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Different woods absorb stains differently

By
Home Builder with The Flooring Girl

I always recommend that we test stain colors for our customers on their own floor before committing to color.  After all, the stains come out different on different floors pending on the species, grade of wood and age.  Also, even within the same floor, some pieces are lighter and some are darker.  Wood is a natural product, and that means there is natural variation.  That is part of its beauty.

 

Well I finally found a good way to help visualize this idea.  This is the same stain used on 4 different species of wood - red oak, maple, ash and birch.  The impact is more apparent when you see it in person, but I think this slide helps get the idea across.

 

dark mocha stain on red oak, maple, ash and birch

I just added this demonstration on one of my most popular articles on my site - Can you change the color of your hardwood floors.  This is one of my best performing blog posts.  It was written in 2012 and currently gets over 5,000 clicks a month.  It is also one of my highest converting articles for people who call (or write to us for an appointment).  I guess it's good to keep these key articles fresh, so this is my way of giving it some new content.

Comments (24)

Sybil Campbell
Fernandina Beach, FL
Referral Agent Amelia Island Florida

Debbie Gartner ,  I find it amazing how different woods absorb stains diffferently.

Aug 30, 2015 01:33 PM
Andrea Bedard
Thompson Company, REALTORS® 240.593.2860 - Silver Spring, MD
Fluent in Real Estate & German, M.A. ABR ASP CIPS

The slide definitely helps Debbie. I have light maple in my house and have been wondering how it would look with a dark stain. Now I know! Thank you.

Aug 30, 2015 02:13 PM
TeamCHI - Complete Home Inspections, Inc.
Complete Home Inspections, Inc. - Brentwood, TN
Home Inspectons - Nashville, TN area - 615.661.029

 Good Monday morning Debbie. I do find it amazing how different woods will absorb stains. Good to know especially if you have pets.

Aug 30, 2015 06:30 PM
Joe Petrowsky
Mortgage Consultant, Right Trac Financial Group, Inc. NMLS # 2709 - Manchester, CT
Your Mortgage Consultant for Life

Good morning Debbie. Again you teach us, excellent post. This was definitely information I was not aware of.

Make it a great week!

Aug 30, 2015 07:26 PM
Conrad Allen
Re/Max Professional Associates - Webster, MA
Webster, Ma, Realtor

Hi Debbie.  Great idea about test staining the floor.  No surprises that way.

Aug 30, 2015 08:40 PM
Gita Bantwal
RE/MAX Centre Realtors - Warwick, PA
REALTOR,ABR,CRS,SRES,GRI - Bucks County & Philadel

Debbie, I always learn something new from your post. Thanks for sharing.

Aug 30, 2015 09:01 PM
Debbie Gartner
The Flooring Girl - White Plains, NY
The Flooring Girl & Blog Stylist -Dynamo Marketers

Sybil - Yes, it's fascinating.

Andrea - Yes, hope this helps.  maple is very challenging to stain.

Michael - Yes, it's neat how they are each unique.

Aug 30, 2015 09:02 PM
Debbie Gartner
The Flooring Girl - White Plains, NY
The Flooring Girl & Blog Stylist -Dynamo Marketers

Joe - Glad I could share something new.

Conrad - Exactly.

Gita - Glad to hear that.

Aug 30, 2015 09:07 PM
Gabe Sanders
Real Estate of Florida specializing in Martin County Residential Homes, Condos and Land Sales - Stuart, FL
Stuart Florida Real Estate

Thanks Debbie.  This is great information as some people might be quite surprised by how the stain comes out on their floors.

Aug 30, 2015 10:02 PM
Debbie Gartner
The Flooring Girl - White Plains, NY
The Flooring Girl & Blog Stylist -Dynamo Marketers

Gabe - Yes, it's always best to test and confirm.

Aug 30, 2015 10:03 PM
Brian England
Ambrose Realty Management LLC - Gilbert, AZ
MBA, GRI, REALTOR® Real Estate in East Valley AZ

It is important that they rely on an expert like you when choosing a color, as it would be no fun to complete the project and find that it didn't come out as you expected it would.

Aug 31, 2015 01:29 AM
Grant Schneider
Performance Development Strategies - Armonk, NY
Your Coach Helping You Create Successful Outcomes

Debbie - I can see why it gets over 5,000 clicks per month.  It is a visual demonstration and I can see people googling that question.

Aug 31, 2015 04:57 AM
George Souto
George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages - Middletown, CT
Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert

Debbie all four are similar, but there is a difference between each one which might not be very noticeable if they were not shown side by side.

Aug 31, 2015 07:41 AM
Eileen Hsu
Douglas Elliman Real Estate - Manhattan, NY
LICENSED REAL ESTATE SALESPERSON

Cool post, I think it is definitely important for people see this in person for them to differentiate the difference especially with computer color can vary!

Sep 01, 2015 12:06 AM
Debbie Gartner
The Flooring Girl - White Plains, NY
The Flooring Girl & Blog Stylist -Dynamo Marketers

Brian - Right, that's why we test it for them.

Grant - Thx so much.

George - The difference is much more noticeable in person.

 

Sep 01, 2015 12:11 AM
Debbie Gartner
The Flooring Girl - White Plains, NY
The Flooring Girl & Blog Stylist -Dynamo Marketers

Eileen - Absolutely. And, it does look different in person vs. photos.

Sep 01, 2015 12:19 AM
Alan Kirkpatrick
Austin Texas Homes - Round Rock, TX
Alan in Austin

Debbie Gartner 

Really good post. That makes me think twice about the staining I was going to do on a refinished peice of furniture. 

Sep 01, 2015 05:21 AM
Debbie Gartner
The Flooring Girl - White Plains, NY
The Flooring Girl & Blog Stylist -Dynamo Marketers

Alan - thx so much.  I hope it helps you.

Sep 01, 2015 06:06 AM
Sally K. & David L. Hanson
EXP Realty 414-525-0563 - Brookfield, WI
WI Real Estate Agents - Luxury - Divorce

Many people don't realize this ability and believe it is the wood not the stain that has most of the color...great information !

Sep 09, 2015 08:06 PM
Debbie Gartner
The Flooring Girl - White Plains, NY
The Flooring Girl & Blog Stylist -Dynamo Marketers

Sally & David - Yes, it's really the combo.

Sep 09, 2015 08:13 PM