The short version is: what’s causing the discoloration on my freshly stained floor?
I’ve been working on patching/sanding/etc. this hardwood floor on weekends for the last two months and was expecting to apply the finishing touches this weekend. I’ve got a lot of hours logged, so I’m interested in making this look good, but am hopeful I don’t have to go back and resand the entire room.
In the pictures, you’ll see patches of shiny vs. dull stain pickup. While finishing up the sanding, I was fine tuning some spots with a hand orbital sander where the old poly hadn’t fully been removed, and those spots look the best on the stained floor. Those were finished with 80 grit, and I finished off the entire floor with 100 grit on the floor sander (a U-Sand, which I used for about 6-7 hours. See before picture)
At the risk of already knowing the painful answer to this question – any ideas on a remedy? And if I do have to resand, I’m thinking of breaking out the big guns. The U Sand just takes too long. Any recommendations?
Sorry for the big pics – I’ve reduced the file size. See black boxes for before/after.
Replies
Zad
Holy Cow, I opened the pics before reading your post. I figured in the first pic that you just had sawdust that needed swept up.
While finishing up the sanding, I was fine tuning some spots with a hand orbital sander where the old poly hadn't fully been removed, and those spots look the best on the stained floor.
Just a hunch but this is where I see part or all of the problem. You mention that some of the old poly was still there and you were fine tuning. Are you sure that you got it all out? That the entire surface was the same as far as sanded down to the same depth in terms of old finish or raw wood is concerned?
Doug
Doug - thanks for the reply. You're right, there was some sawdust I hadn't yet swept up. If you look in the before picture, in the black box, you can see one board that looks a bit 'glazed'. These are the areas that ended up most dark, and when I go look at the floor now that it's stained, those areas appear a bit dirty and rough, so I guess it must be old poly.
That U Sand is great, but boy is it slow. The reason I was 'fine tuning' was because if I had boards that were slightly bowed, it took hours to get the board flat, so I went in with a random orbit to take the poly off the lower edges. Made sense in theory, but I know see it was the wrong way to go about things.
The whole far half of the floor is a patch job I did. The old flooring was ruined by my dogs, so I sawtoothed about 100sf into the existing floor. Because the flooring was new, there was of course no poly on it. However it didn't pick up the stain quite like I thought it would - it's very dark and dull. Could it be because I didn't apply stain to the floor until a week after the sanding, in which time the floor saw some light use? Just wondering what I can expect after I resand everything, it might influence my decision...
Edited 11/6/2005 5:28 pm ET by Zadrunas
Zan
I'm not a floor guy but the staining deal is about the same no matter what wood your working.
If your going to resand then I'd say you have to take everything down to the same thing, no exceptions.
By U Sand I assume this is one of those large random orbital sanders? Guessing that it is and having seen someone use one once I'm wondering if you just didn't get everything off that needed to come off.
You also mentioned that you used the floor for a while before staining. If so you should have prepped it again. Just a light sanding over it would probably get the job done.
Hopefully a floor guy will come in and see this thread and give you some better advice.
From the looks of things I'm thinking your in for a resanding, maybe I'm wrong but I cant see how you'd get the blotchy areas out any other way.
Doug
I've never seen a floor look good that has been half replaced and stained to match. It's just too hard to get it all to match unless it's all sanded to clean wood and finished together.
unless it's all sanded to clean wood and finished together.
EXACTLY
Thanks Don. It was my intent to sand to clean wood, I think I just didn't get far enough.
As I examine, I see what I think are low spots left by an old belt sander - they are the worst spots, and the best are the high spots. So I just need to take another 1/8" off or so and I should be there.
I'll give it another go tonight. Will post finished product in the event the second round turns out better.
If you rub some mineral spirits on the floor you can see what it will look like post-finish. If it's not what you want, keep sanding.
DCS Inc.
"Whaddya mean I hurt your feelings, I didn't know you had any feelings." Dave Mustaine
Thanks for the tip earl. I tried it and it works great to see the dirty/missed spots. I spent about 7 hours last night resanding. I'm re-staining tonight. Crossing fingers...
Anything I should be thinking about doing between the stages of sanding and staining? Any prep work I missed the first time around? Really want to make sure I get it right this time!
Done and done!
The full room pic makes it look like the far side is still dark, but I think it's a camera/lighting issue. It all looks like the closeup. I'm pretty stoked! Now for the stairs...
Man I'd say that's a big improvement!
Looks good.
Doug