Staining a real hardwood floor gives it shine, depth and warmth while enhancing your room’s overall appearance. However, if you don’t handle the process correctly, you won’t achieve the desired effect.
While it may sound obvious, it’s worth remembering that staining isn’t the same as finishing. It colours a floor, enhancing or altering the shade of the wood completely.
Here’s a quick round-up of some of some key points to bear in mind if you’re tackling this task yourself:
You can’t stain all wood surfaces
Know your wood species before you start work. Some types, including pine, maple, birch and fir have a dense structure, and so are not easy to stain evenly. So you could have an end result that doesn’t look right at all.
Allow enough time for drying
Drying out wood once it’s been stained takes longer than you think. What’s more, you’ll need two to three coats of clear finish on top of the stain to protect the colour and give it resistance and protect it from abrasion. But you can only do this once the stain has dried out thoroughly.
Staining makes poorly sanded surfaces look worse
Staining can accentuate a floor’s imperfections, including even the seemingly smallest scratches and flaws. So be sure staining is indeed the right thing to do before you get started. Even if everything looks OK initially, staining can later lodge into any gouges, dents and so on left by poor sanding. And, unfortunately, you will end up with a hardwood floor that doesn’t look its best at all.
Ugly bleedback
You apply stain by using rags to rub it into the wood’s surface before wiping off any excess immediately. If you apply a second coat, or leave a lot of leftover staining product behind to soak into the boards, you risk unsightly ‘bleedback’, meaning the stain wicks back up to the surface as solvent starts to evaporate.
Call in the professionals
If the above sounds too challenging, we understand. Our professional services, covering homes and businesses, ensure you get the best from your wooden floor cleaning service in London, furniture or other timber product.
Take a closer look at what we have to offer, including our high-quality wood staining services.
