good YT video for staining/sealing real wood floors

[masraum]

Anyone got any recommendations for a good video on staining and then sealing wood floors? I've done the sanding of the floors upstairs. The missus is planning to do the staining and then application of a finish. We had 2 rooms downstairs professionally done while our kitchen was being done. It didn't look like rocket science, so the missus has decided that we'll do it. I've done the sanding, but she's decided to do the staining and finishing. We're going to use the same stain and finish as the previous folks (Duraseal Quickcoat Sedona Red for the stain, and some sort of commercial eurethane (satin) for the finish.

[Zeke]

Paging Greg Park. But before he comments, what wood? I think your house has pine. I would pre-treat pine.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Paging Greg Park. But before he comments, what wood? I think your house has pine. I would pre-treat pine.

Greg thought it was Douglas fir.

[masraum]

One of the things that she wants to know is what to get to apply the stain and then the finish.

This is the stain that was used downstairs, so we'll be using it upstairs.



And this was the finish that was used over the top.


I've seen some videos with folks talking about using "lamb's wool applicators" which seem to look like a map made of wool. I've seen folks talk about "ragging" it on. I'm assuming the lamb's wool applicator is likely better/easier if you're doing 600sqft (keeps you off of your needs for the application part of the project, but you still need to wipe the excess stain off, and that seems to be done with towels.

I'm thinking that the place that she's going to pick up the stain which is a wood flooring specialty place, should probably have what she needs and might be able to recommend stuff, but I never completely trust asking someone that sells stuff "what do you recommend".

I'm leaning towards a not too big lambs wool applicator 10-12", and a crap ton of towels (for wiping up excess).

I assume the poly urethane will not be applied with the lambswool applicator. I think I saw one thing that used a high quality microfiber paint roller to apply the finish.

[masraum]

Does this seem reasonable for applying a water based urethane finish?

[masraum]

Same guy, seems knowledgeable and like he gets good results.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by masraum

Greg thought it was Douglas fir.

Stains the same. I'd still pre-treat it. But you found your videos, so I guess you're underway.

[gregpark]

Yes, the species of stiff doesn't matter. I have no experience with Quick Coat but Dura seal products are good IMO. I haven't researched it but with that particular product you may not need sealer. We always use sealer before urethane finish. And as far as the sanding, make sure it's as flat as you can get it (he final coating will expose all the sanding sins)

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Stains the same. I'd still pre-treat it. But you found your videos, so I guess you're underway.

Originally Posted by gregpark

Yes, the species of stiff doesn't matter. I have no experience with Quick Coat but Dura seal products are good IMO. I haven't researched it but with that particular product you may not need sealer. We always use sealer before urethane finish. And as far as the sanding, make sure it's as flat as you can get it (he final coating will expose all the sanding sins)

Thanks fellas.

We (she) hasn't started yet. It's good to hear that Duraseal generally makes decent stuff. Good to know about the sealer.

I used a drum sander up through 120 grit for the bulk of the rooms, and also used an 7" edger for the perimeter and also went to 120. Then I went around the room with a scraper and scraped mostly the perimeter to get ride of any of the marks left by the edger. If I noticed any marks left by any sanding, I hit those with the scraper.

[gregpark]

Steve, no disrespect but sanding a floor truly flat looks easier than it is. It takes years of operating a clutch drum sander before you really have it down. It's all feel and the unfinished wood will look flat after sanding but the truth comes to light after the final finish cures. The edger is easier but also takes experience to master. For what is worth, after you're finished, don't be disappointed with the results. If the end result doesnt look like what you pictured, consider it a rustic look (which can be pretty cool).

[masraum]

Originally Posted by gregpark

Steve, no disrespect but sanding a floor truly flat looks easier than it is. It takes years of operating a clutch drum sander before you really have it down. It's all feel and the unfinished wood will look flat after sanding but the truth comes to light after the final finish cures. The edger is easier but also takes experience to master. For what is worth, after you're finished, don't be disappointed with the results. If the end result doesnt look like what you pictured, consider it a rustic look (which can be pretty cool).

