Help! How do we fix this floor stain job by tomorrow morning?!

Rehabbing & House Flipping
9yFollow

Help! How do we fix this floor stain job by tomorrow morning?!

Francisco Feliz
Boston, MA · Member since 2015 · 93 posts · 32 votes

Hey everyone,

I'm turning to this great resource that I've learned so much from over the past year for a real-life situation. 

The images below show a floor stain job that was done yesterday (Wednesday). No poly has been applied, although we intend to go with semi-gloss unless anyone has other suggestions. But, as you can tell from the pictures, the stain looks really uneven. There are many light spots, you can see the original hardwood square perimeter design on the kitchen floor, and some pet stains are still visible. We used Old Masters' Floor Stain (Espresso), not MinWax. 

We want to ask how people think we can correct what looks terrible thus far in the most cost-effective way? Adding another coat of stain would be $400 from the floor guys and they complained that it was a thick (not water-y) stain so it was harder to apply. (MinWax is what they seem to be used to.) Would adding another stain not help because it would make both the light and the dark spots darker? Should we try with another type of stain? We want to show some of the wood grain but we want to go for this darker color in as even a way as possible! 

So we are definitely out of answers here and we are hoping someone could point us in the right direction. Maybe these guys just did an awful job and we just need to get them to do whatever it takes to get the job done properly since it's their fault? Let me know what you think. Would love to hear from those that can speak from experience on how you've handled this! Hope this is enough detail. Thanks!

0Reply
29 views

Most Popular Reply

Brian Callier
Real Estate Agent · Greenbelt, MD · Member since 2014 · 10 posts · 4 votes
9y

Bad excuse, cut your losses and get another flooring professional.

Best regards,

Brian

2Reply
See this reply in the discussion

11 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Michaela G.
    Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    9y

    Minwax's quick drying poly has an amber tone to it. I would think that might be similar to what you're thinking about another coat of stain darkening everything.

    0Reply
  • Brian Callier
    Real Estate Agent · Greenbelt, MD · Member since 2014 · 10 posts · 4 votes
    9y

    Bad excuse, cut your losses and get another flooring professional.

    Best regards,

    Brian

    2Reply
  • Michaela G.
    Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    9y

    It doesn't look to me as if the stain is the problem, but it looks like a lot of petstains, which absorbed the stain differently than the surrounding wood.

    1Reply
  • J ScottPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    9y

    Unless they warned you about possible issues like this, have them resand and restain, or get your money back. That's a horrible job.

    Podcast Guest on Show The Truth About Real Estate Investing in 2024 (What Investors NEED to Know)
    0Reply
  • Victor N.
    Investor · Meriden, CT · Member since 2013 · 201 posts · 145 votes
    9y

    @Francisco Feliz the pet stains are your real problems! 

    pet stains that soaked through the wood cannot be removed and it is not the contractor's fault that areas where there were pet stains don't match the rest of the stained floor. You can try to stain again/darken the floor even more so that those pet stains spots are less visible but because they absorb the stain differently you might still not have a perfectly even floor. 

    I disagree with those trying to put the blame on the floor guy. If you resand and restain you will still have the same problem with the pet stains.

    On the last picture, is the darker area which seems to be in the center of a hallway also pet stain? 

    I would pay the floor guy to stain again. Maybe you can negotiate a cheaper price. Also keep in mind that the stain needs to be applied quickly so if the brand you use is too thick as the contractor complained about then you might have some marks everywhere they "stopped". Think about the reason why painters need a wet edge.

    I had similar issues with pet stains in hardwood floors. I even used wood bleach products but the floors still looked uneven. The sure way to fix the problem is to replace the pet stained wood but that would be very costly. 

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Investor · Princeton, TX · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    My family was in the hardwood floor for a very long time.  Many of the most expensive homes in Dallas have floors done by my family.  Some of the problem is not what you think.  Look at the last picture.

    That is one of two things.  Either water got on the floor after it was sanded which unevenly opened the grain or excess stain was not removed.  It is hard to tell from the picture.  I am guessing from the amount of stain on the base board and the fact you said the "floor guys" said it was thicker than normal it is excess stain.  That is actually what you want it to be.  There might be a fix for that.  The stain that was applied will most likely act as a solvent on the stain.  Try this...  apply more of the exact same product again.  Wait about 15 seconds, then wipe like a crazy person.  If that makes the dark spots get lighter excess stain is sitting on top of the wood and needs to be removed.

    Let me know if that works.  There are some other options.

    1Reply
  • Account Closed
    Investor · Princeton, TX · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @Francisco Feliz  I forgot to put your name in the original post.  I hope this helps.

    0Reply
  • Dante Pirouz
    Investor · Almont, MI · Member since 2015 · 360 posts · 302 votes
    9y

    We stain and varnish all of our hw floors if we're lucky enough to find them when we buy. I always have a heavy hand on the staining to make dark floors that cover up any imperfections and gloss up the wood surface to protect it....just have them put down another thick coat of stain (or two). I have them put it on like paint rather than rubbing it like stain...just my preference. It will even out all of the staining and odd absorption going on and I think it actually protects the floors even more...you will end up with less of the wood grain showing through but it will look like a rich dark stain color and as there is wear and tear on the floors the grain will show again and it will look great! I don't like a light stain on any of my floors unless there is no stain and varnish only. Good luck!!

    0Reply
  • Francisco Feliz
    OP
    Boston, MA · Member since 2015 · 93 posts · 32 votes
    9y

    it's so good to hear from all of you. I'm getting a mix that they did a bad job and that pet stains have done us in. Seems like this isn't as simple as I hoped! Thanks for giving us your input. We are going to try to go for the $400 to let them try to stain again and do as good a job as they can. We will see what happens. 

    Thanks. 

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Investor · Princeton, TX · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @Francisco Feliz  Make sure they keep wiping until there is no more excess stain on the surface.

    0Reply
  • Francisco Feliz
    OP
    Boston, MA · Member since 2015 · 93 posts · 32 votes
    9y

    UPDATE:

    In case anyone was following this post and wanted to learn on the topic, I wanted to return the favor here and respond with what ultimately happened. The original coat of Old Masters was the underlayer for what was the final coat of stain from MinWax Ebony that we ended up using above it. We tried Dark Walnut, English Chestnut, and Ebony inside a closet floor. We let it dry for an hour and then we chose the one that seemed to look the best on the floor. Before all of this, we had considered Ebony and thought it was too black but it actually dries up very nicely.

    So, I was there as they put this next coat of stain and saw that it wasn't going to hide up the pet stains perfectly but the dark color really was way better. The floor seems to have a lot of character. One of the pictures in the original post was in the kitchen and that's where there is newer white oak wood, whereas the rest of the flooring is red oak. One thing we came to observe is that the kitchen still ended up somewhat spotty. Not sure if that has to do with the way that white oak retains Old Masters (first layer) or MinWax floor stain, but that's just a data point for us now.

    Happy to answer any questions if there are any. Hope this helps. We are ultimately very satisfied with our floors and have put the 3 coats of satin poly to protect the floors and not give too much gloss, which would attract too much attention to the floors.

    -Thanks, Francisco

    0Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free