A floor refinishing company has told me they can finish our pine floor by
adding what to me seems a small amount of minwax stain [something in the
range of 6-12 oz] to the polyurethane they use [Ace] before applying the
polyurethane. They are suggesting this rather than first applying the
stain and then later going over it with the sealer, which is the way I
thought this would typically be done. Any thoughts on whether their
method is viable? thanks.

RL

"Amateur" wrote in message
news:cc77806c09f642ce9b84ab521ba85be6@homerepairli ve.com...
A floor refinishing company has told me they can finish our pine floor by
adding what to me seems a small amount of minwax stain [something in the
range of 6-12 oz] to the polyurethane they use [Ace] before applying the
polyurethane. They are suggesting this rather than first applying the
stain and then later going over it with the sealer, which is the way I
thought this would typically be done. Any thoughts on whether their
method is viable? thanks.

Why are they suggesting it?
Assuming the materials are compatible it should work, but it won't look as
good or be as durable.

Bewildered wrote:
"Amateur" wrote in message
news:cc77806c09f642ce9b84ab521ba85be6@homerepairli ve.com...
A floor refinishing company has told me they can finish our pine floor by
adding what to me seems a small amount of minwax stain [something in the
range of 6-12 oz] to the polyurethane they use [Ace] before applying the
polyurethane. They are suggesting this rather than first applying the
stain and then later going over it with the sealer, which is the way I
thought this would typically be done. Any thoughts on whether their
method is viable? thanks.

Why are they suggesting it?
Assuming the materials are compatible it should work, but it won't look as
good or be as durable.

I suspect they are suggesting it because it saves on the total number
of coats needed to finish the floor and thus on their labor.

It would seem to me that adding color to the top coat would mean that as
the polyurethane is worn away, the color will wear away with it. Then
when you reapply polyurethane at some point down the road, you will
never get the colors to match, and the high-traffic area will always
stand out.

BZ wrote:
It would seem to me that adding color to the top coat would mean that as
the polyurethane is worn away, the color will wear away with it. Then
when you reapply polyurethane at some point down the road, you will
never get the colors to match, and the high-traffic area will always
stand out.

Greetings,

If you add stain to the polyurethane it should be done in the first
coat only (as I understand it). So long as you do not wait until you
get down to the first coat of polyurethane before recoating it should
never be a problem. If you were concerned you could put on three coats
of polyurethane instead of two.

Hope this helps,
William

As soon as the first coat of poly dries, the wood is basically sealed.
Subsequent coats of this poly/stain mix wouldn't get into the grain of
the wood, so you may end up with a finish that hides the grain.

I would definitely question the flooring guys idea...ask him "You've
done this a lot more than me, but I've read that the common practice
back in the day was to stain the floor then apply the poly after it
dries." You'll avoid a confrontational situation this way, and
hopefully he'll have the ability to explain this method.

Then express your concerns with this method, and ask him if it saves
YOU any money for him to save coats if that's the reason. If he's the
lowest bidder in town, you'll know right away why.


btw: you can finish the floor yourself without too much trouble. Just
be careful when you sand.

On 2007-01-05, Amateur wrote:

A floor refinishing company has told me they can finish our pine
floor by adding what to me seems a small amount of minwax stain
[something in the range of 6-12 oz] to the polyurethane they use
[Ace] before applying the polyurethane. They are suggesting this
rather than first applying the stain and then later going over it
with the sealer, which is the way I thought this would typically be
done. Any thoughts on whether their method is viable? thanks.

What you describe, adding a stain to a coat of finish, is called a
glaze. It is commonly done by professional finishers because it is
easier than a separate stain coat and gives much more even results.
Bare pine, for example, is known for absorbing stain unevenly, giving
blotchy results. This technique is also quite useful when trying to
color match while doing spot repairs.

The only caveat to using a glaze is that if the glaze coat wears
through, the color changes. Not really a problem if a glaze coat is
the first coat, as if that coat wears through you already have
problems. I would suggest that if you are starting with bare wood,
you request a glaze coat plus two top coats.

Note that all coats except the topmost should be gloss; the top coat
can be satin or semi-gloss if desired. The reason for this is that a
deglosser weakens the coat, and a single coat of deglossed finish is
sufficient, so there is no reason to weaken the base coats.

Cheers, Wayne

In article om, " wrote:

Bewildered wrote:
"Amateur" wrote in message
news:cc77806c09f642ce9b84ab521ba85be6@homerepairli ve.com...
A floor refinishing company has told me they can finish our pine floor by
adding what to me seems a small amount of minwax stain [something in the
range of 6-12 oz] to the polyurethane they use [Ace] before applying the
polyurethane. They are suggesting this rather than first applying the
stain and then later going over it with the sealer, which is the way I
thought this would typically be done. Any thoughts on whether their
method is viable? thanks.

Why are they suggesting it?
Assuming the materials are compatible it should work, but it won't look as
good or be as durable.

I suspect they are suggesting it because it saves on the total number
of coats needed to finish the floor and thus on their labor.

And that would be a bad reason to go this route.

However, the contractor may have serious and reasonable
concerns about the ability of the existing floor to
accept a nice even stain. That might have to do with
the type of wood and/or residues from previously applied
finishes. In that case, coloring the poly might be a
reasonable thing to do. However, I'd try to avoid that
on a floor, especially if you're seeking a significant
amount of color change.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for your replies. I had also emailed Minwax, and their position was
that mixing their stain with a polyurethane was not going to work well in
that the mixture would not dry properly. They recommended staining first
then sealing.

RL