Should You Stain Your Floor Before Putting Poly

As with all wood finishes good results depend on smooth clean wood surfaces but this goes double with clear finishes such as polyurethane.

Should you stain your floor before putting poly.

For open grain woods like oak ash or walnut you can apply a wood grain filler before the polyurethane to create an ultra smooth finished surface. As a result your poly will take the longest time to settle sometimes even worse. Overlapping stain on previously stained areas causes uneven colors. It may be impossible to dry out this top coat as by now it has lost it s drying capabilities and is really just a pool of semi dried oil just sitting.

If the stain begins to dry before you wipe it off you re tackling too much area. Apply the stain to the wood liberally with a sponge or soft cloth. This floor was sanded correctly but was aggressively mopped with water against the grain probably in an attempt to remove all the dust. Floors made of maple birch and coniferous woods especially pine or fir are all very difficult to stain evenly.

When etching the surface you can do this by hand or you can also use a palm sander. This is more likely to happen using water based stain. Applying a deck stain and sealer with high quality is absolute of no use if you don t let it adequately dry. Drying times are influenced not only by the brand of stain but also by the.

When you stain and seal a hardwood floor the stain must be completely dry before adding the final coats of polyurethane. Before applying stain to your wood floor you need to know what species it is. Large and or deep scratches can be visible under the polyurethane. Maple and birch are tight grained woods with very small pores and the density of the pore wall fibers varies drastically.

Or possibly the stain you didn t mention if you stained the floor didn t dry before you applied the poly. If you attempt to add stain on top of floor without sanding it expect it to peel off. It really depends on your preference but if you re wanting to apply polyurethane to a floor it s advised that you use a floor buffer with a 120 grit sanding screen. The stain will probably get mixed up with the poly.

Immediately wipe it off with a dry cloth. Knowing how to stain and seal a hardwood floor properly pays off in having a beautiful finish and enduring protection. I ll be sending you the url of my poly article so you can see how it s done. The floors need to be sanded 3 times with finer and finer grits so that all polyurethane and all stain is removed.

This is the only way to change the color of your hardwood floors. Sand your wood with at least 220 grit sandpaper. You must be starting with fresh or raw hardwood floors. Work in manageable areas.