Staining a hardwood floor is an inexpensive way to get the designer look you want for your home. Most species of flooring can be successfully stained using oil-based or water-based stains. However, not all species of hardwood flooring accept stain evenly.
Staining Hardwood Flooring
Maple flooring has a very tight grain and as such does not accept stain uniformly. Applying oil-based or water-based stains directly to maple will, in most cases, produce an unsatisfactory, blotchy looking floor. The Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association does not recommend staining maple flooring for any reason.
Bleaching Hardwood Flooring
Bleaching is a popular alternative to staining a hardwood floor. Most species of hardwood can be bleached but, red oak, hickory and ash are best suited for this application. White oak should not be bleached because it has a tendency to discolor. It should be noted that bleaching a hardwood floor will weaken the woods fibers causing premature wear from normal traffic.
The bleaching process itself involves first the application of caustic soda or ammonia, and then the application of hydrogen peroxide.
Pickling Hardwood Flooring
Pickling a hardwood floor starts with bleaching, so the same problems that occur with bleaching should be accepted with pickling. After the bleaching process, the floor is lightly screen and an oil based stain is applied to the floor to highlight the areas where the grain was raised by the bleaching process.
Staining Maple Flooring
It is possible, however, to get a maple floor to look stained. This is achieved by mixing an oil-based stain into an oil-based floor sealer. Suspending the stain into a sealer gives the product more workability and allows for uniform color. Please consult a flooring professional at Praters Hardwood flooring for more information on this process.
Water or oil based stains?
Oil-based stains have been around for more than a 100 years. They come in earthy wood tones and are easy to work with. Because of their workability, oil based stains are the stain of choice for hardwood flooring contractors. Oil based stains are solvent based and produce fumes that have a strong odor that can be harmful
Water-based stains have a low odor and come in a variety of colors, including blues, greens and bright red. These stains dry very quickly. So quickly in fact, that they are extremely hard to work with. Staining large areas with a water-based stain can prove difficult and frustrating because of how quickly the stain sets up. Lap lines between sections of stain are hard to avoid and harder to work out. Do not use a water-based stain unless you have a contractor that is comfortable with the product and has a successful record with using these stains.
