Just stained wood floors...they don't look to good?

[DavidM]

I just stained one of the bedrooms in my new home (well, new to us, the floors are 50+ years old). We sanded, and sanded, and sanded some more. They looked blonde like they were supposed to. So then we started staining. We chose a darker stain called Red Oak. Some of it came out beautifully. It's dark, it's pretty, it's kinda red. Some of it (as it at least half, in various places) has come out a terribly ugly yellow color. It is SO UGLY. I don't know why some of it came out that way and some didn't. All of the stain was left on for the same amount of time. It wasn't that some rows were one color and some were another, just that some of the wood turned red and some turned yellow from the same stain, same time, same application even. Is there any way to fix this without re-sanding the whole room? Because after all the sanding we did before, my guess is the same thing will happen if we redid it. But it's so ugly I can't stand it. I wanted it all to be red. I knew there would be some color differences, but not like this. This is intolerable. We followed the directions exactly.

Thanks for the answers guys. We actually pulled up the carpet in the living room so it could all be hardwood, so putting down carpet is not on our list (not to mention our budget, sheesh). And with stain you apply, leave on for a certain amount of time (our can says 5-15 minutes), then wipe off the excess. I think we'll try to darken the yellow areas with a second application, and if that doesn't work we'll resand, I guess. Maybe pick a lighter stain...we picked the dark one because the floors didn't sand down to the same color everywhere, and there are old stains, so we wanted to hide the imperfections. Ah well. We'll see what we can do. Thanks.

[juli4242]

If you've got the exact same stain, I'd say you could resand and apply in just the problem area, though you might want to practice in an inconspicuous corner to make sureyou don't mess it up. But it sounds as if it can't get much worse, so go for it!

Also, never underestimate wall-to-wall carpeting, area rugs, furniture or large, well trained dogs

[NickC029]

Don't understand when you say you left the stain on for a certain amount of time - surely you paint it on and it stays for ever?

I think redoing the work is unlikely to produce a better result - you should consider laying a new floor over the existing one or replacing the floorboards before you attempt to restain. Wood ages in different ways and although the boards might have looked the same when you sanded them I guess that they have reacted differently to the stain and that explians the colour variation.

[Hawaiisponger237]

That really sucks hard.
Ok. so lets just look at the physics of the thing.
Find the reason and see what it takes to fix it.
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ITs hard without pictures. I hear ya, but Im hesitating since I cant see the thing. Well, one thing is to ask a painter or floor refinisher out for an estimate (theyre usually free) and that way you can have a pro check it out and maybe tell you what the probable reason is.
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some possible ones are:
long term moisture that changed the woods absorbancy so that it wouldnt accept the stain evenly.
- different wood (but you said its not that the boards were diffferent)
- ah.... perhaps originally there was a penetrating sander sealer applied which has penetrated deeper than you sanded. This would prevent the red oak from soaking in - and it would make the thing look more blonde. .....hmmmm, ... could be (pats himself on the back)

... but I cant be sure.

Heres the rule: If the wood is the same and all the conditions are the same and the stain was done per directions then it DOES come out even. If not there is a divergence from the above that hasnt been spotted.

Carpet? yeah, like this guys gonna wanna just carpet over 50 year hardwood that he spent all that time working on.....

- I say make a decent attempt to figure out why since it should be able to be fixed. Try calling a company over for an estimate. (sponge off them)

[Danthebrickman191]

i'm thinking where it was blond , the old finish may have penetrated deeper and that prevented the new stain from absorbing...some old floors were laid with the intent of covering them and not as a final product...i'm also thinking different woods here...