling alley), there are some nice highlights in the wood; looks great with your wall colors. And..the most important thing to remember is, there will be a rug over a lot of it.

so your floorpan gave you sample choices of Minwax, you picked the color, and then he used something else?? why?

minwax isn't a high quality stain, so I don't have a problem w/him going with the Bona,,but why didn't he show you Bona samples?

I think the floor looks good, but If you want it darker based on the sample you picked, then he owes you that. The screw up was his. have him sand off what's there and pick a darker Bona color.

your reddish tones are showing through that particular color stain. if you do pick a new stain, pick more of an ashy tone, not a red based tone. (jacobean or Antique brown is prob what you want)

I also like a satin finish.

this caption stated Bona provincial and Bona HD satin finish

Thank you Johnson. Do you recommend lightly sanding after the sealant and before the finish is applied. The grain is definitely raised and the floor feels quite rough as it is now.

I agree, I don't want a dull floor and matte is not the way I am headed. Just wondering the difference between semi-gloss and satin. Will satin be pretty similar to matte in that Bona Traffic product? I have never seen any Bona Traffic finish irl. That makes me nervous.

Thank you JudyG....the wall color is going to change, probably SW Natural Choice. Currently, this is a Ben Moore tan color that will be gone. And YES, rugs, furniture, accessories will be so helpful and I can quit focusing on just these dang floors.

And, BethH...I was shocked as I kept comparing the picture of the floor sample to what he was texting me....He later explained that Bona doesn't come in the smaller cans that are easy to sample and he didn't have small quantities to sample....but dang...it really threw me for a loop. I agree with you, and he did offer to do whatever it was going to take to make me happy with the floor color.

And, then I wondered if this whole Bona "system" needed to be utilized in order for the chemicals to collaborate nicely. Not sure about that, but at any rate, I definitely told him I don't want dark floors at all, just a warm medium brown. I am very hesitant to start over at this point because I don't know the other Bona colors that would be any better.....

Here's a pic from the new hardwood upstairs looking down into the foyer, because initially I thought there was a big difference in the new wood and the old wood. Is it possible for stains to darken over a few days?

what kind of flooring professional doesn't keep any small samples about for his customers to see?? that's absurd. he should have opened a large can and shown you. or gee, maybe contact the company and ask for contractor sample packs??

could be your lighting too. if downstairs has more direct light, its going to look lighter. and it should actually lighten, not darken. you have red oak. red oak has a pink tint to it. if you don't want that, you need to go a bit darker.

as for the floor feeling rough, applying a water based finish tends to pop the grain. it needs to have a very light sanding before the next coat and it should be fine.

"what kind of flooring professional doesn't keep any small samples about for his customers to see?"

Most of them. If you're not a flooring professional you might not know the breadth of what is available. Bona doesn't sell small sample cans to my knowledge so using Minwax for sampling is not unusual. I had a similar experience where someone chose Minwax Jacobean from a sample then needed to expedite the job so I unknowingly switched to Bona Jacobean and Bona waterborne finish.

I do mostly DuraSeal stains and a reasonable amount of sanding and finishing yet I probably don't stock each and every of their more than 30 colors.

well, Johnson Flooring,,,,if I'm a professional and showing my client samples of Minwax,,,and they pick a color of minwax, why would I use Bona, knowing darn well it's not going to be exact? Did he tell the client, "oh by the way, I don't have a sample of Bona so I'm showing you minwax. keep in mind the actual Bona color may be a bit lighter". That's the comment I would expect from a professional who doesn't keep sample cans of the products he's using. Instead, he has an unhappy customer who doesn't understand why her floor doesn't look like the sample that HE provided. If he would have informed her of the discrepancy, she wouldn't be here complaining.

I understand you not keeping samples of 50 different colors. However, I would. I would keep them at my shop. If I knew the color range of what my customer wanted, I would bring those to show her samples. At the very least, I would make sample boards of the most popular of colors and show customers what they look like on finished wood samples. seriously, not that difficult. It's also not difficult to make your own sample jars of stain. compared to him having to redo this or other jobs w/unhappy people???

I understand that expectations need to be met but I like the color in your picture. Unless you hate it, have other issues with the sanding or just want to make a point, I'd be inclined to leave it. If I was doing the job and you wanted done over, I would likely use the Minwax you chose, wait 72 hours, then apply the Bona surface finish, just to make sure there were no issues the second time.

