Due to the graining, each piece of wood will take the stain a bit differently. Your floor looks goods but will change again when the final finish is applied, so keep that in mind. Also you are looking at the floor during the day. It will not reflect as much light at night and will appear darker.

If you wish it darker they can always apply another coat of stain and see what that does to your floors.

Bad job. First of all, your floors aren't of a grade that can be stained successfully and uniformly.

Look at the difference in the grain of the boards; some are quarter-sawn, some flat sawn, all jumbled together. And you have lots of short boards that just make it more jumbled. Your mix will never be even like the sample (which has a better mix of grains--on purpose).

To do what you want, you need wood that has matching grain patterns and much longer boards. You'd have to cull out at least half of the boards in the mix you bought--all the wild grain and all the little short ones. Actually, you'd have to just buy a better, graded, blend of boards.

Your floor needs to be left natural or go very, very dark.

There are pre-stain conditioners that work on woods that get splotchy when stained--maple in particular. But they are less predictable with oak. They might help the whitest areas in the wild boards blend in a bit better, but the dark, wild grain is there to stay (unless sanded down).

tatts, it is what it is. These are her/his floors. What you say about the grade etc is true but this is what is there. It's likely 3/4 of the floor is going to be covered by an area rug. Everything is give and take on a construction project. I'm thankful for the white oak.

Wow now I am sad. I didn’t know my floor was a bad quality or low grade floor. I just had it installed. But I’ll have to make the best out of what I have. I can ask them to stain it darker.
Thanks.

The different look can be caused by the way they produce the sample. A light 5 lb hand sander versus a 200 lb sander will produce different grain scratches, allowing the pores to take the stain differently. Other things to consider is lighting, finishes, minerals and new versus worn sandpaper. These will all yield different results at the end.

What do you recommend I do to make it nicer ?

Our floor was installed as select grade white oak. You dint think that’s what we got? Here are some more pictures of the unstained floor.

If you want darker, they have to sand that off and start over. Or you risk the top coat peeling and no warranty.

I would say to sand off the stain and start again if you want a darker finish. The difference between *their sample and your floor is the wood/sanding/situation. For this very reason, wood floors should ALWAYS have a test patch applied to the FLOOR it is being applied to...not just a sample board brought in by the refinisher. You START your search for a stain using their samples...but you FINISH your search by using your own floor + 4-6 test patches of stain that are applied once your floor has been installed and sanded AND a single coat of finish applied to the samples. The FINISH offers a depth that is NOT visible with the naked stain. The finish coat MUST be there to assess your choice properly.

It looks like the refinisher will have to create a sample patch of Dark Walnut+Jacobean. The Jacobean will add the DARK and the GREEN to what you are looking at with their sample.

And if you do NOT like the strong mineral lines (grain) then you will want to stay AWAY from water popping. Water popping is a technique that adds DEPTH to a stain...but also increases (makes bolder) the difference between the grain and the wood. If you don't like the heavy contrast (as you have stated) then you can skip the water popping (which is fine...it will save you a bit of money).

For what it's worth, I like the floor as it is. I have dark (brazilian cherry) floors, and they show every dog hair and speck of dust. The color and contrasts in your floor should be a bit more forgiving in that respect.

"And if you do NOT like the strong mineral lines (grain) then you will want to stay AWAY from water popping. Water popping is a technique that adds DEPTH to a stain...but also increases (makes bolder) the difference between the grain and the wood"

Come again? Not sure why you wrote that since it's the exact opposite of what happens. The darker patterning in this wood isn't from mineral, it's from the structure of the wood, and in this species the springwood is harder than the summerwood. The springwood is essentially valleys that hold more stain and contrasts from the summerwood which is harder and smoother so it holds less stain. Water popping might make the springwood a little darker, but it makes the summerwood FAR DARKER, lessening the difference between the two.

