Rachel Lower – Ask the Wood Flooring Guy

Is a rag, brush or sponge best for applying stain to pine?

Q: You say for pine it is a good idea to apply quickly from one end of the room to the other to prevent excessive blotching. I wanted to know if it is best to use a rag, a brush or sponge for that. I want to wait a few minutes after I apply the stain in order to get a darker color from it. I also plan to water pop before. Can a rag put a sufficient amount of stain on the wood to let it sit there and absorb? Or will a brush or foam sponge spread more stain evenly on top of the boards until I wipe off?

Brown paper floor

Q: I am doing my craft room floor with the brown paper. I applied stain on part of it but today it is still tacky. I may not have waited long enough to wipe the stain off. Maybe because of using Elmer’s glue and water? It looks great, just tacky.

Satin topcoat too dull looking

Q: I recently sanded the finish off of my hardwood floor (red oak). I did not take it down to the bare wood so the stain remained. I applied one coat of Masters Gloss Polyurethane. After 48 hours I sanded with 220 grit paper, cleaned it thoroughly and applied another coat of Masters Gloss Polyurethane. I waited 48 hours and sanded it with 320 grit paper, clean thoroughly and applied one coat of Masters Satan Polyurethane (well stirred). I loved the clean, clear look of the gloss but feel the satin is dull looking, almost fake.

Filling up a warped spot in subfloor

Q: I have older 2″ wide flooring on 1 x 6 sub flooring running diagonally on joists on a 2nd story. In one area, where a HVAC duct runs between joists, the sub floor has warped and dried out leaving a void in between the two. You can feel a soft spot when walking over it.

Black discolorations in tongue and groove

Q: I professionally installed a engineered maple floor on cement slab, which was tested for moisture before laying. The floor showed no signs of green or dark wood in the tongue and groove. Six month later I pulled down from my attic, (no leaks) my 2 open left over planks and 2 new boxes of maple flooring wrapped in it’s original plastic to repair 15 spots throughout my home that have black discolorations. The old and new flooring was very black in the tongue and groove.

Professional floor finisher made a “blotchy” stain job

Q: We had our floors sanded, stained grey and polyurethaned. The stain did not come out even. When I asked about the blotchiness the professional said it was primed and some wood takes color better than other planks of wood. Is this true? If not, can I mix grey stain and poly to go over the areas that need more grey?

Green painters tape left whitish line on floors

Q: We had taped (using green painters tape) Ram Board down onto oiled hardwood floors to do some drywall repairs. One area was taped down for 5 days and the one section for 3 hours. It didn’t matter 3 hours or 5 days, when we pulled the tape off it pulled a slight finish off the hardwood. so now there’s a faint whitish line where the tape was. And it’s not tape residue on the hardwood. The hardwood is White Oak, Smokey Mountain, the oil is Woca Oil.

New floor installed after minor flooding is making cracking noises

Q: We experienced minor flooding in our home due to a bathroom faucet and incompetent plumber. We had to remove and replace the Bruce hardwood flooring on the first level. We used the same prefinished Bruce hardwood flooring as previously (different installer) and noticed that right after this installation, the wood makes cracking noises when walking across it in certain areas/rooms and not others. We had the subfloor screwed down throughout prior to wood placement so we know it’s not the subfloor. Now, we’re worried about whether or not it was properly installed.

Can smell the tar paper left under new floor

Q: I removed two layers of vinyl flooring in my kitchen of an old house built in the 50’s. Only thing left was tar paper from long ago before exposing 1×6 wood planks. Rather than scraping the tar paper off, I had a wood flooring company install a new laminated wood floor right over top of the tar paper. However, my problem is I smell the tar paper (petroleum type smell) in the kitchen even though the new floor is laid. Will this smell dissipate over time?

Slippery spots on recently installed wood floor

Q: I recently installed engineered hardwood floors in my kitchen. The floor has several slippery spots and I’m not sure how to eliminate these slippery spots. I am not sure what is causing it. What is the best way to clean the floor and eliminate the slippery spots?