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How to restain hardwood floor?

Hello!

I am hoping to do some spot treatment on my flooring. Essentially, I want some advice/assistance from anyone who would be able to try and match a colour/ recognise the type of wood I have. I understand that it is impossible to make the floor colour the same as it is now, but I am hoping to get as close a colour as possible. From the reading I have done - I understand that I need to sand it down back to some fresh wood, then apply a stain/varnish, and then possibly coat it with polyurethane or a polish

after? Is this about right?

Cheers

Area for re-stainingGood areaGood area

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EricL

Hello @hliu

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's wonderful to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about doing a spot repair on your hardwood floor.

Timber stains and polyurethane finishes are extremely difficult to match, this is why the most common recommendation for such repairs is to sand the entire flooring area so that you get a uniform finish. When you get a sealing failure of this nature, it is often an indication that the rest of the sealer on your floor is either starting to degrade or is often used and walked on.

However, if you are not yet ready to have the entire floor re-sealed, it is possible to patch the damage until you have sufficient resources to have the floor redone. Please note that there will be a significant difference between the patch and your old flooring finish.

The general steps are to sand the damaged area until the old sealer has come off. One way to determine if it is oil-based is by using a clean rag and some methylated spirits. Place some of the metho on the rag and wipe a small portion of the floor. If the sealer comes off it is water-based, but if it just shines and polishes it is oil-based. An oil-based polyurethane sealer tends to develop a yellow hue as time passes, where as a water-based sealer will remain clear for the lifetime of the sealer.

For oil-based sealers, I suggest using Cabot's 250ml Oil Based Satin Cabothane Clear Polyurethane Varnish. For water-based sealers, I suggest using Cabot's 500ml Satin Water Based Cabothane Clear Polyurethane Timber Varnish. These are clear sealers with no stains in them and are just placed on the surface of the wooden floor to protect it from everyday use.

Here are some handy step-by-step guides:

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

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