bump

Yes...things look different from the sample patch (ahem...assuming your refinisher offered a sample patch ON YOUR WOOD floor) and from final application of STAIN. The stain dries or cures (can take a while depending on what it is made of...like 72 hours for oil based stain is very normal).

Then the CHOICE of finish makes a HUGE difference. The oil based finishes (the cheap stinky ones that cause migraines and nose bleeds) turn orange. Each coat gets a stronger and stronger orange tone to it. It can cause white paper to turn orange/amber colour. These are the finishes that get darker and darker with age (oxidization).

An oil modified finish can turn yellow. Not as harsh a colour as the oil finish but enough to get floors to turn colour. Again, each coat added creates a stronger yellow tone. These finishes ALSO get darker as they age...but not as bad as the oil finishes.

Now for the water based products. These are what we call a 'clear coat'. They do NOT turn orange or yellow. They do NOT get darker as they age. Traditionally they are more expensive than the oil modified and can be much more expensive than the oil based.

A VERY GOOD water based finish will be a 2 part product such as Bona Traffic HD or Loba 2K Supra AT. These are the big boys and they can triple the cost of the finish (compared to oil based).

And then there is the lighting situation you viewed the floors under. The look of natural day light hitting your floors will be different from evening light with artificial lighting.

Go ahead and view your floors at roughly the same time as you first saw them (right after the application). And while you are there chatting with the refinisher, go ahead and take photos of the FINISH or the can that it comes in.

And feel free to up load photos with your colour patch that you chose vs. the finish as it looks now.

Thank you so much for the detailed explanation! Judging by my burning eyes and the intense fumes, I think we got the oil finish. Def has an orange hue that I wasn’t expecting. I’m going back tonight to take a look. Fingers crossed!

Yep... sounds EXACTLY like oil based.

Question: Did the flooring professional show you the stain colour patch (did s/he MAKE a stain patch on your floor?????) with a COAT OF FINISH?

If not, you were picking 'blind'. This is precisely why the pros need to offer a single coat of finish for you to look at over the 5 different lighting situations in a day (which is why you should take at least 24 hours to choose a colour).

If you do NOT like orange, then you will have to negotiate a resand and stain + WATER BASED finish. This is an up-charge. It is not cheap but it is not as expensive as full sand and refinish in 5 years (because you hate the colour).