It is possible the contractor did not mix the pigments in the can enough. The reason why the color is different.

Have you tried a different can of stain to compare the colors? Bona has a custom blend chart on their website. You can find a close match there for a stain formula and tweak it if, needed.

Thank you G&S. We observed the contractor mix the stain thoroughly. When we noticed the color difference, we purchased an additional three cans of graphite, all of which match each other but are completely different than the first can we purchased and used. That is why Bona is telling us that the first can must’ve been bad. We’ve seen the custom blend chart and actually tried a couple of the combinations but didn’t get the color we were trying to achieve. Our contractor will try the best he can to come up with a mix that match what we have on the floor already but we’re concerned that there will be a noticeable difference. Really appreciate you taking the time to advise us.

Bona might be able to do custom match for you. I know that they do it for the sports paint and stains for certified craftsman members. Contact a local Bona rep for more details.

Will do. Thank you again.

Of course the easiest option is to sand and restain. It is simpler than anything else. By the time you get everything set up with Bona (or not) you will have wasted the 2 days it would take to sand off the existing stain (not a lot of sanding...just enough to remove the stain) and reapply.

Thank you for your input SJ. Believe me, I wish we could do that. Just not possible.

What makes it 'not possible'? Time?

Long story, but in a nutshell...We’ve been out of our house for a month and a half at this point and have had nothing but one headache after another. We’ve already had our floors sanded and stained three times. The first time was a bad sanding job so we fired the contractor and found another. The new contractor resanded and stained with the color we chose but we weren’t happy as it didn’t match the sample. We had him sand and stain again. That’s when we wound up with the perfect color but ran out of stain. After spending literally two days on the phone with someone at Bona’s corporate office, as well as with the Bona area rep, we had gotten no further. We wound up using other colors to try our best to match what we have on the rest of the floor. Of course, it doesn’t really match. Needless to say, my excitement at finding the perfect color for our floors has been squashed. Although there is no way to hide the color difference in the area on the main floor where the two colors meet, I am now trying to figure out ways to hide the stairs (paint, runner, etc.).

Go two steps darker on the stairs with a white riser. It will look VERY handsome and it will allow the stairs to be a stand-alone-feature without ruining anything.

Our original plan was to paint our new banister (poplar handrail and newel posts with satin black balusters) and risers a slate color in order to create a stand-alone feature. Whether we do that, or paint them white as you suggest, how do we stain over stain? Everything has already been stained and top-coated. We cannot possibly go through another sanding job, even if only on the stairs.

If you can't do it then you can't do it. You do not stain over stain. And you do not stain over poly. Do change the colour, at this point, means getting to raw wood. You say you can't do it so you can't do. Project is at an end.

Do you have photos?