floor and forgetting about it. Some hardwood species take stains different, while others can be very troublesome to stain and get the desired result. This job should

really be left up to a professional unless you have in depth experience staining other types of wood work.

Older Floors. Changing Colors. Easy and Harder Ones

Quite similar to completely refinishing any hardwood floor, the procedure calls for removal of existing finish and the color that has penetrated into the surface of the wood itself. The amount of removal will be dependant on how deep the stain has penetrated or what the original stain color was. Color changes from a natural finish will be easiest because no staining was done. On the flip side, a change from very dark to very light color will entail more sanding of bare wood. For beveled type floors hand scraping will be necessary, increasing the time and cost involved.

Preparation Is Vital!

When considering any color change it is imperative not only existing finishes be removed but cleaners that have been used over the years. You may not know what has been used, but failure to remove is likely to cause non uniform results. This also pertains to bare wood floors. You may think nothing has been used, but take your changes and...it will not be a pleasant experience. This is why we strongly suggest someone with years of practical experience that has seen many of the tell tale warning signs that can adversely affect the final outcome.

Engineered Floors

Depending on the actual veneer or wear layer of an engineered floor, color changes may not be possible with traditional methods because there isn't enough actual hardwood that can be sanded to bare wood.

How Long Does It Take?

We are using an example of a 400 square foot, square room with furniture moved and ready to go. An experience professional will require two days for a water based finish, while oil based will require three days. Other more uncommon applications can take longer as will inclement weather conditions that can affect drying times of stains and finishes.

• Refinishing Hardwood Floors To Bare Wood

From Our Readers:

Subject: Stain Colors Different

Question: We had our floors stained and finished a few months ago. After moving some furniture around I noticed there's a color difference under the old radiator and it feels very rough. It's not as smooth and seamless as the rest of the floor. What's the reason behind this?

Reply: I can only think of two reasons. Radiators emit heat and could be sucking moisture from the wood floor in that small area making it rough. The color difference is confusing, but I'll venture another guess that perhaps the finishers didn't have the right tool to sand under that area. Could be the original color was not completely sanded down to bare wood. Then it was stained with the entire floor that showed the difference.

Subject: Pigment Stain

Question: A flooring contractor that came highly recommended in the Chicago area used a pigment stain on our new white oak floor and it looks horrible. He says he's had no problem with this procedure before. Any idea what may have happened?

Reply: Past success may have something to do with what product was used. Let's say he's used a DuraSeal or Glitza base stain results were great. By using a product he was unfamiliar with could account for the problems. All finish manufacturers have different formulas with different chemicals used in their makeup.

Subject: Puddles In New Finish

Question: Well, somebody said to hire a professional for this job but I decided to do it myself. I'm pretty happy with the results but have a problem where there are drip marks and small puddles of dried finish from the final coat. How can I fix this before the wife sees it? Help keep me off the couch for the week. Thanks in advance.

Reply: If it's an isolated area tape the area off with finish friendly tape. Some experts swear by the orange or purple 3m type tape because it will not pull the finish or stain from the floor. It's also important to make sure both have cured long enough before attempting any repair.

The best way to remove is with the use of a hand scraper. Place very little pressure on it while keeping the scraping motions consistent on a parallel plane. A light sanding with 220 grit paper should remove the outlines. Apply finish sparingly while using the same applicator as you did the rest of the floor. Tape should be removed immediately to allow the new finished edge to blend in with the old.

Subject: Buffing Stain

Question: Is it possible to buff on a stain to a floor? My husbands knees are really bad and he says it would be easier to rent a machine for the work.

Reply: I would not consider this a do it yourself project because different stain products have different drying times. In essence what happens is you may have lap marks across the floor where different applications have dried at different periods. An unofficial consensus on the other hand shows Minwax stains as being friendlier to use, by having a longer open time.

Subject: Light and Dark Stain Blotches

Question: We had a red oak floor professionally finished and stained here in the Atlanta area last week while we were gone. When we returned there were color differences all over the floor. What could have caused this and can it be fixed?

Reply: Without being there to actually look at the problem I'm thinking it had something to do with the sanding schedule. In other words, the floor sanding machine could have been started with a very course grit paper; say 36 and the finishers skipped a grit on the next step by going up to 80. What happens is the 80 grit doesn't smooth the effects the 36 caused allowing the stain to go deeper in the floor in those areas. By adding a grit in between the 36 and 80 would likely eliminate the problems.

The only solution is removing the stain by sanding and starting over.