Agreed, I'm sure my job won't end up being nearly as good as a job that you'd done. It will be 10x better than the job that someone else did in this house years ago (I'm sure was DIY too.

You'd laugh (or cry) if you saw our floors before or saw the places that we still haven't done. There are furrows near the walls where I'm guessing they put the drum down, slight pause, then back really fast and then slow down. It's obvious enough that not only are they not flat, but there are places where they didn't even sand the old surface much. There are lots of furrows the shape of a drum all around, especially downstairs, mostly near the walls. I can only assume that they either started or stopped (or both) in the same place.

[gregpark]

Haha, people pay me well for a distressed floor

[masraum]

Originally Posted by gregpark

Haha, people pay me well for a distressed floor

LOL! Ours is still a 100 yo fir floor that's lead a practical life. Even after sanding, it's got dents and scratches and stains.

[Zeke]

Greg works hard to do a realistic distress. There aren't going to be any machine errors. I don't know his secret but I'd wrap chains around a landscape roller, fill it up for what weight works best and roll away.

[gregpark]

I love doing distressed floors. I can be creative. I've burnt, beat, sanded at weird angles, ground blades to hand scrape, etc. I mock up completely finished samples for the client to choose from and everyone is happy at the end

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Stains the same. I'd still pre-treat it. But you found your videos, so I guess you're underway.

Originally Posted by gregpark

Yes, the species of stiff doesn't matter. I have no experience with Quick Coat but Dura seal products are good IMO. I haven't researched it but with that particular product you may not need sealer. We always use sealer before urethane finish. And as far as the sanding, make sure it's as flat as you can get it (he final coating will expose all the sanding sins)

The missus had never stained a floor before, and did it in a hurry in bad light when she was tired. It didn't turn out well. Thick in spots, thin in spots, left to dry too long before wiping in spots, drips, wipe marks, etc...

We're sanding the stain off, and going to try again.

What do you recommend to pre-treat the floor before the stain? Any particular brand or product? We're staining with an oil based stain that's apparently also a topcoat, although we're going to be putting a clear, satin poly topcoat over the stained floors.

Yes, the sand job isn't perfect, and there was one spot in particular that I missed scraping where I'd left some marks with the edger. But The floors will look pretty good this time, certainly far better than before we started.

The stain

DuraSeal® Quick Coat Penetrating Finish is a semi-transparent stain formulated to seal, color and provide exceptional durability when used on bare wood and masonry surfaces. This rich blend of oil and resin gives hardwood floors a soft, satiny sheen. Its unique formulation provides a surface that can be topcoated in two hours. DuraSeal® Quick Coat Penetrating Finish is available in existing DuraSeal® colors as well as many Certified Minwax® colors. It can be used with or without a finish coat, and is compatible with all DuraSeal® water-borne and oil-modified finish systems.

We have some scrap flooring (newer pine and some reclaimed old flooring) that I am planning to put together and sand for her to practice on before we stain again.

[gregpark]

Practice for sure before staining the real thing. As you know by now, the stain goes on faster than it comes off (understatement). Keep the rag light with stain with soft wood. Before applying stain a wood conditioner should be applied for better color consistency. Some of your boards will be more absorbent than others and a conditioner will help even things out. I'm sure there are you tube videos of the procedure

[Zeke]

Should have listened to me.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by gregpark

Practice for sure before staining the real thing. As you know by now, the stain goes on faster than it comes off (understatement). Keep the rag light with stain with soft wood. Before applying stain a wood conditioner should be applied for better color consistency. Some of your boards will be more absorbent than others and a conditioner will help even things out. I'm sure there are you tube videos of the procedure

Any recommendation for a good wood conditioner? Brands or anything specific?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Should have listened to me.

The missus was in charge. I tried to steer her in the right direction without telling her what to do.

Any recommendations for a conditioner/pre-treatment?