Fourth time the charm?

15 years ago

So we decided we just had to have site-finished hardwood floors. Many valid reasons for this decision, and Hubby has lots of experience staining and finishing items (dressers, beds, our cabinets). Little did we know the things we'd encounter.

First time:

Hubby insisted floors had to be sanded even though the flooring guy we contacted said they didn't. So sand away he did, using a big floor sander (not the one recommended by said flooring professional) for the main part of the floor and a palm sander for under/around the cabinets where the sander couldn't reach.

Things look OK so Hubby cleans, preps and applies first coat of stain. EEEK. Seems a palm sander and a floor sander sand to very different textures with the same grit sandpaper.

Second time:

Rent the floor sander floor guy recommended, strip off the first attempt and get the wood to the same smoothness. Apply stain. Looks GORGEOUS. Start applying top coat. Get to third coat and realize we may not meet our schedule of getting all four coats done before we have to leave town for a few days. Hurry third coat and take short cuts. Come home from trip to realize that the top coat now has bubbles and lumps.

Third time:

Strip everything *again*. Sadly, sander takes off stain too so beautiful stain job is gone. Stain is not going on so well but evens out OK. Not nearly as nice as second stain job. Timing is against us yet again. Stain not finished when Hubby is scheduled to go in for surgery. Said surgery means he won't be doing any staining for 4-8 weeks. Cover floor with a tarp for now so there is at least some protection. Just as Hubby is *almost* to the point of being able to return to the stain job, we have to go out of state on business. Said business keeps us away for two weeks rather than the planned four days. Back from trip, Hubby feeling up to staining so we lift up tarp to realize there is no way we can continue with this application. Stain is now uneven with glossy and flat patches. Not only that, there's a few water spots due to using a semi-permeable tarp.

Fourth time:

Rent floor sander again. Guys at the rental place now recognize us. Sand off the stain and make the floor even. Floor actually looks pretty with just the slight tint from all the stain that's soaked in. Not the color we want and it doesn't match the cabinets, though, so back to staining. First coat is on. Hubby reports that it is going on evenly. He has also decided that when we get to the rest of the house (we plan to eventually do the whole house in hardwood) that we'll hire pros to do at least the top coat.

Hubby is not real happy that the floor now has the aged / weathered look he didn't want (personally I love the look). But at least the bad stain job from attempt #3 is gone.

If we had a complete do-over I think we'd go with pre-finished. Who knows, if we had maybe I'd have a functional kitchen already.

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Comments (12)

brutuses
15 years ago
All I can say is you're a better person than me. After the first flop, I'd have been at the store buying prefinished. LOL So sorry you had to go through that.
pbrisjar
Original Author
15 years ago
If it was a "flop" that we didn't know how to fix, that would be a different story. Besides that we have 400+ sqft of the stuff waiting to do other parts of the house when the kitchen is done. (We got a price break at 500 sqft.)

Patience has been the name of the game for us. This remodel was only supposed to last at most a month. We're quickly approaching 6 months.
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jen4268
15 years ago
Thanks for sharing your story! You could be writing the book on my many attempts to do it myself, and then trying to rush something. I am sure you are experts now, and the rest will go much better.
pbrisjar
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks, Jen. I sure hope it does because we still have a few major projects ahead of us - such as reconstructing the drawer boxes and all the door/drawer fronts - not to mention installing new full-extension glides.
igloochic
15 years ago
lol i'm sorry but you did make me giggle dear! if it makes you feel any better...i had "profesional" people doing the floor...and thay took four try's before i fired them...turns out they hadn't actually done "floors" but how different could it be huh? same issues with the sander too!! i'm on the 5th attempt...but i now have the best (and of course most expensive) guy in town doing them...so i expect only one more try!
pbrisjar
Original Author
15 years ago
Glad I made you giggle. Yanno, you just have to laugh at some of this stuff. It's just so absurdly ridiculous.

Hopefully this fourth attempt will be the final one. I just got my first look at the first coat of stain and it's looking good *crossing fingers*.
remodelfla
15 years ago
You must have the patience of a saint. Though I guess we always manage to deal with what is sent our way. I'll cross various body parts for you!
pbrisjar
Original Author
15 years ago
Hubby is always teaching me to look at the positives. Learn from what has happened.

I've been learning how to grill, Hubby has gathered some cool tools and mad remodeling skilz. We've been learning a lot about each other.
pbrisjar
Original Author
15 years ago
*sigh*

We've decided this time is a no-go as well. The floor is blotchy and is not getting the depth of color that we got the first time. I did some research yesterday and have found a few things that might be the culprits. We may very well call our local NWFA inspector / installer / consultant to come out and give is some practical, definite advice.

For now Hubby is taking a break and moving on to other projects while we figure out what we want to do. Of course this means I *still* don't have access to kitchen sink, dishwasher, counter space or stove.
User
15 years ago
Ohhhh... sorry to hear that. You really do have a great attitude though, and I am sure you will figure it out and enjoy the fruits of your labot all the more.
knaak
15 years ago
So sorry to hear about all the problems with your floor, pbrisjar.

When I saw your subject "Fourth time the charm?" I thought you were going to say you had four loads of cabinets, which is what I'm up to now! After 14 months of working with Diamond, Kraftmaid, Merillat, and lastly Omega, I am still cabinet-less.

If we had a complete do-over I think we'd go with pre-finished. Who knows, if we had maybe I'd have a functional kitchen already.

It's so easy to get caught up with "maybes." Maybe if you had a different brand, or wood type, or different stain, or...or...or. I do the same thing every day. But, in the end, all we can do is keep working and know that one day we'll be able to enjoy our kitchens!

So, for the both of us, the fifth time will be the charm!
pbrisjar
Original Author
15 years ago
knaack - Sorry to hear about your struggles. I know in the grand scheme of things this is just a minor stumble. I also know things could be much worse than they are.

It'll all work out eventually.