I don't recommend making samples on the floor either. If someone chooses a color lighter than their on-floor samples, there could be issues with stain bleed back. Also it adds time and requires that an area be sanded more times than the balance of the floor. A good finisher can make samples that match floors and vice versa.

http://vancouverdoorco.com/sapwood-heartwood-springwood-and-summerwood/

As to Johnson Flooring's point - there are going to be plenty of scrap pieces left after the install. Glue a few together to make your own sample boards.

We talked to the floor person this morning. We all agreed the floor will never look like the sample because the sample is not representative of the floor. He also says the floor is select grade. He wants to add a second coat because he says it will make it a little darker and closer to what we want. This afternoon we’ll see that room with a second coat and if we don’t like it he’ll sand it and we’ll start all over again.

Thanks to all of you for your knowledge, support and guidance. This forum is invaluable to me!

Despite decades of experience, I recently had some workmen put a second coat of stain on a kitchen/breakfast before putting on coats of poly, so it would more closely match an adjacent floor that had two coats of stain and paste wax. I'm currently looking for an opening in my schedule to resand the floor because the finish is flaking up under the dining chairs.

Unless you relish the thought of moving out of your house in the near future, DO NOT allow a second coat of stain. Don't repeat my mistake!

Did you ask about water popping?

I like the randomness of your floors and the stain color. I bet it won't show dirt; scratches or dog hair to much.

Thanks Kerry your comment helps me. I’ve been so worried about this and honestly I don’t know how much better they’ll get so I think I have to start like them.. I have a golden retriever and maybe these floors will camouflage his shedding.. trying to find the positive. :)

On your color choice thread you say you don't want dark. I agree with Kerry and AnnKH about the color you ended up with.

True. I was looking for a medium brown. What surprised me yesterday was the big difference with the sample and the pronounced black stain on the grain.

And to be very honest Tatts comments really scared me. I appreciate all the feedback, I do! But very negative comments can be hard to absorbe. These are huge expensive decisions and it is scary to feel like you made a big mistake.

following...to see what it looks like with the 2nd coat looks like.

Every comment I recall seeing from tatts was negative. This is one was also grossly factually incorrect so I had to respond.

I don't know why people have to **** on others in online forums. Maybe it makes them feel better about themselves.

From what I see I think your floors look fine. I hope they turn out great.

I agree with Johnson, another coat will not help darken the stain. It will only cause more headaches. What has happened here, is that the final sanding burnished the wood too much in some areas, closing up the pores. You can see the blotchiness. Water popping prevents issues like this, but it would make your color very dark. Try a 5:1 mix of natural and dark walnut. If, it is too yellow add a little gray.

The best way to darken and even out the color is to redo the job . If, this is not an option. You can tint the poly with a little stain 20:1 poly/stain ratio, no less. Your finisher, will need to apply the finish as even as possible to avoid marks. Otherwise, it turns to crap and a redo will be necessary. This will be mainly dependent on the skill level of your finisher.

This is how the floor looks today. It is a little darker

If they put a 2nd coat on that, it's ruined.

OP, you should take a breath and really read this thread again, especially Johnson Flooring Co's comments. It appears that you're doing exactly what he/she recommended you NOT do by moving forward with a second coat.

After a lot of thinking we decided to do the house in one coat of dark walnut even if it doesn’t look like the sample. After the initial shock I’ve come to like the color and realize that the variations have a lot to do with the fact that it is oak. Thanks for all your help!!

Ortochini: I love love love your floors. I would put the exact same species and stain color in my own home.* Your choice is classy and understated and interesting to look at. Thank you for sharing your experience, I apologize that some posters were unkind. You've done a great job with your floors! Let us know how it does with doggie claws, bet you don't see the fur as readily!

*except that I have a slab foundation and will probably install LVP flooring ; /

Cupofkindnessgw than you for your nice words!!!

I would say that the second coat made it have a much more "walnut appearance" and washed out some of the grain, but I personally am a huge fan of wood grain in general and I think the single coat looks beautiful. Its a very neutral tone and fits well with the current "Gray" trend but also offers warmth and the ability to blend with earthy tones as well. Its transitional in the sense that oak grain is a very "classic" look but the interesting shade gives it a modern farm house twist.