Should You Stain Your Floor Before Putting Poly

When you stain and seal a hardwood floor the stain must be completely dry before adding the final coats of polyurethane.

Should you stain your floor before putting poly. Immediately wipe it off with a dry cloth. This is more likely to happen using water based stain. Before applying stain to your wood floor you need to know what species it is. This floor was sanded correctly but was aggressively mopped with water against the grain probably in an attempt to remove all the dust.

The stain will probably get mixed up with the poly. Work in manageable areas. Or possibly the stain you didn t mention if you stained the floor didn t dry before you applied the poly. As with all wood finishes good results depend on smooth clean wood surfaces but this goes double with clear finishes such as polyurethane.

Large and or deep scratches can be visible under the polyurethane. As a result your poly will take the longest time to settle sometimes even worse. Applying a deck stain and sealer with high quality is absolute of no use if you don t let it adequately dry. Apply the stain to the wood liberally with a sponge or soft cloth.

Drying times are influenced not only by the brand of stain but also by the. Maple and birch are tight grained woods with very small pores and the density of the pore wall fibers varies drastically. Floors made of maple birch and coniferous woods especially pine or fir are all very difficult to stain evenly. This is a vivid illustration of how important it is that the texture of your wood floor be absolutely uniform and consistent before you apply your stain.

If the stain begins to dry before you wipe it off you re tackling too much area. Sand your wood with at least 220 grit sandpaper. You must be starting with fresh or raw hardwood floors. The floors need to be sanded 3 times with finer and finer grits so that all polyurethane and all stain is removed.

Time limit to dry stain before polyurethane. This is the only way to change the color of your hardwood floors. 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. 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.

Knowing how to stain and seal a hardwood floor properly pays off in having a beautiful finish and enduring protection. 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. Staining and sealing hardwood floors the right way whether you re refinishing refurbishing or stripping the wood floor results in years of enjoyment. When etching the surface you can do this by hand or you can also use a palm sander.