Should You Stain Your Floor Before Putting Poly

Apply the stain to the wood liberally with a sponge or soft cloth.

Should you stain your floor before putting poly.

Overlapping stain on previously stained areas causes uneven colors. Immediately wipe it off with a dry cloth. You must be starting with fresh or raw hardwood floors. This floor was sanded correctly but was aggressively mopped with water against the grain probably in an attempt to remove all the dust.

The floors need to be sanded 3 times with finer and finer grits so that all polyurethane and all stain is removed. Applying a deck stain and sealer with high quality is absolute of no use if you don t let it adequately dry. Work in manageable areas. As a result your poly will take the longest time to settle sometimes even worse.

If you attempt to add stain on top of floor without sanding it expect it to peel off. When you stain and seal a hardwood floor the stain must be completely dry before adding the final coats of polyurethane. 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. Before applying stain to your wood floor you need to know what species it is.

This is more likely to happen using water based stain. Or possibly the stain you didn t mention if you stained the floor didn t dry before you applied the poly. Drying times are influenced not only by the brand of stain but also by the. Knowing how to stain and seal a hardwood floor properly pays off in having a beautiful finish and enduring protection.

When etching the surface you can do this by hand or you can also use a palm sander. Maple and birch are tight grained woods with very small pores and the density of the pore wall fibers varies drastically. Sand your wood with at least 220 grit sandpaper. Time limit to dry stain before polyurethane.

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. Floors made of maple birch and coniferous woods especially pine or fir are all very difficult to stain evenly. This is the only way to change the color of your hardwood floors. I ll be sending you the url of my poly article so you can see how it s done.

Staining and sealing hardwood floors the right way whether you re refinishing refurbishing or stripping the wood floor results in years of enjoyment. If the stain begins to dry before you wipe it off you re tackling too much area. 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. Large and or deep scratches can be visible under the polyurethane.