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Flooring Design Dilemma

need help with knotty pine floor stain

3 years ago

I have a bit of a floor dilemma, our new to us home came with a dark brown knotty pine floor. The problem is our house is Spanish style and the knotty pine doesn’t really work well. In an attempt to minimize the knots and make it more contemporary we chose a dark grey/brown stain called aged barrel. It’s a beautiful color and is exactly what we were looking for. The problem is the grain/knots aren’t taking the stain and a fair bit of knots & reddish tones are coming through. Any tips or tricks to get those to even out? Would a different stain help? Or is that just the reality of the wood floors we have?

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Comments (6)

PRO
Johnson Flooring Co Inc
3 years ago
To reduce the red tones the wood could have been bleached before staining, but that would also change the overall color significantly because the unstained wood would be lighter in addition to being much less red. The knots are what they are. The best strategy to color ones that don't take the stain is to apply a colored glaze between coats of urethane. Make sure your finisher uses a non-yellowing finish.
BlueberryBundtcake - 6a/5b MA
3 years ago
I think a different stain would help. Knots will always take stain a bit differently, but if you fight the nature of the wood, it will be more obvious. I think that if you picked a warmer stain, you wouldnt have as much of an issue, as the contrast of the warm wood and the cool stain emphasizes the differences in how the parts of the wood are taking the stain. I also think something warmer would work better with your fireplace and go better with Spanish style; I don't generally think of grey with Spanish.
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PRO
HALLETT & Co.
3 years ago
The stain should have had more brown in it, the grey emphasizes the variation in the wood.
Dan Spier
Original Author
3 years ago
This may seem like a dumb comment but wouldn’t a poly that has a slightly yellowish tint make the stain appear more brown?

I really like the grey tones but understand the limitations of the wood/style. Can I apply a second coat of a more brown stain? (Dark walnut or Jacobean) or is my only option to sand and start over.

What b
kathyhall44
2 years ago
Just seeing your posts now and I like they grey look of your floors. Did you end up applying another color over the grey or how did you get rid of the red tones? Thx!
baltik
2 years ago
I just kept it aged barrell, don’t really see the red in it any more. My main issue now I’d the super soft pine flooring...

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