How to Stain Wood Floors

Staining wood floors often comes at the end of the long and arduous floor restoration process. It is vital to get this last step perfect to ensure the brilliance of your hard work is on full display. I can guide you through the necessary steps to stain your wooden floors.

Preparing to Stain Wood Floors

Staining floors is like the classic illustration of an iceberg. With an iceberg, only a small portion of the iceberg is visible above the waterline, and it is this visible portion that is appreciated by passersby. Similarly, the stain on your wood floor is the last visible step of all the hidden work that must be done beforehand.

In order to focus on the application of stain to wood floors, I will provide a list of preparations that should be completed before you begin applying stain.

• Paint, stain, and polyurethane on the surface of your floors should be sanded away.
• Imperfections such as cupping, crowning, dents, scratches, and splitting should be addressed. Many of these imperfections can be addressed by sanding the floors, but some may require extra steps such as replacing a board or using the best stainable wood fillers. Unaddressed imperfections will result in stain pooling and discoloring portions of your floor.
• Following sanding, wood floors should be meticulously cleaned to remove everything from the surface of your wood floor including sawdust, dirt, fine particulates, oil, hair, or moisture. 
• While wearing gloves, goggles, and a respirator, dampen cheesecloth or another lint-free rag with mineral spirits. Start in a corner opposite of where you want to exit the room after cleaning. Wipe the floor with the dampened rag in rows until you are able to exit at your desired location.
• Allow all residual moisture from the mineral spirits to evaporate.
• Do a final wipedown of the wood floor to be stained with tack cloth.
• Depending on the type of stain you plan to apply, you may need to make arrangements to leave the location of your wood floor while the stain cures due to off gassing of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Tip: During the cleaning phase, it is a good idea to begin with the ceiling and ceiling fixture including fans. Ceiling fans are the most likely object to drop contaminants on your floor.

Also, having ventilation to move the air within your workspace will help to reduce the concentration of VOCs when you begin applying stain. A way to accomplish this is clean box fans blowing into and out of your project area. 

Materials Needed to Stain Wood Floors

There are two common types of stain used on wood floors, water-based and oil-based stain. Materials needed to apply these different stains will slightly vary from one another. 

• Gloves, respirator, goggles
• Knee pads can be helpful
• Two sizeable lint-free rags (around 2’ x 2’ is plenty big)
• Synthetic bristle brush for water-based stains or for oil-based stains use a natural bristle brush
• Stain 
• Clean mixing bucket if working in large area

Tip: When buying stain, you should buy at least 15% more stain than the coverage area recommended on the can.

For example, if the room you are working on is 200 square feet, buy enough stain to cover at least 230 square feet. If you run out of stain at the end of your project, you will have to sand the entire floor and start the process all over.

How to Stain Wood Floors

You have properly prepared the surface through thorough sanding and cleaning. You have visited the hardware store to collect all of your materials. Now it is time to start staining your wood floors.

1. Plan Your Staining Path

You should start in a corner opposite the place you intend to exit. You do not want to stain yourself into a corner with no way to exit. I recommend staining with the grain of the wood which typically means staining along the length of the floor boards rather than across the boards. 

Plan to apply stain in an area 5’ wide and 2’ deep before sidling down to apply stain in another similar size area. If you begin working right-to-left, you will want to continue working right-to-left until you have stained the entire area.

2. Apply Stain

Begin in the designated corner, and follow these steps:

1. Shake or stir your can of stain vigorously according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
2. If you had to purchase multiple cans of stain, you need to shake or stir both cans, then combine both cans in a larger, clean receptacle. Even stains from the same manufacturer can vary slightly from can to can. Mixing the stain ensures even color throughout the floor.
3. Use the appropriate brush to apply stain along the wall of your work area, approximately  5’ wide and 2’ deep. Only apply stain with brush along walls.
4. After the wood adjoining the wall is outlined with stain using the paint brush, dip part of one rag into your stain bucket. I will call this your “on rag.”
5. Beginning in the corner, use a slightly oval motion going along the length of the floorboard to apply stain to your 5’ x 2’ work area. The slightly oval application motion ensures stain is being applied to wood from all directions.
6. Be mindful of the speed with which you apply stain. You will want to apply stain with a similar motion and speed throughout the room. 
7. Use your second rag, your “off rag,” to wipe away excess stain following the grain of the floorboards.
8. Move along the wall following your plan to your next 5’ x 2’ work section.
9. Use the brush to apply stain along the wall.
10. Taking the “on rag,” apply stain in a consistent oval motion.
11. Wipe away excess stain with your “off rag.”

Work your way methodically across the room in 5’ x 2’ sections, then begin again on the next row working in 5’ x 2’ sections.

Use your paint brush to apply stain along walls, then use your “on rag” to apply stain and your “off rag” to remove it. You do not want to use a stain sprayer for this process.

Once you begin, you need to continue working consistently until the room is completed. This will ensure that a wet edge is maintained between your work areas and that hardened stain lines do not develop.

3. Work Towards the Exit

This is perhaps the trickiest part of staining a room and where the majority of errors can happen. Working your way towards your exit point will likely require working in a much smaller area and crawling backwards towards the exit while keeping the fresh stain in front of you. The key is to remain consistent.

If you are working in a small area you may need to wait a moment before wiping off the excess so as to mimic the timing between applying and removing stain you have used throughout the room. Continue using the paint brush to apply stain along the wall as you work towards your exit.

After you have left the room, give the stain time to dry according to the manufacturer’s recommendation. If you would like the stain to be darker, you may apply a second coat. I strongly recommend testing stain depth and color on a test piece of wood before applying a second coat.

Once done, you will usually apply a polyurethane to wood floors.

Conclusion

To stain wood floors successfully requires an immense amount of preparation work but only a few simple tools to complete. If you are consistent and orderly with your application and removal of stain throughout the room, you will end with a room in which you can take pride.