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Thinking of staining your hardwood floors? Hardwood floors are beautiful and you may be considering a DIY job but there is a technical skill required not including all the professional equipment to prep, treat and finish the job. Staining can add warmth and depth to your floors but if done incorrectly, can ruin your floors and incur unwanted costs. Read more to see if you have what it takes to stain your wood floors or if you'll need to contact a hardwood flooring specialist.
What is staining?
This may seem obvious but people often confuse staining with finishing, these are two very different processes. The finish is a final, clear coat that adds a protective layer to your hardwood while a stain colours the wood, enhancing it or even changing the colour completely.
Choosing the correct stain requires knowledge about the wood as not all hardwood floors can be stained. There are a variety of colours to choose from, and your choice should be determined by the amount of light in the room and the overall design. If an error occurs during the staining process, it's not as easy as repainting a wall, you'll have to re-sand and start again which is a time consuming and costly process.
Advantages of staining your wood floor
Changing the colour of your wood floors can bring new life into the room. The shine and depth of the floor can be enhanced with the appropriate stain and well-executed application. Add value to your home and make it a pleasure to live in every day with a top-notch revamp. Staining your wood floors can accentuate the natural beauty by bringing out the natural patina and emphasizing the grain of the wood for a beautiful effect.
Disadvantages of staining your wood floors
Before you commit to any type of permanent renovations or additions to your home you should always be aware of the possible pitfalls.
Prepping Problems - One of the necessary steps when staining is sanding, to prep the hardwood to accept the stain. If the sanding process is done incorrectly, it can leave scratches on the wood. The stain will seep into these marks exposing small and large flaws in the wood, ruining the grain.
Wood Type - Maple, birch and pine are not suitable for staining. These woods are tight-grained and the stain has very few openings to settle into. Pine and other coniferous woods that contain sap will actively resist stain.
Bleed back - Stain cannot be corrected by applying more layers. Regardless of wood type, it can only absorb a certain amount of stain, once it reaches its saturation limit the stain will rise
back up to the surface, and the result is known as bleed back. The unsightly end result will cost you more time and money to resand, stain and finish.
Alternatives to Staining
If you want a natural look that emphasizes the grain and pattern of the wood, an alternative to staining is a clear coat finish. A clear coating will not add any pigment and allows for an increased reflection of light which can help to add depth to a room.
Before you take steps to stain your wood floors, speak to a hardwood floor specialist for expert advice. LOBA has modern and completely solvent-free oil and wax systems made from natural raw materials. Products from theLOBASOL® range are known and loved for their environmental compatibility and outstanding properties. With their high wear resistance, moisture- and dirt-repellent properties and exceptional chemical resistance LOBASOL® products are the ideal solutions for the most demanding applications.
As specialists in the development and manufacture of products for treating and maintaining parquet and hardwood floors you can contact Loba for expert advice and high quality products.
