How To Fix Blotchy Stain On Hardwood Floors

We have oak floors and we re having them stained however the stain is very uneven in color we are using a very dark wiping stain.

How to fix blotchy stain on hardwood floors.

Occasionally however you need to refinish the. There s more than one way to achieve even color. If your stain looks blotchy or uneven on your floors it was probably caused by poor application technique or poor wood preparation. First strip as much of the color as possible.

I have a prefinished maple natural color hardwood floor i had it professionally sanded and stained to try to match the rest of the house. For the best results test the possible finishes on scrap pieces before you start. If your floors have not yet been coated with lacquer or varnish. The floors have now been sanded out twice and re stained twice.

Avoid or fix blotchy stain. Some types of wood like pine cherry birch and maple are notoriously difficult to stain. See how debbie applied the shallac to her water stain on hometalk. Wipe off the excess with a rag immediately.

For water based stains use a lacquer thinner. Woods like cherry pine and birch can become blotchy and unattractive when stained unless you use a sealer before staining. Even though it was sanded every old ding in the floor the stain saturated at. Still wet with a scotch brite pad and mineral spirits or naptha.

Don t lose your project to a motley mess at finishing time. Give that annoying stain the boot with a spray shallac. A shallac coating like zinsser bulls eye spray will seal the mark and prevent any bleed through so you can paint in peace. It s almost like you can see areas where the sander stopped and started.

Fix watermarks is a pesky watermark refusing to cooperate with your refinish or repainting efforts. Botching happens when areas of varying wood density absorb liquid stain differently resulting in an unevenly stained surface that detracts from the natural beauty of the grain. Scrub out the streaks then reapply the stain liberally.