IntenseSeal should be lightly abraded before the first coat of satin Traffic. After it dries you can determine whether to go duller or shinier. I'd say out of 100 floors we might do, 2 or 3 shinier and 2 or 3 duller than satin while the rest are satin.

I like your floors…a lot..Try a new paint. My favorite wit your floor is B.M Gray Cashmere. It is like match made in heaven.

Beth, I agree he made a mistake and he's offered to make it right. My later post explained why he may have switched to eliminate the 72 hour waiting time. He mistakenly assumed the Bona color was a match for the Minwax color. I did the the same thing once. I doubt he'll make that mistake again.

I'm lucky in that I live in an area where most products can be obtained readily. My finish supplier delivers to me every Thursday and a local supplier stocks many Bona products. I don't assume others have the same luxuries.

I wish that every color choice was as easy as giving a customer the stock colors out of a can.

I actually agree with both of you and yes, BethH, a customer does have an expectation when shown a sample that the finished product will be what the sample was .....and he absolutely stated that Minwax is so readily available and user friendly in small containers and that is why he used it, but alas, making his own Bona sample cans would be a brilliant idea. I think he knew the dang color would be different, he told me Bona Provincial is darker than Minwax Provincial...I definitely disagree.

In his defense, his crew has worked incredibly hard on these floors and I really like the floor guy, he has been very patient with me, and I absolutely don't want the dark floors that everybody has now that shows everything and are impossible to keep clean.

I guess my other question is this: Do you have a better outcome if you use the same products from the same manufacturer? I guess I am asking if the chemical makeup of the stains/sealers/finish need to be from the same mfg to avoid a disaster? Like if I had insisted on the Minwax and he knew it wasn't the best product if I wanted the water based poly? I am trying to find some reasoning in changing the stain that will actually give us a better outcome.

I am now starting to like the color, because I totally agree with Mattman up above.

He will be sanding again because after the stain, there was a water pop, then sealant, and the grain is really raised.

JudyG....what off white color can you suggest? I am not doing grays in this house at all. Thinking lighter/brighter and not yellow undertones.

Thank you all.

I suspected it was water popped due to the color and the raised grain you mentioned. That also explains why he's applying extra coats of clear.

Using components from different manufacturers generally isn't an issue except in a few cases. I use DuraSeal for most stains except white. I use Bona waterborne finishes almost exclusively. To my knowledge Minwax stain isn't a quick drying formulation so if it was used, one would have to wait 3 days to apply waterborne finish from any brand. That's usually a no-go near the end of a construction project.

Sounds like you're in good hands.

Is water popping a common practice to achieve a darker finish rather than double coating?

Double coating is very risky. Water popping allows the wood to absorb more stain. Double coating risks leaving stain on the surface which could cause finish adhesion issues.

Our flooring guys use minwax, I am not familiar with bona.I use minwax on my cabinetry if I am trying to match an existing finish that I suspect a stain like that was used.You can differentiate stains by pigment.Is bona less than minwax?

From what I see in your picture, your floor finisher knows what he is doing.

I would never mix different manufacturer finishing systems.

As stated above, mixing manufacturers can be tricky. DuraSeal works well with water based finishes because DuraSeal MAKES water based finishes. Minwax does not. Minwax produces oil based finishes that are illegal in 11 states.

Bona is MUCH more expensive than either DuraSeal and most definitely more than Minwax. I am extremely pleased to see a professional reach for Bona stain for Bona Finish. That tells me all I need to know.

@Design2 girl - If you are getting used to the colour (as it is) then feel free to see if a small discount can be given for leaving it in place. If you feel this is not the colour you want to live with, then you will need to have it sanded off and start fresh.

A double application of stain is a NO-NO in the flooring industry. The second coat can and will PREVENT bonding of the finish to the wood! That means you run the risk of the floor pealing like a sun burn! Yep. In a few days to a few months the whole thing could slough off like snake skin. Not pretty.

Personally I like the colour as it is right now. This mid-tone cool brown (not much yellow/orange) is very desirable. I would put down some satin finish over top and enjoy a very handsome floor.

Site finished oak floors always look so nice. Looks like you floor guy did a great job getting even stain coverage.

Good words to read SJ and it really helps to hear from others. I think I will leave it, be happy and look forward to finishing the finish, haha!

@Design2 girl - I'm glad you like the colour as it is. You probably just had to see it in different lighting situation over a few days. The fact that it is getting PRETTIER is excellent. It means you will continue to fall in love with this colour for a long long time. And if you think it is handsome now, just wait until you see the finished product! It will REALLY show its stuff once the final coat of finish has been applied.