What to Know Before Staining Your Stairs & Floors?

Your stairs and flooring have a huge impact on how your home looks. Hardwood stairs and floors can last for decades when maintained well. While hardwood surfaces are durable and easy to keep clean, they can sustain some damage with age. Stairways are high-traffic areas and can get scratched, worn, and faded, requiring refinishing. Before you hire professional services for floor and stair staining, there are a few things you need to know.

Things to Know Before Stair Staining

It is important to know that stair staining is a highly labor-intensive process. This is because there are so many corners, angles, and small pieces that require a lot of meticulous handwork. Once the surface is brought back to bare wood, it will be ready to stain and finish. There are many things you should know about this process:

• A great deal of care needs to be taken to avoid damaging the stringers and spindles when sanding around them
• Since the process is quite intensive, stair standing can be the most expensive part of a hardwood floor restoration work
• Staining stairs requires a specialized set of skills

Stain is different from paint in that it brings forth the natural elegance of the woodwork. It allows you to substitute solid color with the natural grain, warmth, and charm of wood.

Things to Know Before Floor Staining

Floor staining, besides sealing the wood and ensuring its beauty and durability, changes the color of your floor. It is important to know that some woods may not experience even stain. Then there are certain exotic woods that may not take stain at all. Your wood staining professional should guide you in this regard, while also helping you determine the ideal stain color.

There are a few things you should know about staining your floor before getting started.

• Many stain brands suggest 12 to 24 hours of drying time. It is, however, recommended to allow 24 to 48 hours for the stain to dry completely before a protective sealant is applied.
• When another coat is applied before the stain has dried, the subsequent coats will not bond.
• Most hardwood floors can be sanded 5-6 times in their lifetime before nailheads become visible. 
• The hardwood refinishing process includes sanding, dust removal, stain application, and a finishing coat.

Besides the points related to the staining process, there are a number of other factors to consider before staining your stairs and floors. This includes:

Room Décor & Shading

Considering you have many options for staining your stairs and floors, you should ensure that the final look matches the décor and layout of the room. You can achieve different results based on the type of stain:

• You may light up a room or create a toned-down effect
• Create a more classic look and feel or modernize the room

There is a lot you do with the choice of the stain.

Illumination

It is also important to consider the lighting in the area, as it can affect the way the stain looks. The way light works in a room or area, can create a completely unexpected effect compared to your expectations. Again, you should seek professional help when planning your wood staining project.

At International Floors, we use the latest equipment and techniques to provide flawless results with your wood staining projects. We are your one-stop experts for complete hardwood surface treatments. From the initial consultation to inspection to completion of the job, we are sure you will be impressed by our service. Feel free to get in touch with us at 514 791-5641 to discuss your hardwood treatment requirements. You may also write to us and we will get back to you at the earliest.