hey guys im getting ready to stain and finish some 2 1/4 red oak that has some bad urine stains from a cat. i have replaced about 200 feet out of 800 in the house already and got all the big spots but no doubt there are going to be some dark spots still....this floor was bad !!!! .the owner dose not care what color i stain it just as long as it covers the floor well and as many imperfections as possible. my question is what brand and color of stain works the best to blend the floor well. i like zar stain but it is just way to thick,any comments would be appriciated

Water-pop the floor before you stain it. Whatever brand of stain you end up using (which will be determined by availibility in your area) choose a dark color such as walnut, coffee, antique, etc. I like Duraseal, and Bonax stains. Staining dark will not make the pet stains disappear, but it will help blend them into the rest of the floor.

What ever you choose, DARK is going to be better then LIGHT.

yea i always pop the grain before i stain any floor.

Has anyone tried water popping around the stain, but not the actual stain? In theroy it seems like it would help...

Medium-antique usually do a good job of covering.

Well, those urine stains are very acidic and are usually created from repeat offenses that have opened the grain to a point where water-popping will no longer open the grain any more. After applying stain, the urine damaged sections will appear no different whether water-popped or not.

One just's water-pops these areas along with the rest of the floor to facilitate the "flow" of the water application.

A complete match cannot be obtained from merely water-popping because the urine has not only opened the wood grain, but has also changed the color of the wood chemically.

Maybe some sort of dilute acidic solution could be used on the floor instead of water to get a closer match. Someone would have to analyze what the urine is doing to the wood at a molecular level and devlelop a way to mimic those effects without having to pee on your floor.

Ah that was quite a technical answer lol. I always just figued water poping floors make them darker, so If I did the whole floor, except where the stain was it would be closer in color (although I belive it would still have the ring effect to it) hmmm, next pee pee floor....

Years back, I was contracted to remove the carpet and pad from a home and refinish the existing floors. Well, I ripped out the carpet and pad and found that there were black circles covering 50% of the floor area. They were pet urine stains. I told the customers the floor was not worth salvaging at this point. That the cost of removing damaged wood and weaving in new would be close, if not the same as a complete replacement. So I ended up sanding the floors just once, then sealing them with shellac to kill any odor. Then arranged to have them carpeted. The customers did not have the money for a complete replacement. Too bad. Nice young couple buying their first home and thinking they had hardwood flooring underneath the carpets that could be refinished. Moral of the story. When buying an older home with wood flooring under the carpets as a selling feature, consider including a clause in the purchase contract that the existing floors must not contain numerous stains, rot or damage that would prevent them from being refinished. If they do, seller is to pay any additional fees involved to make the wood floors usable.

Urine on Wood,
Never any Good,
Homeowner standing behind us;
Piss dust in my sinus,


Sanding to the rusty cleat
Rotten ammonia, fuming heat.
Searching for an even grain
Looking for the magic stain

The piss was hot when it soaked the grain
it burnt the wood like a urine sprayed flame
Animal pee dusting into your face
Inhale the vapor in the depth of your vase

FInd some joy when uncovering piss
after all youll be totally screwed when you
try to explain why the finish is seperating
over the large black piss stain in fir floor;

Glad I could help

Jamal - the wood floor king