Hello All - i have been reading various threads on this forum for months now (thanks to your posts, i stayed away from HD, Lowes and LL - i went with a local guy). So right now i have 2 floors (main and 1st floor) hardwood floors being installed. We have unfinished oak wood being installed by a local hardwood flooring company. While its more expensive then the HD/LL route, we thought that in the long run it would be worth it and we could get whatever stain color that would suit our preference.

Today i showed the contractor the color we liked again and he said he could quickly show us on oak what the color would look like. When he showed us, the stain was very light (we want a dark stain - not espresso but closer to that vs. brown). So he said that for him to get a dark stain, he would have to charge me more as he will have to do 2-3 coats of the stain and then do 2 coats of polish(not sure of the exact word). I was confused because i showed him this color before starting the project and he was fine with the color but now he wants to charge more. Is there a standard stain color which needs to be applied a few times to get the color we want or could he purchase a darker stain? I just want to make an informed decision and i thought who better to ask then the gurus on hardwoodflooringtalk.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Tim

Tim,

more info is needed to answer that..

2-3 coats of stain is not the norm or standard..nor recommended..

as for your color...that's is between you and him..

maybe a darker color needs to be selected..
maybe the contractor is holding you a sample selection of a lighter color..

these details we don't know..but 2 -3 coats of stain seems to be a wrong recommendation as it does not make a color darker.
but can make the same color richer or more opaque by applaiction method.

needs to be water popped. fine sanding closes the grain and wont allow the stain to penetrate and get that deep color. YOU CAN ONLY FILL THE GLASS SO FULL! TRick staining is asking for trouble. Go to a closet wipe the bare wood down with a damp towel. once it is dry wipe the stain on that area and you will see you dont need a darker color or multiple apps you just need it prepped right.

definatley dont do 2 coats of stain.

watter poping will make it darker.

you could first dye the wood, then stain it dark as well. Not an easy process but can be done to achieve any color, or have him try Nano shield "Kona" stain (water poped of course)

https://plus.google.com/b/1014031272619 ... 6868/posts

Geez man, what are you hiding all those pictures for? Great work on that "corner bend"

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-6dkv ... 281%29.jpg

How's your YouTube exposure doing for you?

http://www.youtube.com/user/ExquisiteFlooring