I have a customer building a new home and has asked that I create a diamond pattern on her wood floors. She does not want the contrasting diamonds to be painted, she wants them to be stained with a darker stain to create the contrast. Does anyone have any suggestions about the approach to laying the out the patterns or the staining process itself? I have used alcohol/ water based spray stains in the past ( furniture/ cabinetry) and I am contemplating using this type of stain for the contrasting pattern to try to reduce any bleed through. Any suggestions would be helpful.
Thanks,
Chad
Replies
Might be a stupid question, but just curious why doesn't she create the contrast with a different wood inlaid into the flooring?
Paul
instead of different stains..
use different woods....
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Agreed. Stain is asking for problems, and is unnecessary, there's plenty of nice hardwoods to use.
Used to occasionally do faux inlay with stain.
Mask off the area (we used contact paper for shelving) to be stained, use a sturdy template and sharp blade to cut pattern through the masking and into the wood, peel off the pattern cutout and stain with a dabbing motion. (think stencil)
The stain should only bleed as far as the cut line of the pattern.
Practice the process to get the hang of it.
Topcoat might be problematic if using waterborne finish and aniline dyes, might need to seal the dye so no bleeding occurs when applying the waterborne topcoats.
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I have done faux parquet several times as a camouflage for old, badly pet stained floors so I am probably not demanding the standards that one would like for new work, but I used standard oil based stains and set out my areas to be covered with masking tape. There is some bleeding under the tape. I then outlined my areas with black magic marker which covers the bleed and gives a sharp contrast line. I did one floor without the marker outline and was disappointed in the results.
The person that I learned this technique from was an artist. She drew a couple of lizards scurrying around including a half lizard crawling up from between the floor boards. I haven't felt this inspired yet.
If you could find a gel stain in suitable colors, it tends to be thicker and might not bleed as much.
Also the new painters tape called Frog tape, advertises less bleeding with paint. It may help with stain too.
Webby
If you use quarter sawn white oak, you can create the light/dark effect by paying close attention to grain direction. And oddly, when you look from one end of the room, the diamonds will be dark -- from the other end, they will be light.
But I tend to agree with others who have said to use two differing woods.
thanks for all your help, I will try to get the homeowner to use different wood species.-Cad