Anyone have success staining unfinished glue down cork tile?
The tile is agglomerated cork body with thin cork veneer topping. Client wants it lightly stained to match adjacent hardwood parquet(light brown colour).
The only advice from the cork mfrs is “use water based stain.”
All stain manufacturers we’ve contacted have emphatic ‘no comment’ on cork other than the obvious “test it on a tile and see,” which is a bit harder to do with a two part overcoat- stained tiles will be covered with three coats of BonaKemi Traffic water-based polyurethane. Flooring guy selling the BonaKemi says it doesn’t matter to the poly if the stain is water or oil as long as it’s dry.
The usually reliable non-HD paint store guy says he’s seen cork floors stained successfully with Pratt and Lambert’s oil based Tonetic, but that contradicts every cork rep who’s responded with “water based only,” and Pratt and Lambert tech who says they have no product suitable for cork.
And I keep hearing/reading about blotchy stained cork which makes me think the client might be happier in the end with a poly only finish.
Tried and true advice before we start experimenting would be appreciated.
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Listeners write in about haunted pipes and building-science tomes, and they ask questions about roof venting and roof leaks.
Featured Video
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
Have tried contacting the cork manufacture.
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Like the post said, the only advice from cork mfrs is "use water based stain." They refuse to endorse or even name a particular brand.
Spoke with a local cork importer who, without any prompting, said Pratt and Lambert Tonetic is the way to go. She said that in her experience any water based stain will go all blotchy, but the oil based Tonetic won't. She then recommends finishing the cork with a BonaKemi water based poly- has been doing this for many years with no problems.
We'll be having some samples prepared in the next bit, we'll let you know the results.
I did some sample cork tiles with water based dye stain, and overcoated with solvent based finish. The water dye stain was nice and even, but the cork does strange things with the stain color, different from regular wood. That is a good reason to do your own tests.
We decided in the end not to stain at all, but used Waterlox, which imparts a pleasing dark amber tone.
Bill
Thanks for the info.
We'll probably try both oil and water based samples, and see what works.
After some sampling, ended deciding that the following process provided the best results.
Had the paint store colour-match some Pratt and Lambert Tonetic oil stain on a cork sample to match the base colour of the existing hardwood parquet. We wiped the Tonetic on with a sponge, then, once the whole tile was evenly covered, wiped off as much as possible with lint free cloths, and let it dry overnight. The resulting colour was very even, with no blotchiness at all. It matched the base colour of the parquet well, but it also evened-out the appearance of tiles, losing some of the range of colour, the unevenness and the figure that gives the cork flooring its character.
To address this, the next day we wiped on some Bonakemi DriFast oil modified stain over the dried tiles with a sponge, (we ended up choosing the colour Early American) then, once covered, wiped it off immediately with lint free cloths until the tiles wouldn't get any lighter. This second stage required about twice as much rubbing (and cloth) as wiping off the lighter Tonetic stain.
Re-wiping with the Drifast popped the figure of the cork back out while keeping the even Tonetic base colour, providing an end result that looks quite natural (tiles look aged rather than stained).
We plan to have the final install finished with Bonakemi's two part Naturale water based urethane for a colourless low matt top coat, in part for feel and appearance, in part to facilitate any future repairs (heaven forbid).
When we do the final install and finish, I'll post some pics.
Thanks for the help.